1|Thesis Synopsis

Loci of Memories and hopes

Project outline
One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its people, and like
memory it is associated with objects and places. The city is the locus of the
collective memory. Aldo Rossi [1]
A city dwells predominantly on people that make it. The survival of cities depends on
its consistency in satisfying the inevitable seeking of the people. We would like to
define our Sense of place from personal experiences, social interactions, and
identities. We would like to shape our cities so as to shape ourselves.
A city is the place of availabilities. It is the place where a small boy, as he walks
through it, may see something that will tell him what he wants to do his whole life. Kahn[2]
The thesis project is based in Madurai, a flourishing economic centre and diverse
cultural locus; the intent is to accentuate points of interest that will glorify peoples
memory and their hopes (fascination) about the city wherein architectural
intervention(s) play a pivotal role.

Methodology
The thesis focuses on the role of the beliefs(cognitive or cultural), associations, and
behavioural patterns of people in and around the identified places of interest in
order to establish these as crucial factors in relevant rejuvenation of built-up and the
corresponding public spaces.

Study the existing places of interest (could be religious, recreational, in the city
w.r.t their evolution, morphology and functioning.
Identify potential areas of memory, peoples viewpoint and project scope
through a series of surveys.
Derive relevant programs based on peoples inclination towards memory or
fascination for the new.
Design or renew appropriate building(s), relevant to contemporary needs.
Attempt at dignifying their material nativity, flexibility, and satisfaction quotient of
the building character among the masses.

The highest type of efficiency is that which can utilize existing material to the best
advantage J. Nehru [3]

Sites/ Location /area

One or more sites identified based on the study (within the Municipal
corporation limits of Madurai)
GURUPRASATH A
2012701013
B.Arch Sem X

2|Thesis Synopsis

Conjectural ideas for site:

District Central Library, Tamil Sangam Road

Meenakshi bazaar
Tamukkam Public Grounds

Case studies

Niccol Paganini Auditorium, Parma, Italy - Renzo Piano

Smithsonian Institution S.Campus Master Plan, Washington.D.C- Bjarke Ingels Group

Rani Mangammal Chattiram Hotel Rani Mangammal Residency

Tamukkam Palace Gandhi Museum

References
1. Architecture of the City (1966), Aldo Rossi.
2. Between Silence and Light: Spirit in the Architecture of Louis I. Kahn(1985), John Lobell
3. Spoken by Late. Jawaharlal Nehru, former prime minister of India.

GURUPRASATH A
2012701013
B.Arch Sem X