Puyabaisse by Architecture Interspace

Puducherry (earlier Pondicherry) is one of the few serene coastal Indian cities that gives you French feels by all means. Although the colonial-era French are long gone, they’ve left behind their legacy in shapes and forms beyond neatly paved rues, heritage mansions, and chic boutiques. The city is a melting pot of art, architecture, cultures and cuisines with diverse influences — a fusion of Tamil and French. Much like the architecture, where, despite having distinct quarters, the east and west parts of the old town have shared and borrowed design elements from each other. Similarly, over the years, the French and Tamil flavours have blended harmoniously. This Tamil-Franco fare, better known as Creole cuisine, has restaurants and homes alike swapping traditional Indian spices for quintessential French ingredients and vice versa.

This project, a compact 2 bedroom apartment located in one of the most picturesque streets of the French quarter of Puducherry, a few streets away from the beach, is a blend of the french minimalism and the influence of tamil local craft and art. The project is named after the desi version of ‘Bouillabaisse’, a classic French seafood stew from the port town of Marseille. The dish is a culinary exchange that retains French cooking techniques, while keeping the spice and tangy flavours of Tamilian cuisine intact.

I grew up in Pondicherry and one of the first things that grabs everyone’s attention is the French spelling of Indian names. An example, people being named as Mr Callianasoundarame, Mr. Seyasangarane. In case those names seem complicated, these are the French spellings of the Tamil names: Kalyanasundaram and Jayasankaran. And that's exactly how The Bouillabaisse had transformed into a Puyabaisse and eventually as the project title as well.