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INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) is an all India
organisation, with headquarters in New Delhi, dedicated to heritage conservation
and awareness. It has more than 140 chapters all over the country.
The INTACH chapter was started in Pondicherry in 1984. The INTACH
Conservation Cell was set up in 1998 with an initial grant-in-aid from the Town
and Country Planning Department. Since then, it has been working with the
Government of Pondicherry and the public to conserve the architectural heritage
and townscape of Pondicherry.
INTACH collaborates with Institut français de Pondichéry (IFP) and Ecole
francaise d’Extrême Orient (EFEO) on various projects. It was the late Françoise
l'Hernault (1937-1999) of EFEO who initiated the movement to protect the
architectural heritage of Pondicherry. This work is now being continued by a
team of dedicated architects, engineers and other interested persons.
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Model Street
Restoration
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Achieving Urban Economic and Environmental Goals through Heritage
Preservation Initiatives
Today Pondicherry is highly urbanised with over two-thirds of the population
living in urban areas. The increase in urban population density during the last
two decades has led to severe stress on the infrastructure facilities and urban
amenities, shortage in housing, traffic congestion, degraded socio-economic
conditions and deterioration of the environment and the quality of life.
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INTACH Heritage Center
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The building, about 150 years old, is one of the few surviving examples of a
Franco-Tamil House in Pondicherry. The synthesis of French and Tamil
architectural styles has given rise to "Franco-Tamil architecture", where the
ground floor displays features of Tamil architecture such as the thinnai (a
masonry bench), thalvaram (a lean-to-roof in the façade), etc.
While the first floor displays French influence showing pilasters, masonry
columns with capitals, arched windows, plaster decorations and end ornament
elements. |
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Beach Road Proposal
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| The project consists of three important components: the
Beautification of the Beach Road, the Restoration of all Heritage Buildings
along the Beach Road and the improvement of the Boulevard along the Subbaiya
Salai till the botanical Gardens. |
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Goldsmith's Street
Restorations
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| The four houses being too small in themselves had to be
redesigned and interconnected to accommodate more facilities to suite the
requirements of an office, like office rooms, meeting halls, pantries, dining
spaces, restrooms and toilets. Thus came the decision to connect the houses
through common amenities, while following the policy of least intervention with
the existing structure in conservation. |
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