DEBORAH THIAGARAJAN

The response is good. Now that we are better known, we have larger response for our workshops. We have had over 50,000 visitors last year. We are only four years old. And we do not have any publicity. So I would consider this centre a success as we get a large segment of the middle class. Anybody should feel that it is his or her centre. I think the response has been good. And the young people love it. The other day we had two young men who came in and said, 'we always thought this centre is for foreigners, we never knew culture could be so much fun'. The urban kid growing up has not had the same experience with culture, which our generation has. The links are not as strong as they used to be with the countryside. They no longer take the time off to go back. So it’s something that refreshes them.

We have villagers working at the centre; village women primarily. Right at the beginning, we took a housekeeping consultant from a five star hotel. So even at the construction site, we treated all the culture there with dignity. And that is something which is pervasive throughout the centre, and I am sure you will recognise it as one of the best maintained places. And that is because the people who maintain it, understand the culture and are proud of it. So they want to maintain it. I think we have a committed staff. The people who work for MCF and Dakshinachitra themselves are committed to culture. And I think that’s one of the reasons it works. We also have a lot of volunteers who work for us. We reached into the community for ideas and when they have professional talent they offer themselves. A number of these volunteers have done a lot in terms of architectural support, lecture management, exhibitions, getting objects, maintaining them, day to day public relations. Even for our finance we have a volunteer.

I think they have to look at why was our architecture the way it was. What inspired people to have the architectural forms that they had. How does architecture reflect the society? It develops its own cultural response to the needs of society and to the material available. I think architects have to examine their own work, to see whether it reflects their own society. Does it reflect the culture of their society? It’s not a question of being contemporary and taking from America and wherever. Does that culture have an intrinsic value even here? They even had contemporary houses years ago. Society has changed, the material available has changed, but the 'basic culture' has to be the frame of reference. What you see today is a cheap imitation. It’s a lot easier to go to a magazine and copy it. You will never be a good architect that way. So I think Dakshinachitra should serve as an inspiration to look back into our culture.

When the joint family was the norm, and people did not want privacy, they developed spaces according to how they used spaces. That’s what I said, a hundred years ago, society was different. It used spaces differently. It had different needs. An architect today, has to look at what are the needs of society today. What is the cultural need today. I will never ever suggest that people copy architecture. Two or three of the architects who really look into their culture are Charles Chorea, Balakrishna Doshi and Raj Rewal. These people have looked into their culture. Are they less contemporary? Is Charles Chorea less contemporary because he understands and has taken his inspiration from his own culture? It depends on so many factors. If you can get wonderful flow of air and light without a courtyard, then why have a courtyard? There are different ways of making your house climatically friendly, then experiment with those ways. That’s all we are saying.

Yes, we have a lot of people coming into the centre with their architects and saying I want something that looks like this or that. In Chennai, there is a lot of land, so people can experiment with space, unlike Mumbai. Our reception centre and public buildings, which are not historical, have drawn on elements from the past. They have worked very well for us and we have used Lawrie Baker’s methods also. We have used some cost cutting devices. We have put up Dakshinachitra in a very economical way.

They see traditional architecture on a very human scale, so its very intimate. When they walk in, they feel an intimacy. It's an inviting centre. It's not like a traditional museum where you walk into some large, complex hallway and suddenly you feel very small. Our traditional architecture is simply not that way. It makes them reflect on what they have lost, particularly for the people from the north. It makes them realise how far their culture has changed. Most people enjoy it very much. They come out of the centre with a refreshed feeling.

Chennai is one of the best Indian cities to live in. We still have space. It is changing very fast; you will find a lot of change in the next 25 years. We still don’t get caught in many traffic jams. Of course, we have this wonderful coast. The people in Chennai are by nature, warm and friendly.  There is lot of culture in the city, the culture of music and dance. Because there is so much cultural orientation, people have allowed centres like Dakshinachitra to flourish. I think the visual culture in Chennai is an insipient culture, it is still growing. I was recently at an exhibition of the fine arts department in Stella Maris; I was delighted to see the talent. In the past, visually, people have been isolated from each other. So we can't talk of any kind of a movement in Chennai; whether its contemporary arts or cinema. I think that will change. Chennai has the ability to become the cultural hub of the country. But we will have to work very hard, challenge ourselves a bit more and push on cutting edge issues. People are coming from different areas, which challenges complacent ideas and basic ways of looking at things.

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