Designing community spaces falls into two loose taxonomies. The first one involves a space where nothing exists to thwart efforts to design it. Head in there and knuckle down to the work of turning it into a space for all, and not a fairyfly would buzz in protest. No better example than OSR land up for development of parks. There is a clear policy behind it, and everyone involved follows the letter of the law. 

In the other taxonomy are fuzzy roadside spaces to which everyone stakes a claim: the vendors, vehicle parking slot seekers, and sad but true, reckless litterbugs. This is a coarse-grained category, one militating against standard action plans. Expect curveballs. Expect regression to a former state of chaos, after some progress in designing it has been made. On the upside, expect to see unlikely heroes emerge during the process of reclaiming the space. Belonging to this category with undefined borderlines is a space along East Mada Street in Thiruvanmiyur, one sandwiched between the Marundeeswarar temple tank and the road. In mid-November of 2025, residents rallied behind Project Thiruvanmiyur Mada Street, spearheaded by two architects, Dhanya Rajagopal and Pavithra Sriram and Design Co Lab, to reclaim this space from unauthorised parking and general squalor for art, culture, music, hyperlocal history, community, reading and for a plain hangout culture. 

After the pilot, the effort got derailed to some extent with unauthorised parking rearing its head again, triggering a fresh wave of efforts to reclaim the space all over again. The life stories of the dramatis personae in this live theatre of civic responsibility are hugely varied. Enter a patron. “A patron came forward to pave a 480 sq.ft. of space in front of the Anna statue. The paving was completed in mid-January.” In Pavithra’s words, paving the space gave a sense of permanence and completeness to it.

Enter a guardian. Pavithra notes that from mid-January to now, the space has been protected against misuse and vandalism with the help of a shopkeeper around the space. Owner of a briyani shop, Sabari cares for the space without a title; he monitors it and tips off the people powering the project about any issues. 

Enter multiple contributors. Through crowd-funding, they have placed drum-based planters around the paved area to ward off the evil of unauthorised parking

.Enter creative collectives. One classic example is Pagir (@pagirchennai41) which incidentally is organising a drive to beautify the drum planters at this space on April 12 (from 4 p.m. onwards). 

The engagement of a multiplicity of constituencies with this community space has had a multiplier effect on it, making it vibrant and inclusive. To underline the multiple uses this space is being put to, Pavithra notes that during the Panguni festival, an annadhanam was conducted there; and for heritage walks that are part of the project, this space is the starting point; and a celebratory and decorative shelter was created for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s birthday.

On the plans for the immediate future, Pavithra points out that one has to do with having a space on North Mada Street, part of the corner it forms with East Mada Street, to be paved as well. Having a resource person who would gather data pertaining to people’s behaviour with respect to this community space that would drive expansion moves is also being considered. CSR funding opportunities are also being explored. 

Pavithra points out the presence of a WhatsApp group that drives activities pertaining to development of this community space; to be part of this WhatsApp and to volunteer, one can call 9080892008. The project can be followed on Instagram (@projectthiruvanmiyurmadast).