First Workshop Modernism in South Asia- Pierre Jeanneret’s Gandhi Bhawan

Agenda:
Expert discussion and workshop on Modern Architecture in South Asia, its relationship with the International Modernist Movement and Current Status of Modern Buildings in India. An Exhibition on Modern Architecture planned which includes contemporary work of the 1950-60’s in India and showcases various Modernist expressions throughout the country.

Target Participants: (50-60 in no.)
Experts and professionals on Modernism in India, such as architecture and art historians,conservation professionals Students pursuing architecture or art history as well as other interested individuals

Objectives
The first workshop is also intended to engage professionals and academics in adiscourse on Modern Architecture in South Asia, with a specific focus on India. It is also intended to introduce the subject to a larger audience and raiseawareness about the significance of twentieth century architecture.

Methodology:
Followed by a call for papers, posters and presentations as well as specific invitations to experts within the field, a detailed two day programme including exhibition and workshop has been developed. The first workshop under this project titled “Modernism in South Asia-PIERRE JEANNERET'S GANDHI BHAWAN” has been conducted on 4th-5th December, 2015 and included an exhibition, release of a monograph of Pierre Jeanneret's works on the University campus. Presentations and interactive discussions has been organized during the workshop.

Second International Workshop on Conservation of Cement Concrete and Modern Heritage in India

Agenda:
Expert discussion, exhibition and workshop on Cement Concrete as a building Material, its issues related with conservation of heritage structures built within the twentieth century, testing and conservation methodologies. The practical demonstrations and some field exercises has been included along with site visits within Chandigarh so as to thoroughly demonstrate the issues presented by various structures contemporary to Gandhi Bhawan as well as investigate the causes for their occurrence.

Target Participants: (50-70 in no.)

• Experts and Professionals on Structural Conservation and Materials Conservation, dealing specifically with cement concrete, both nationally as well as internationally
• Conservation professionals, students and academics
• Site engineers and architects involved with upkeep and maintenance of such structures
• The Exhibition and site visits was intended for a larger audience as an awareness generation mechanism at this stage

Objectives

• The second workshop and training was intended as a capacity building exercise as well as an awareness generation exercise
• The workshop targeted the conservation professionals within the country who are currently ill equipped generally to handle conservation of twentieth century structures
• The workshop also highlighted issues of maintenance and upkeep to staff and management of not only the University but also other sites contemporary to the Gandhi Bhawan

Methodology:
IIT Madras as the leading expert in this area identified experts from all over the world to engage in the workshop as well as work out a detailed methodology for the programme. Experts presented case studies, practical demonstrations and help assess issues on the site over a period or 2 days.



Emergency Preparedness Workshop- 3

Overview on Emergency Preparedness Workshop:

Dr. Jigyasu coordinated the workshop on Emergency Preparedness and Response for Gandhi Bhawan was organized by the Panjab University in association with DRONAH; Development and Research organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage on 7th July 2016. This workshop was third in the series and aimed at building the capacity of the local staff to prepare and respond to emergencies that may result from hazards such as earthquakes and fires.

The workshop started with the briefing of emergency response team for Gandhi Bhawan on their roles and responsibilities. The team consisted of the overall coordinator and sub-teams responsible for rescue, building and infrastructure, administration and supplies, salvage of objects and communication. This was followed by presentations on emergency preparedness planning and a special lecture on first aid to cultural heritage in times of emergency by Madhusudan Singh, a disaster management expert from Agra. Lecture on fire safety and demonstration on the use of various types of fire extinguishers was also conducted by the fire officers.

A practical exercise on the evacuation of visitors and staff to the designated assembly area, salvage of objects to the temporary storage area and in-situ protection of architectural fragments and objects was conducted. Use of equipment for emergency response such as helmets, masks, gloves, plastic sheets, CSI tape etc. was also done. As part of this project, these equipment have been specially procured by the university and kept in specially designated storage area for use in case of emergency.

An exhibition on the disaster risk assessment of the six key buildings of the Panjab University was also organized by the Chitkara School of Planning and Architecture, Chitkara University. The work was an outcome of eighth semester students directed and conceived by its faculty. The exhibition will be on till 14th July 2016 at the Fine Arts Museum of Punjab University.