Amogh N P
✦ In loving memory of Amogh N P — Architect · Designer · Visionary ✦
B.Arch Curriculum · Semester 7 · Elective

Architectural Conservation

A country's old buildings are its memory made physical — and once lost, they cannot be remade. This elective is about CONSERVATION: the discipline of caring for heritage so it survives for the future. It begins with the philosophy — why we conserve, and the spectrum from preservation through restoration to adaptive reuse — and the agencies and charters (UNESCO, ICOMOS, ICCROM, the ASI and INTACH) that govern it worldwide and in India. It studies conservation in India through its great sites and living heritage towns — Hampi, Mahabalipuram, the temple cities of the south. And it teaches the conservator's method: researching a monument's history, documenting it in detail, and analysing its significance, its threats and its condition — the disciplined, evidence-led care that good conservation demands.

5Units
6Outcomes
3Credits
FreeForever
Start with Unit I All student courses
Unit II · The Indian story

Conservation in India

India has one of the richest, oldest and most LIVING heritages on Earth — and conserving it raises questions the West rarely faces. This unit studies conservation in India through its great sites: the vast ruined Vijayanagara capital of HAMPI, the Pallava shore-temples and rock-cut wonders of MAHABALIPURAM, the Qutb Shahi fort of GOLCONDA. It looks at the CRAFT issues — the living traditions of stone, lime and timber that built and must mend these monuments. And it confronts the hardest, most Indian case — the LIVING heritage town, like the temple cities of Srirangam, Kumbakonam and Kanchipuram, where the monument is a working temple and the precinct a crowded living city.

HampiMahabalipuramLiving temple townsLime not cementLiving authenticity
Open the unit

The syllabus

Five units, from the philosophy of care to the condition report.

Transcribed from the official B.Arch syllabus. All 5 units are live as full interactive lessons, each with original diagrams, a self-assessment quiz and studio work.

1

Unit 1 — Introduction to Conservation

Live

Conservation — its need, the debate and its purpose; defining conservation, preservation and adaptive reuse; the distinction between architectural and urban conservation; the international agencies (ICCROM, UNESCO, ICOMOS) and their charters; museum and monument conservation; the role of the ASI and INTACH; and central and state policies and legislation.

CO1CO3CO6
2

Unit 2 — Conservation in India

Live

An overview of monumental and urban conservation through Indian projects — case studies of sites such as Hampi, Golconda and Mahabalipuram; the craft issues of conservation; and the character and issues of historic towns and living temple cities like Srirangam, Kumbakonam and Kanchipuram, with their historic districts and heritage precincts.

CO1CO4
3

Unit 3 — Conservation Practice

Live

The first step of practice — the search and review of relevant literature and sources on a heritage building or monument: establishing its period, its style and its historicity, so that any intervention rests on firm historical evidence rather than guesswork.

CO2CO5
4

Unit 4 — Site Visit & Documentation

Live

The detailed documentation of an identified historic city or area — studying its physical, socio-economic, environmental and governance aspects; understanding its setting, its significance and the determinants that shaped the building, through measured drawings, survey and record.

CO4CO5
5

Unit 5 — Analysis & Assessment

Live

The analysis and identification of the important issues — material, construction, style, morphology and transformations; identifying the threats from natural and man-made causes of defect and deterioration; and the condition assessment of the building and area, delivered as drawings and a report.

CO2CO5

Course outcomes

What you should be able to do after the elective (CO1–CO6, from the syllabus).

1
Understand

Understand the importance of heritage and the issues and practices of conservation through case studies.

2
Understand

Be familiar with historic materials, their properties, investigation technologies and repair methods.

3
Understand

Gain knowledge of the government agencies involved in conservation.

4
Apply

Understand the methods of urban conservation.

5
Apply

Gain knowledge of conservation techniques and design.

6
Apply

Gain knowledge of the policies involved in conservation and practice in India.

Every diagram is original Studio Matrx work. This is the heritage-conservation course — philosophy, charters, case studies and the conservator's method. The material-decay and repair craft is shared with the Building Maintenance & Repair elective, and the ASI/INTACH legal framework with Professional Practice. The golden rule runs throughout — as much as necessary, as little as possible.

Heritage, once lost, cannot be remade.

The philosophy and agencies, conservation in India, and the method of research, documentation and assessment. Work the five units, study the diagrams, then test yourself.

Open Unit I Back to Students

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