S.P. Balasubrahmanyam is a name that always resonates synonymous with music. While every obituary to him since he passed away due to COVID-19 in 2020 is dedicated to his pure talent, enthralling voice, the magnetism of his personality and affable nature there is a lesser-known side of his that is known only in his close circle – how environmentally conscious he was. So, it became a dream that was so close to the heart of his son, Singer, Director, Actor and Producer S.P.B. Charan to make a sustainable memorial that is dedicated to the life and legend that S.P.B. was and after a long search appointed Vinu Daniel from Wallmakers for the same.The memorial is designed as a large oval-shaped structure built around the samadhi, with a museum, an auditorium and two amphitheatres. Keeping in mind the simple and eco-friendly nature of S.P.B and that the memorial is going to be situated in an urban locale like Chennai it was imperative that a common hazardous material seen in the cities be used for the construction: discarded vehicle tyres. In a country like India where 2.75 lakh tyres get discarded daily and another 1.7 lakh tyres are dumped in from other parts of the world, it is apt that this memorial is going to be constructed entirely out of 10,720 waste tyres. The technique of Unstablised Tyre Masonry for the walls in which the waste tyres are packed with soil and then coated with mud plaster ensures that the insides of the building remain 5-6 degrees cooler than the outside without any active cooling system and will be the right solution to beat the smouldering heat of this region.

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The tyres have been designed to flower out and swirl in beautiful patterns around the trees and arch up to form the roof which doubles up as an amphitheater. Each tyre on the roof becomes a seat for people to sit and pay their respects and watch the stage. The S.P.B. Memorial thus becomes a piece of architectural poetry that stands tall as an ode of all the things that the legendary singer, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam  believed in. The site in Thamaraipakkam, in which the memorial is to be built was a beautiful one with a hundred trees, most of them planted painstakingly by S.P.B. himself. The idea of the project revolved around making a structure revolving around the trees at the site so every one of them could be saved. The idea of the project revolved on making a structure revolving around the trees at the site so every one of them could be saved. Since on most evenings it was not an uncommon sight to see ardent music lovers gather at S.P.B’s Samadhi to break into songs it was Charan’s and Vinu’s brainchild to create a memorial space that allowed for a beautiful gathering space for the same.