Interpreting Architecture: A Study of Padmanabhapuram Palace
Thesis Project, Master’s Program in Theory and Design, CEPT University
2014
“Tradition is a matter of much wider significance. It cannot be inherited, and if you want it, you must obtain it by great labour.”
— T.S. Eliot (Tradition and the Individual Talent)
This study, developed under the guidance of Prof. Meghal Arya, examines the Padmanabhapuram Palace in South Kerala as a living structure shaped through a gradual unfolding process rather than static design. Developed incrementally over nearly three centuries, the palace complex demonstrates how architectural order can emerge through successive transformations that respond sensitively to context, climate, landscape, existing built conditions, and changing needs. Through this process, the complex attains a remarkable coherence, spatial richness, and timeless architectural character, revealing a tradition understood not as something fixed, but as a dynamic and evolving process of adaptation through time.
The study interprets the spatial and morphological qualities of the palace - its layered courtyards, shifting centres, positive spaces, adaptive irregularities, geometric simplicity, gradients of transition and intensity, and porous relationship with the landscape - as outcomes of a gradual process of growth. These qualities reveal an architecture that evolved not through rigid formal control, but through continuous adaptation, where each intervention strengthens the integrity of the whole. Even its apparent irregularities emerge not as deviations from order, but as precise acts of adaptation. The harmony of the palace is therefore understood not as the result of a predetermined design, but as the outcome of an open-ended process through which meaningful relationships emerge gradually over time.
By closely reading these qualities, the study argues that the wholeness of traditional architecture arises through continuity, transformation, and respect for what already exists. The palace complex suggests that architecture can evolve as a living structure, capable of gradual change while retaining coherence and integrity. In this sense, the study proposes an alternative understanding of architectural creation - one rooted not in static composition, but in the gradual unfolding of living structure through time, allowing a deeper relationship with life and place.
1. Padmanabhapuram Palace Complex (1500–1800 A.D.). Axonometric View.
2. Stages of Growth of the Padmanabhapuram Palace Complex: The palace evolved through successive additions over nearly three centuries. At each stage, buildings and open spaces were shaped together, producing a network of clearly defined courtyards, passages, and positive spaces that became increasingly interconnected through time.
3. The Royal Court reveals how spatial order can emerge through adaptation rather than rigid formal control. Strong local symmetries are arranged asymmetrically around the court, creating a centred space that remains closely connected to the larger palace complex.
4. Throughout the palace complex, larger and smaller courts are positioned in relation to one another so that each is intensified by the presence of the next, creating a gradual progression of spatial intensity across the complex.
5. The repetition of rafters and roof tiles, together with the alternating pattern of light and shadow created by the wooden screens, contributes to the profound subtlety of the space.
6. The gradient of roofs draws the eye upward, intensifying the presence of the two tower forms within the complex.
7. The simplicity of the buildings fosters a closer relationship between the individual and the surrounding landscape.
8. The unfolding process gives rise to unexpected yet harmonious juxtapositions.
9. The Dravidian-style Navaratri Mandapam is juxtaposed harmoniously with the native Travancore-style buildings.
10. The gradual variation in plinth heights, roof forms, and spatial volumes creates a layered progression across the complex, linking its diverse parts into a continuous whole.