Heritage Conservation Institute and Research Centre for INTACH, Pune, Design Dissertation by Akhilesh Dhurkunde
Over the years, in the field of conservation, there has been an increase in professionalism. Emergence of multidisciplinary teams increased international interaction, evolution of networking dynamics and exposure to the latest measures have been observed. However unfortunately, it has not succeeded in contributing to a better understanding and deeper conviction. Despite a notable increase in the number of conservation projects, the ratio between proposals advanced and successful implementation continues to be depressingly low. In India, the conservation movement has attempted to classify old buildings as historic, hoping to create a niche for them so that they get priority. But historic monuments and cities have been looked as the past and have been neglected till the present date. The building of the past, the construction of today and the structures of the future should co-exist to empower conservation. Unfortunately such thinking has debarred the growth of conservation in the country. Acknowledging this coexistence would affect the professional identify of the conservation movement, but physically it may equally empower conservation as continuity.
So, the idea was to design a conservation centre to protect, preserve, restore, display, carry out the research and encourage the conservation act initiated by INTACH. The scope of conservation activities would focus on the INTACH Activities in Pune Region as well as the Western Maharashtra region.
