CMDA Listing Project

Chennai has a number of heritage buildings that need to be listed. In an effort to document the heritage buildings in the city, Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has appointed architects/heritage experts to study 192 sites listed in the Justice E Padmanabhan Committee Report.  Madras Inherited was allocated 30 heritage buildings for this purpose. Most of the heritage buildings in the city were documented in two phases; the third phase of the project was recently completed.
 

The documentation of the heritage buildings was done in four parts - recording the building in terms of its ownership and use, location, and historical, architectural, and cultural significance. The usage of the building in different historical periods as well as the trends exhibited by the building/area was documented. Conditional assessments of the building were also carried out in order to assess the condition of the building. A detailed study of the design integrity of the building and chronology of alterations was also carried out. This is one small step taken by the CMDA and Madras Inherited towards getting regulations in place to protect the city’s wealth of built heritage.