IIT Madras Beautification Project

Description

IIT Madras has always been more than just a campus—it is a living, breathing ecosystem where knowledge meets nature. The Beautification Project seeks to preserve and enhance this unique environment by creating inviting green spaces, modern student commons, landscaped walkways, and upgraded public areas that inspire creativity, collaboration, and pride.

Your support will help us:

Restore and expand green cover in harmony with our natural ecosystem.
Develop student-friendly spaces that foster wellbeing and community.
Create landmarks across campus that future generations of IITM alumni will cherish.

Pilot project 01- Wellness Square

Wellness Square is envisioned as a transformative space within the IIT Madras campus, designed to cultivate a holistic environment where students can thrive both academically and personally. The primary objective of the project is to create a dynamic, landscaped outdoor area that integrates entertainment, sports, dining, study and contemplation, thereby fostering a strong sense of community and enhancing the overall well-being of the students. This project aims to establish spaces that are not only functionalbut also emotionally resonant, becoming an integral part of the students’ lives and experiences.

Pilot Project 02 – Concept garden in the Godavari hostel courtyard

The size and scale of the courtyard is such that the 700 plus students in double occupancy rooms with shared toilets and showers rarely use the court due as to the lack of transitional spaces and landscaped zones that promote outdoor activities. Using features like steps, rocks, granite benches, pergola shaded paths, break out zone and more, the landscape design creates spaces for spontaneous interaction via sports, theater and conversation.

Pilot Project 03 – Sacred gardens in humanities & science block courtyards

The "Sacred Gardens" project proposes a series of meticulously landscaped gardens within the quadrangles ofthe Humanities and Science blocks at IIT Madras. The term "sacred" reflects a deep commitment to preserving the existing flora and fauna, ensuring that built interventions have minimal impact.

The primary objective of the project is to emphasize the importance of bringing teaching and learning outside the confines of traditional classrooms. By creating eco-workspaces, outdoor exhibition and demonstration areas, and lecture courts, the Sacred Gardens will offer a new paradigm of education where students can learn in the lap of nature. These spaces will be designed to encourage creativity, innovation, and collaboration, making learning a more immersive experience.

Pilot Project 04 – Children playground and park

To create a secure and vibrant community park that will be used from sunrise to late in the evening by bringing together users of various ages and demographics. Integrating the existing land use, trees, infrastructure and institutional development, the landscape design will provide for a diversity of functions like children playground for toddlers and preschoolers, a fitness trail for the adults, sensory gardens for the creche and for the senior citizens, picnic spot cum outdoor lunch tables for the grounds keeping staff and in the future pop-up street food carts in the evenings that could become farmers market plaza over weekends could be added. All these activities combined will bring together people who usually would not meet or meet only within a formal and hierarchal setting.