Seventeenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Modern architecture often occupies a precarious position in our society. When thought of in terms of its value in the collective memory of a city, it evokes ambivalent reactions among the masses and even within the architecture fraternity itself. This study evaluates the role of modern cultural institutional buildings in the collective memory of Thiruvananthapuram. The concept of collective memory and the processes of formation and reproduction of collective memory is understood so as to form a theoretical background on collective memory and how it manifests in architecture. Three case studies of modern cultural buildings in Thiruvananthapuram are conducted to evaluate the narratives of collective memory created and reproduced by modern cultural spaces among the city dwellers through a qualitative study using dialogical interviews. The study is limited to modern cultural institutional buildings built between 1950 and 1980. Through the analysis of the buildings and from the interviews, a few themes and sub-themes are arrived at that establish the connections of the role of the modern buildings to the collective memory of the city.