As part of its theme “Taking Design to Masses,” the Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) has identified 12 locations in and around the city to transform them into city landmarks.

The local IIID chapter is negotiating with City Corporation and various associations, particularly those involved in the construction business, to create awareness about design, by displaying the landmarks across the city, its secretary, Manimaran, said on the sidelines of Design Yatra, which arrived here.

The design yatra, which was flagged off on February 21 from Indore to create awareness about design, reached here after covering 15,000 kms and 21 locations across the country; it will cover seven more centres in another few days, he added.

To start with, the chapter will take up a traffic island in R S Puram to create a landmark, which will have a sculpture as a symbol of Coimbatore, so that the common man learns about the importance of design, he said.

Earlier, addressing the yatra, IIID national secretary, Jabeen L Zacharias, said that architects in India have not scaled the heights Indian doctors, scientists or engineers have, indicating that designers were lacking in something. Considering this, IIID had come up with the theme to take design to the masses, as it was hitherto solely reserved for the classes, she said.

Jabeen said that Amaravathy, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, was going to be an architectural marvel once it was completed.

In her address, Vanitha Mohan, executive trustee of Siruthuli, an NGO working for the cause of recharging water bodies, said that Siruthuli was working to create ghats for performing last rites or special poojas at a famous Shiva temple in the city. The project is awaiting clearance from the authorities and designers, and once finished it would become a symbol for Coimbatore, she said.