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

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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

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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 but
a collective phenomenon

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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”

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 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 Contemporary design and heritage
aspirations of the urban indian planning
our present system of architectural education
its impact on urban architecture opportunities to design, to think
on how to learn from tradition creatively and to conserve & readapt
heritage buildings

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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

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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

documenting artisan networks

documenting a way of living & of building

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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.

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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 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.

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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

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Enhancing artisan networks

what are the existing networks?

why are they not enough?
how much more is needed?
how to generate that?

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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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 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
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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

house owner A
architect C

Every architect has a network of artisans he connects to

a houseowner may have his own network of masons and carpenters
an architect’s 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
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Artisan Networks

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

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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

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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 Muthuvel’s 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

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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

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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

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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

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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 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

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

mapunity The three together are known as a ‘mapunity’

or
Maps for Communities

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26
Search

artisans

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 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 tourism contemporary

conservation planning vernacular buildings

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Contemporary design
and
heritage planning

Coastal Tourism Plan Weaver’s village Dutch & Indian heritage Buddhist sites
Maharashtra Pochampally Bimilipatnam, AP Orissa

natural heritage crafts heritage shared heritage buddhist heritage

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

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