Conservation And Reconstruction Of Timber Buildings
December 1, 2001 at 3:30:00 AM
The Dakshinachitra museum in ECR, Chennai, founded and managed by the Madras Crafts Foundation, illustrates the vast and elegant tradition and culture of South India through traditional-style museums, vernacular-modelled, timber-constructed South Indian houses and open, walk-through spaces. Benny Kuriakose, who in the later years carried out the design philosophy and vision of his mentor Laurie Baker, devised significant structural changes to the "Kerala houses" in Dakshina Chitra.
This article records the architectural methods and styles involved in the building reconstruction project. An Excerpt from the Book "Dakshina Chitra, A Glimpse of South India." Published by the Madras Crafts Foundation.
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Reconstruction of the houses at DakshinaChitra has taken place with the help of an architect and different traditional craftsmen teams, each from the region from which the house was removed. This article records the methods of the transplantation of the Kerala buildings, which are primarily timber constructions, but the principles used were applied to homes from other regions. The page goes into great detail about the construction and reconstruction of timber buildings, as well as their demolition and transplantation.