KOCHI: Where elders fail, the young generation steps in. Students of College of Architecture Trivandrum (CAT) have descended on Kochi to document the historical and architectural specialities of a few vintage buildings and have split into teams of 20 students for the purpose.
The buildings they are currently documenting are the Cochin State Legislative Assembly Hall at the Ernakulam Government Law College, North Paravur Court House and the PWD Rest House at Fort Kochi.
Another building included in the list was the Maharaja’s College, but the 20 students deputed there returned as they could not continue their work due to the “autonomy” strike there and have instead picked up the VJT Hall in Thiruvananthapuram.
The students are preparing the plan, section, elevation and sketches of the buildings and also collecting the details of their history.
“We are studying the materials that have been prepared for constructing the building, their evolution over time, the change in their surroundings and how they influenced the building. Sometimes a new building comes near it as in the case of Law College and the penetration of sunlight and its percolation as envisaged by the original constructors of the building get affected,” said Krishnadas S. Nair, one of the 120 fifth semester BArch students who have fanned out in the state capital and Kochi to study the buildings of historical importance.
The other buildings selected in the state capital are Swathi Thirunal Music College and the Public Library.
“The research helps us to cull nuggets from ancient designs and use it in new constructions. We have a paper called History of Architecture. This is part of our minor project study,” said Mr Krishnadas.
