The custodian of heritage

The essence of a city is experienced through its people and its buildings. The culture of a city is reflected by the traditions and rituals followed by its people. The culture is also reflected through its architecture. When one visits a new destination the first thing that one witnesses is the people and the architecture. The architecture speaks volumes about the place as it is steeped in history and has stood the test of time.

Conservation of heritage structures and period buildings is a concept that is becoming famous the world over and is imperative to the conservation of infrastructure of a place. In the practice of conserving and restoring these old structures it is essential for one to retain the details and looks of these buildings maintaining the traditional look as far as possible. In other words restoration work of architecture should involve as less tampering and change and as much preservation of the look as possible.

This form of conservation of architecture is an art which involves doing restoration work using the most contemporary techniques and technologies to preserve the historical building adhering as far as possible to its original shape and form. This science of architecture is practiced by specialists called conservation architects.

A conservation architect is a professional architect who is equipped with the skill and knowledge of the latest and modern techniques in the field of building restoration. He must be able to scientifically apply his newly acquired knowledge to maintain the soul of old structures and buildings which form the heart of the city. A conservation architect must be able to envisage what the buildings looked like in their past glory and he must try and translate that look and feel in today’s day and age.  He must have a keen eye for design and creativity that goes beyond the usual. Moreover he must possess the passion and love for his city that enables and drives him to work on old architecture and restore them to their past glory.

To be a conservation architect one must have an interest for history and go deep into time immemorial in order to understand the past of the structure. Conservation architects are those individuals who are self driven and are a repository of creativity and innovation. While applying the latest techniques in the area of architecture, it is of great significance for them to restore heritage. They are the true custodians of culture and heritage and must work on these period structures in such a way that they are there in existence for time immemorial and for the enjoyment of the generations to come.

One of the important aspects that the conservation architect needs to adhere to is to strengthen the structure of the heritage buildings without tampering with the period look and feel of the building. He must revive the old structure in such a manner that he brings to life in the present the beauty and the glory of the buildings built in the past..