How Coimbatore’s trees tell tales of time, travel and belonging

The Design Mill’s tree walk in Coimbatore turns a lazy Sunday into a lush, leafy classroom of living history

These trees came as immigrants, made friends with the locals and now are upstanding inhabitants of Coimbatore providing priceless service to the city and its people.

Architect, Jayashree Raman says trees offer a wealth of natural solutions to various design challenges. “They provide insights into structural strength, energy efficiency, and biomimicry, leading to more sustainable and aesthetically pleasing designs.”

For example, Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava created spaces that were as enduring as the trees that had inspired his designs. Calatrava learnt from the wisdom of Nature and his design philosophy served human needs as well as the environment’s.

But design is not just the business of architects; it concerns everyone, says Jayashree. “So why can’t we look at trees in our neighbourhood and see what lessons we can take away from them,” she asks during a tree walk curated by her and fellow architects Sai Vivek, Udhaya Vauhini and Cibi Veeramani, in association with The Indian Institute of architects, Coimbatore Centre. The walk was part of an initiative called The Design Mill.

“The Design Mill wants to create a community in Coimbatore that meets and has conversations about design in everyday life,” says Jayashree, who wants to learn about and document Coimbatore’s trees.

For the walk, the Design Mill team selected trees that have been part of the landscape for at least 200 years, including ones that have been around for thousands of years.

The endemic Pongai tree (Pongamia glabra) is a familiar fixture in the Tamil landscape, and finds mention in the ancient Sangam literature. “Its leaves are often kept along with grains to repel insects, and oil from its seeds is used to light lamps,” says Jayashree. A hardy, erosion-preventing tree with a broad canopy, Pongai is well-suited to arid, saline environments and is often found lining roads and villages