Creativity & Heritage Conservation

Seminar on Heritage conservation & management Anna University, Chennai

Jan 2008

Kiran Keswani architect

kiranmkeswani@gmail.com

the Ecosystem for Heritage Conservation lies fragmented

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
2

in India, the indigenous building artisan and his skills can 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
3

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 but a collective phenomenon

h o w e v e r
a design professional
is also someone who creates ways of thinking that have never been experienced before

a conservation professional
is someone who wants to understand processes rather than products

knowing the processes Codifying indigenous knowledge

or documenting the skill

Enhancing artisan networks

or how an artisan sources work

a way of thinking . . .
and, therefore contemporary architecture & the need for an indian identity aspirations of the urban indian our present system of architectural education its impact on urban architecture on how to learn from tradition

Contemporary design and heritage planning

opportunities to design, to think creatively and to conserve & readapt heritage buildings
6

Codifying indigenous knowledge

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

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

what to document

documenting skills

documenting buildings

documenting artisan networks

documenting

a way of living

& of building
9

Mahabubnagar
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.

10

Cuddappah

Documentation in the districts of andhra pradesh by the students of College of architecture JNTU hyderabad with support from Madras Craft Foundation

11

Pochampalli

Often, there is a small open-to-sky space in the large interior. This is where the dyes are made or where the yarn 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.

12

what we can do with a contemporary design education

the need to design spaces for a contemporary context and contemporarise the skills of the traditional artisan

13

Enhancing artisan networks

what are the existing networks?

why are they not enough?

how much more is needed? how to generate that?

14

why analyse a network

To identify expertise To guage the connectivity To access existing knowledge assets To understand the lost knowledge problem
15

In 1983, Mark Granovetter researched on how people found their jobs

Social Networks consist of interconnected relationships

where

nodes may be people, groups or organizations

and

lines are ties

Node

Weak tie (Acquaintance)

Strong tie

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
16

Mapping the word of mouth phenomenon

Weak ties provide bridges between densely knit clusters of social structure they are critical whenever information is diffused through interaction

architect

architect A

artisan houseowner

house owner

B
architect B architect C house owner A

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
17

Artisan Networks

In Chennai In Mahabalipuram In Pondicherry In towns in Tamil Nadu & Kerala

18

In Chennai

There are a few master artisans involved in restoration projects with 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 had the opportunity to train themselves on-the-job in a restoration project The mRmRm foundation in Chennai has held workshops in lime plaster and in attangudi tiles which have been attended by artisans and engineers

19

In Mahabalipuram
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 artisans Referrals 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
20

In Pondicherry

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 contractor who 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

21

In towns in Tamil Nadu & Kerala

Many architects in Chennai source their artisans from 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 in Chennai have contacted contractors and artisans from 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 the metalwork, such as brackets for the roof overhangs

22

Mapping the artisan network that influences CHENNAI

CHETTINAD

MAHABALIPURAM

TRANQUEBAR

KERALA CHENNAI AUROVILLE architect artisan PONDICHERRY The solid line indicates a strong tie and the dashed line indicates a weak tie

23

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 company

is 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
24

This platform combines : G o o g l e for 1. 2. 3. areas of interest to a community spatial data Membership levels

mapunity

The three together are known as a mapunity or

Maps for Communities

25

26

Search

artisans
27

28

29

G o o g l e for

mapunity
Search

artisans

S h a r e information on artisans, indigenous building skills and heritage houses

30

Conserving the

Processes . . .

to generate continual work for the artisan

programs that involve restoration of heritage buildings and encourage a contemporary vernacular language

heritage conservation

tourism planning

contemporary vernacular buildings

31

Contemporary design and heritage planning

Coastal Tourism Plan Maharashtra

Weavers village Pochampally

Dutch & Indian heritage Bimilipatnam, AP

Buddhist sites Orissa

natural heritage

crafts heritage

shared heritage

buddhist heritage

Few of the Tourism Planning projects wherein lies the potential for involving traditional building artisans
32

Conclusions

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 markets

that bring in continuous flow of work for the artisan

33