Thirumazhisai in Chennai to have NRI city
I learn that tomorrow's The Hindu Property Plus will have a big advertisement for a gated community in Thirumazhisai, a suburb off Poonamallee and Sriperumbudur.
Apparently, this town which is famous for Thirumazhisai "Alwar" and many temples of antiquity, has been chosen because it is proximal to the emerging automotive and IT hardware belt.
The second advertisement is for Alliance Bougainvillea, about which I have posted several times.
Showing posts with label Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alliance. Show all posts
Friday, January 12, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Mixed motifs of Spain, England and Pallava country in Chennai
Apparently, there is something alluring about Spanish villas. We have seen Alliance Bougainvillea announcing its project near Poonamallee recently. XS Real Estate also has Villa Espana in Velachery "overlooking the Guindy National Park" (which is what should make the development really attractive).
English gardens are similarly attractive, it seems. Both Alliance and XS are talking about English gardens (though they are silent about the hot, humid and dirty exterior) on their properties in Chennai, in Bougainvillea - Poonamallee and Chesterfields - Ramapuram.
XS also talks of some Pallava motifs in its "apartment bungalows."
It beats me why property developers are completely obsessed with Spain for the Sun and England for gardens. The irony strikes me because we have always had sunny skies. Moreover, in England, the local population years for more Sun and actually describes bright days as an "Indian summer!"
To property developers we are hopelessly smitted by Western architectural and cultural influences (though they do have some things of value even to us in our climate, such as Bay windows).
I am hoping for the day that some builder announces projects that pay tribute to Nature, and makes the best use of sunlight, rainwater and air, in the manner that Laurie Baker advocated.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Chennai: potholed paradise
On New Year's eve, many of the Hyundai Accents received by Chennai Police gratis from the Korean carmaker were at their screaming best. They were zipping along in some places, their lights flashing and sirens wailing or standing with metallic efficiency at other locations (what they achieved is not clear, though).
In 2007, Chennai is no different from what it was a year ago, when there were no freebie Hyundais for "patrolling." After the Northeast Monsoon and with a faceless Mayor at Ripon Building (M. Subramaniam, heard of him?), the metro's roads are a long trail of potholes.
Apparently, the somnolent occupants of the Corporation headquarters have decided to allocate money for road repairs, but the Zonal Officers (Assistant Commissioners) are in no hurry to do basic repair work to fill up the potholes. So in most places, you simply bump along and pay the automobile mechanic more.
This sort of indifference contrasts with the hype generated by globizens about the way this hypermetro is making waves. There are colourful advertisements in newspapers claiming to offer "English" gardens with "Spanish" villas in their midst, tall glass and steel marvels housing BPOs who are linked to international capitals. You only have to spend a fiver on the Mass Rapid Transit System that travels the length of the Cooum and Buckhingham Canal, which are nothing but open sewers, to see what a travesty of truth Chennapatnam is!
The enormous amounts of waste generated by the villa types gets carted to shanties lining these canals, where some of it is segregated for onward sale for crude recycling. The rest is simply dumped on the riverside. The waste plastic and white board dumped summarily in this fashion provides some weak relief to the black sewage-marked banks of the watercourses, while the shanties appear in the background, rusty reminders that there is a city that is invisible to the chatterati and which the media has stopped talking about because it is no longer fashionable to do so.
On New Year's eve, many of the Hyundai Accents received by Chennai Police gratis from the Korean carmaker were at their screaming best. They were zipping along in some places, their lights flashing and sirens wailing or standing with metallic efficiency at other locations (what they achieved is not clear, though).
In 2007, Chennai is no different from what it was a year ago, when there were no freebie Hyundais for "patrolling." After the Northeast Monsoon and with a faceless Mayor at Ripon Building (M. Subramaniam, heard of him?), the metro's roads are a long trail of potholes.
Apparently, the somnolent occupants of the Corporation headquarters have decided to allocate money for road repairs, but the Zonal Officers (Assistant Commissioners) are in no hurry to do basic repair work to fill up the potholes. So in most places, you simply bump along and pay the automobile mechanic more.
This sort of indifference contrasts with the hype generated by globizens about the way this hypermetro is making waves. There are colourful advertisements in newspapers claiming to offer "English" gardens with "Spanish" villas in their midst, tall glass and steel marvels housing BPOs who are linked to international capitals. You only have to spend a fiver on the Mass Rapid Transit System that travels the length of the Cooum and Buckhingham Canal, which are nothing but open sewers, to see what a travesty of truth Chennapatnam is!
The enormous amounts of waste generated by the villa types gets carted to shanties lining these canals, where some of it is segregated for onward sale for crude recycling. The rest is simply dumped on the riverside. The waste plastic and white board dumped summarily in this fashion provides some weak relief to the black sewage-marked banks of the watercourses, while the shanties appear in the background, rusty reminders that there is a city that is invisible to the chatterati and which the media has stopped talking about because it is no longer fashionable to do so.
Saturday, December 23, 2006
Spanish living through a Chennai lens
Is there something inherently wrong about the way Indians have lived for four millennia? Apparently, there is nothing much to draw from a long history of civilisation in habitat or architectural terms, if you go by the rash of advertising in the Property Plus supplement of The Hindu.
The advertisers promise locales and lifestyles that are far removed from India's civilisational history.
Today's edition of PP has an advertisement explaining the Spanish vision of the Alliance Group, which is promoting villas with a hispanic flavour in suburban Porur (watch a video of this Spanish vision on the promoter's website). Each of these villas will cost Rs.65 lakhs to Rs. two crores and they are truly international in such dollar-converted prices. It is also interesting that this new prestige address will combine English gardens with Spanish villas, an esoteric mix that is expected to tickle the sensibilities of largely the newly rich Indian catapulted to prosperity by globalisation and liberalisation.
But be warned that these villas with their imaginary flamenco dancers, toreadors and Englishmen walking terriers on lawns are here on Indian terra firma. The gated denizens of Porur have no access to good sanitation for their area. Sanitation and health are issues that the English settled in the 19th century before they developed a vision of urbanisation.
The Alliances, DLFs and other carpetbaggers must focus first on fundamentals and learn from India's own civilisational record, on sanitation, community spaces, health and welfare before rolling out their fictional landscapes.
The more realistic picture is available from a neighbouring CMDA approved layout called Jeeva Nagar, which you can find here.
Is there something inherently wrong about the way Indians have lived for four millennia? Apparently, there is nothing much to draw from a long history of civilisation in habitat or architectural terms, if you go by the rash of advertising in the Property Plus supplement of The Hindu.
The advertisers promise locales and lifestyles that are far removed from India's civilisational history.
Today's edition of PP has an advertisement explaining the Spanish vision of the Alliance Group, which is promoting villas with a hispanic flavour in suburban Porur (watch a video of this Spanish vision on the promoter's website). Each of these villas will cost Rs.65 lakhs to Rs. two crores and they are truly international in such dollar-converted prices. It is also interesting that this new prestige address will combine English gardens with Spanish villas, an esoteric mix that is expected to tickle the sensibilities of largely the newly rich Indian catapulted to prosperity by globalisation and liberalisation.
But be warned that these villas with their imaginary flamenco dancers, toreadors and Englishmen walking terriers on lawns are here on Indian terra firma. The gated denizens of Porur have no access to good sanitation for their area. Sanitation and health are issues that the English settled in the 19th century before they developed a vision of urbanisation.
The Alliances, DLFs and other carpetbaggers must focus first on fundamentals and learn from India's own civilisational record, on sanitation, community spaces, health and welfare before rolling out their fictional landscapes.
The more realistic picture is available from a neighbouring CMDA approved layout called Jeeva Nagar, which you can find here.
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