Senior architects bemoan loss of Bengaluru's heritage

Bengaluru’s senior architects who discussed their five-decade journey, on Wednesday focussed on how the city was losing its glory and heritage.

Architect Naresh Narasimhan, who was part of the discussion “Bangalore to Bengaluru” on Wednesday said Bengaluru has nothing to boast of in terms of heritage. “There are not more than 300 buildings in the City that are 100 years old. In the last 15 years, about 100 buildings of historical value were destroyed, with scant respect for their past,” he said at a nine-day festival ‘Designuru’, organised by the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IID) at MG Road Boulevard.

Senior architect Renu Mistry, who was one of the panellists, added that the city should do its best to take care of its inherent value at least now. Other countries, especially Europe, are attractive because of their heritage buildings, whereas India is losing them, she pointed out. Architect K Jaisim of Fountainhead also expressed displeasure over how the city had transformed over the years, without retaining places of history. “Only the State Central Library in Cubbon Park has been retained while the old Town Hall’s interiors were destroyed despite opposition,” he said. 

Earlier, panellists recalled their journey as architects. Octogenarian PK Venkatarama, a well-known architect said, in the early days, people good in sketching chose architecture as art was an indispensable part of the profession. Its different these days, he said. 

TM Thomas, principal architect of Thomas Associates said it was important to transmit the idea, while the medium could be anything. “While watercolour was part of architecture then, computers have replaced it. Thorough knowledge of software was important for people of this generation,” he said and added, “The challenge is to understand what our client wants more than our ideas. Meeting that demand is a painful process,” he opined.