TOUR DE PUDUCHERRY

A travel journal submitted to S.M.E.F.’s Brick Group of Institute, as a deliverable for the S.M.E.F.’s Travel Grant 2016-17 awarded in year 2016-17.

By Simran Mehta Gautham Ramesh Qutubuddin Unwala

Under Guidance of Prof Rajdatta Dewang

Brick School of Architecture, Pune

August 2017

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge the people without whom this study couldn’t have been completed, o Prof Rajdatta Dewang for sharing his invaluable time and experience with us, guiding us throughout. o Prof. Prajakta Chakravarty for helping us formulate our travel proposal o Prof. Anand Iyer for helping us gain a different perspective on the topic selected. o Prof Poorva Keskar for her enthusiasm and unique ideas o Prof. Shraddha Manjrekar for her patience throughout the process o Prof. Aniruddha Pawar for helping us compile all our work.

NGO o INTACH organization for sharing their knowledge base and guiding us while we were there.

Our friends

Devanshi Shah and Suraj Bhandari for travelling with us and supporting us throughout this process.

& Our families for their never ending support and guidance

The plan of the city of Pondicherry is based on the French grid pattern. The town is divided into two sections: the French Quarter and the Tamil quarter. There are further sub division within the Tamil quarter namely, the Hindu, Muslim and the Christian Quarter. Many streets retain French names, and villas in French architectural styles are a common sight. In the French quarter, the buildings are typically in French colonial style, with long compounds and stately walls. The Tamil quarter consists of houses lined with verandas and with large doors and grilles.

To study the context as well as culture of Puducherry.. To study the inherent cultural fabric existing in Puducherry since French colonialism and its impact on the Tamil culture . To focus on the growth of two diverse cultures in close proximity of each other with their individual thresholds.. To gain a holistic understanding of how the city functions from macro to micro level. Hence we divided our study, starting from the streets themselves to individual elements within the typical houses. Our study encompasses these topics with regards to the French and the Tamil quarter:

Streetscapes – exploring the composition and proportion of buildings to each other

Facades – Exploring how each individual element contributes to the bigger picture. Elements – Looking at the detailing and the intricacy with which they handle their structures.

Food and Lifestyle – Grasp an overall understanding of the way the people lead their lives there.