An architect couple lends support to Mangalore's crumbling sunset industry

Demolition of factories - now halted due to Covid-19 pandemic - has been steadily happening over the years.

As time takes its toll, the centre of a bustling city surreptitiously turns into a ghost town, rich palaces resemble decrepit relics and images etched into the citizenry’s consciousness disappear into oblivion. This is the predicament of Mangalore’s terracotta tile-manufacturing industry, a nagging reminder of the city’s lost glory and pride. 

Terracotta production was started in India’s Malabar coast by the German missionaries in 1865. As the tile industry remained rooted in tradition, with stubborn resistance to change, over the time, it couldn’t match the real estate industry’s rapid strides. The Mangalore terracotta roofs began to be replaced by other more