Has South Indian Style Come Of Age - The Hindu
December 25, 2002 at 6:30:00 PM
The article published in the Hindu substantiates the emergence of the South Indian style of architecture through Vishram By The Sea, an award-winning beach house in Chennai. Designed by Benny Kuriakose in collaboration with Visalakshi Ramaswamy, the beach house is an intimate Kerala style residence with a unique touch of Mediterranean colours. Benny Kuriakose bagged the Inside Outside magazine's Designer of the Year Award in 2001 for a retreat he built along with Visalakshi Ramaswamy at Muttukadu. GEETA DOCTOR talks to them about the aesthetic involved in their work.
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It incorporates ideas from the older and more traditional styles. Indeed one of Kuriakose's intentions has been to re-cycle materials that he and Visalakshi Ramaswamy found in older buildings, and use them in a dramatic functional manner. The different elements, a traditional courtyard, a thinnai at the entrance, a stepped slope going down to a bathing tank, or pool in one part of the garden, or deeply recessed verandahs supporting a low overhanging roof in the Kerala style, that Kuriakose has used in the beach house are not decorative add-ons but serve a definite purpose. Read the article to find out more about the details of the project!