FLO Chennai, under the leadership of Chairperson Ms. Niyati A. Mehta, organized a talk on the Art Deco movement in Madras at Wellness & Co. The session featured architect and INTACH Chennai chapter convener, Mrs. Sujatha Shankar, as the guest speaker.
The talk explored Art Deco, an exuberant design movement that originated in Paris in the 1920s and swiftly became a global language of style, influencing art, architecture, furniture, and industrial design.
Held in the serene, modern setting of The Wellness Company, the event drew 25 attendees. They were treated to a photographic journey of the city’s iconic Art Deco structures, learning about a wave of exuberant Westernization that swept the city just before Independence.
Key elements highlighted included the geometric and stylized ornamentation, sunburst jaalis, zigzags, and chevrons found in old homes and on buildings such as the Dare House, Bombay Mutual Building, Bharat Insurance Building, Casino Theatre, the former Dasaprakash Hotel, the Reserve Bank of India building, LIC building, and the Senate House, to name only a few.
The presentation successfully captured an important part of the city’s architectural history, evoking nostalgia and inspiring some of the ladies present to plan a drive or a heritage walk to revisit these landmarks.