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Our Ref.: TP/GJ/85 |
Paris, 21 December 2022 |
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For the attention of: |
Heritage Alert – Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Old Campus
Dear Sir,
ICOMOS, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, is the preeminent organization representing professionals involved in conserving the world’s heritage. With a membership of over 11 000 members from 153 countries, ICOMOS advocates for the preservation and conservation of buildings and sites and is an advisory body to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.
Already in January 2021, we wrote to your predecessor Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla and issued a worldwide Heritage Alert, our most consequential expressional of concern, to amplify awareness of the threat to the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) Old Campus and offering the full scope of ICOMOS’ expertise to preserve this iconic architectural legacy.
ICOMOS is therefore deeply distressed at the IIMA Board of Governors announcement of 3 November 2022, stating its intent to “not continue with any further restoration of the faculty blocks, classroom complex, and dorms other than D15”, opting instead for a “reconstruction of the faculty blocks, classroom complex, and the peripheral dorms 16 to 18 with, the same exterior façade, a seismically safe structure, and non-major renovation of the internal space to improve its functionality to suit the needs of the users.”
Guided by the themes of technological advancement, nation building and Indian identity, the IIMA Old Campus combines Modernism with Indian tradition. Architect Louis Kahn, who designed the IIMA Old Campus with the celebrated Indian architects B.V. Doshi and Anant Raje, was an American of Estonian origin, who achieved international acclaim for his works in the US, India, Bangladesh and Israel. His contribution to Yale, MIT, Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania links him to generations of global Indians who have been, are and will continue to be part of these eminent institutions.
The Old Campus itself is linked with the lives of many eminent Indian dignitaries such as the distinguished scientist Vikram Sarabhai. Prof. B.V. Doshi, who co-designed the campus, became the first Indian architect to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, considered among the most prestigious prizes in architecture. His association with Louis Kahn and this campus is in itself a significant intangible heritage, as is its association with numerous eminent global Indian Alumni that have excelled around the world.
Following the loss of other internationally significant architectural creations in India, such as the Hall of Nations in Delhi, and current threats to many more, such as the Kala Academy of Goa, we are calling upon the Board of Governors and Alumni Association of this eminent institution to take further time to reflect, plan with what exists and consider the professional opinion of those who can help you balance the current needs of the campus whilst maintaining the built heritage.
As an international advisory body, we call again on the IIMA Board of Governors and Director:
- to bestow on the entire IIMA Old Campus the highest degree of cultural and architectural significance and proceed to treat its remaining original features according to internationally accepted standards and procedures of heritage conservation;
- to commit to comprehensively document the entire extant original IIMA Campus (building interiors, exteriors, site and landscape) in a format suitable for long term archival storage accessible internationally for posterity and future research;
- to actively undertake and support the collection of original documents associated with the original campus design and construction for archival storage accessible internationally and coordinated with other archives that hold original IIMA design and construction related records for the original campus
These concerns and this letter are also fully supported by DOCOMOMO international – international network of specialists dedicated to the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement.
ICOMOS, together with its Indian National Committee and International Scientific Committee on Twentieth Century Heritage, as well as DOCOMOMO International, and their experts continue to stand ready to provide support to the IIMA to accomplish the above.
In nations around the world, large parts of cities and university campuses have been and are being destroyed before their value is recognized years, if not decades, later by when it is too late. That is why ICOMOS is again raising this alert with you before such destruction takes place so that we can protect the legacy of this rich heritage of the world for future generations.
| Teresa Patricio President of ICOMOS |
Navin Piplani President of ICOMOS India |
| Jack Pyburn President of the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Twentieth Century Heritage |
Uta Pottgiesser Chair DOCOMOMO International |