Dakshinachitra Museum
1996
Dakshinachitra paints a picture of the bygone culture and traditions of the Southern regions of the Indian peninsula. The living heritage museum recites the stories of people through their art, craft and architecture. The pathway that travels from the reception to the restaurant via the gallery, the library, the amphitheatre, and the craft shop is a prominent example of how all of the spaces in Dakshinachitra Chennai effortlessly link and flow into one another. The transition between the inside and outside of the buildings is gradual due to the verandahs. Being in the verandah people can be partly inside yet still connected to the outside.
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In addition to allowing light and fresh air into the built form, the courtyards become spillover spaces for various festivities and events. An elaborate system of sloping roofs of varying heights and levels encloses the building. The reception and restaurant are designed using contemporary concepts that blend in with the other traditional buildings on the site. The Kerala houses in the Dakshinachitra museum has different houses such as the Syrian Christian house, the Calicut house, and a typical Kerala house constructed entirely of wood. Because wood is used significantly in all the structures, a lengthy procedure of timber transplantation is carried out at the outset of the project.