The urban conservation movement in India was born in Mumbai in the 1970s. The city pioneered the belief that urban culture, best represented by built and natural structures, is an important part of cultural heritage. Because of the pressures of human sustenance and growth, there is a tussle between continuity and change as far as these structures are concerned. The role of conservation (and of a conservation architect) is to adopt skilful play of controlling the rate of change while allowing growth. At our Online Talk #ConservationContinued, architect and conservationist Kirtida Unwalla examines her minuscule role in preserving Mumbai’s urban heritage, and discusses how to approach conservation in an informed and educated manner while being truthful to the most basic essence for the need to afford change – a sustainable tenet. 

About the speaker

Kirtida Unwalla graduated from the Bandra School of Art in 1979 and is a recipient of the Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship for specialised training in architectural conservation from De Montford University, Leicester UK in 1996. She has acquired specialised training in “Structural & Materials Conservation” at the School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi March-April 1996. In private practice since 1983, she has coordinated and undertaken consultancy projects concerning restoration and adapative re-use of historic buildings, analysis and documentation studies of heritage buildings, historic precincts & districts, and conservation management guidelines for heritage precincts and settlements. Her building conservation projects in Mumbai include Ismail Building (Zara) at Flora Fountain, Afghan Church at Colaba and Juma Masjid at Crawford Market.