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Creativity & Heritage Conservation
Kiran Keswani
architect
Seminar on Heritage conservation & management
Anna University, ChennaiJan 2008
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the need for m a s t e r a r t i s a n s to restore traditional buildings
the financial and human resources to preserve heritage buildings
innovative ways to readapt heritage houses for contemporary use
creating continual work for the skilled artisan
and
a greater number of a r c h i t e c t s with a concern for heritage
design vs.conservation
the Ecosystem for Heritage Conservation lies fragmented
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in India, the indigenous building artisan and his skillscan still be traced in some parts of the country
the artisan and skill will sustain
if there is a constant flow of projects to execute
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a design professional
(in conventional terms)is one who creates spaces
that have never been experienced before
a conservation professional(in conventional terms)
is one who can restore what another has created
but
someone who knows that creativity is not an individual effort buta collective phenomenon
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h o w e v e r
a design professional
is also someone who creates ways of thinkingthat have never been experienced before
a conservation professional
is someone who wants to understand processesrather than products
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Codifying indigenous knowledgeor documenting the skill
Enhancing artisan networksor how an artisan sources work
knowing the processes
a way of thinking . . .
contemporary architecture & the need for an indian identity
aspirations of the urban indianour present system of architectural education
its impact on urban architecture
on how to learn from tradition
and, therefore
Contemporary design and heritage
planning
opportunities to design, to think
creatively and to conserve & readapt
heritage buildings
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If the crafts processes in India were never documented,does it mean that they were never meant to?
the skill of the artisan was a hands-on process
where learning by doing was of prime importance
Codifying indigenous knowledge
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today, with the change in design education
we do not have hands-on skill programs or design-build schools
the only way now in the current system
is to codify the skills that belong to tradition
so that we can incorporate these into our learning
and into our built environment
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what to document
documenting skills
documenting buildings
d o c u m e n t i n g a r t i s a n n e t w o r k s
documenting a w a y o f l i v i n g & of building
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The house has a hierarchy of spaces from open to
enclosed spaces. The kitchen has a small water
tank, a wash area, cooking area and shelves for
keeping vessels.
Mahabubnagar
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Cuddappah
Documentation in the districts of andhra pradesh by the students of College of architecture JNTU hyderabad with support from Madras Craft Foundation
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Often, there is a small open-to-sky space in the large
interior. This is where the dyes are made or where theyarn is dipped into the dye. Being a wet area, it must
necessarily allow sunlight to come in so that no water is
allowed to stagnate inside the house. The tiled roof
slopes in from four sides into this open-to-sky space with
a small overhang.
Pochampalli
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the need to design spaces for a contemporary contextand
contemporarise the skills of the traditional artisan
what we can do with a contemporary design education
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what are the existing networks?
why are they not enough?
how much more is needed?
how to generate that?
Enhancing artisan networks
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why analyse a network
To identify expertise
To guage the connectivity
To access existing knowledge assets
To understand the lost knowledge problem
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Node
Strong tie
Weak tie (Acquaintance)
Social Networks
consist of interconnected relationshipswhere
nodes may be people, groups or organizationsand
lines are ties
In 1983, Mark Granovetterresearched on how people found their jobs
Strong ties are your family, friends and other people you have strong bonds to
Weak ties are relationships that transcend local relationship boundaries both socially and geographically
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Mapping the word of mouth phenomenon
Every architect has a network of artisans he connects to
a houseowner may have his own network of masons and carpenters
an architects network may be linked to that of another architect or another houseowner
Sometimes, a skill may lie within the artisans own environment in tacit form, without being known to others
architect
artisanhouseowner
house ownerAarchitect C
architect A
architect B
house owner
B
Weak ties provide bridges between densely knit
clusters of social structure they are critical whenever
information is diffused through interaction
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Artisan Networks
In ChennaiIn Mahabalipuram
In Pondicherry
In towns in Tamil Nadu & Kerala
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There are a few master artisans involved in restoration projectswith a large team of masons who work with them
They are skilled in limework, woodwork, tile laying, pointing, plastering,
stonework and are also involved in modern construction projects
Their work also includes farmhouses on the East coast road
Some of the artisans in Chennai are the conventional masons who have hadthe opportunity to train themselves on-the-job in a restoration project
The mRmRm foundation in Chennai has held workshops in lime plasterand
in attangudi tiles which have been attended by artisans and engineers
In Chennai
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one of the stone artisans, Durairaj, came to Chennai from Karaikudi, a town in Sivaganga district
He established a small shop which has now grown into a large establishment with 200 artisansReferrals from satisified clients led to further work
Today, he also takes orders from foreign clients by email
They can craft in stone - statues, columns, benches, bird feeders and lanterns
a bronze craftsman, Muthuvel studied at the College of Arts & Crafts
in Kumbakkonam
Most of Muthuvels clients are temple priests
He also has a few clients from Belgium and other European countries
His completed work includes the bell tower at the Shiva temple in Avadi, metal idols for other temples and
metal basins which are being used as decorative landscape elements by farmhouse owners in Chennai
an artisan who works in wood, Murugesan says that woodwork skills have been a family tradition
His work comes through recommendations from previous clients
He has done wooden mandapas, doors, pillars, entrances for temples, furniture and roofing work
a Contractor, Sarangan who lives near Old Mahabalipuram Road has executed thatch roof work
for hotels such as the GRT resort, Mahabalipuram, the Silver sands beach resort,
East Coast Road and the Taj Fisherman's Cove at Uthandi
In Mahabalipuram
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For the people of Pondicherry, the sourcing of artisans has been primarily through
INTACH and its team of architects and engineers
The first point of contact for most houseowners is the architect
The architects work through a contractorwho appoints a team of artisans
Contractors have mostly used the same masons and carpenters on the
restoration projects that they use on their new constructions
In a few cases, a metal bracket has been commissioned to a craftsman from
Chidambaram, a town nearby or a terracotta finial to a local potter from
Pondicherry
Lime work is learnt at site and is supervised by conservation architects
In Pondicherry
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Many architects in Chennai source their artisansfrom Madurai and other places in Tamil nadu
Today, there are artisans in Karaikudi, Tirunelveli,
Tanjavur, Kancheepuram and Chidambaram who
continue to work in wood, stone and metal
Often, architects and owners of farmhouses inChennai have contacted contractors and artisansfrom towns or villages in Kerala for the construction
of a Kerala style roof
For projects executed by INTACH Pondicherry,
artisans were sourced from Kumbakonam for themetalwork, such as brackets for the roof overhangs
In towns in Tamil Nadu & Kerala
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Mapping the artisan network that influences CHENNAI
TRANQUEBAR
KERALA
The solid line indicates a strong tie and the dashed line indicates a weak tie
architect
artisan
AUROVILLE
CHENNAI
PONDICHERRY
MAHABALIPURAM
CHETTINAD
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The word of mouth phenomenon will continue to link the artisan and the project
Today, there is a possibility to strengthen this system
with new software technology available to us
MapUnity, the Bangalore-based social entrepreneurial companyis an online platform that allows specific communities and groups
to geo-spatially create, organise, manage, analyse and share map-linked
information that is of interest to them
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This platform combines :
1. areas of interest to a community
2. spatial data
3. Membership levels
The three together are known as a mapunity
or
M a p s f o r C o m m u n i t i e s
G o o g l e for
mapunity
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S e a r c h
artisans
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G o o g l e for
mapunity
S e a r c h
artisans
S h a r e information on artisans, indigenous building skills and heritage houses
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to generate continual work for the artisan
programs that involve
restoration of heritage buildings
andencourage a contemporary vernacular language
heritage
conservation
tourism
planning
Conservingthe
Processes . . .
contemporary
vernacular buildings
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natural heritage
Contemporary design
and
heritage planning
buddhist heritageshared heritagecrafts heritage
Coastal Tourism Plan
Maharashtra
Weavers village
Pochampally
Dutch & Indian heritage
Bimilipatnam, AP
Buddhist sites
Orissa
Few of the Tourism Planning projects wherein lies the potential for involving traditional building artisans
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It is important
to map linkages between people involved in indigneous building activity
to translate as much as we can into codified knowledge
to create an environment that encourages training
and
to identify or create marketsthat bring in continuous flow of work for the artisan
C o n c l u s i o n s