LIVINGWISDOM, LASTING VALUE

FROM HIMALAYAN HOMES TO HISTORIC CITIES, TWO EXPERTS REFLECT ON WHAT CONSERVATION REALLY MEANS—AND WHY THE ANSWERS AREN’T ALWAYS OBVIOUS

- WAQUAR HABIB

YOU CAN SPEAK AT LENGTH ABOUT SAVING buildings and preserving heritage, but still falter when asked something as fundamental as: “What exactly is conservation?” To ground the concept in a real-world context, we turned to two voices—both deeply immersed in the practice of protecting what truly matters.

Rahul Bhushan is an eco-architect working from the hills of Himachal Pradesh, where his team at his architectural practice, North, revives indigenous Himalayan techniques like Kathkuni and Dhajji Dewari—time-tested forms of vernacular construction.

On the other hand, Dr Jigna Desai is an Associate Professor at CEPT University and Executive Director of the Center for Heritage Conservation. Her work centres on integrating sustainability and conservation into the management of historic environments.

Drawing them out of their studios and seminar halls, we posed a few fundamental questions that often escape even the most robust conversations about conservation.

WHAT SHOULD BE PRESERVED—AND WHY?

“Preserving that which cannot be built again and giving life to something that can be restored or adaptively reused” is how Bhushan defines conservation. For him, monuments and temples—structures that can no longer be recreated with today’s tools or knowledge—must be conserved with care. Adaptive reuse, he explains, allows older buildings to find new relevance while retaining their character: “Keep the charm, ditch the dust.”