I am writing to invite you to join me if you can at the "Future for the Modern Past: Heritage-led Development for IIM Ahmedabad" International Webinar on April 13-14, 2023.
Program information is here and attached: https://www.icomos.org/images/WEBINAR_ON_IIM-Ahmedabad_Final.pdf (David Fixler and I are both speaking on Friday 4/14).
Registration Link here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElc-yvqTIjGdxz2W4v8XUcasmpUW_tvDbc
The webinar is organized by the National Scientific Committee of 20 C (NSC-20C) of ICOMOS India with partnering institute USM's Kamla Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for Architecture & Environmental Studies (KRVIA), Mumbai, in collaboration with the Emerging Professionals Working Group (EPWG), ICOMOS India.
As a staff member (planner and capital project manager) of a public institution I will be focusing my comments on the importance of early relationship building between administrators, faculty and student/alumni advocates. Community support for conservation is critical both because administrators pay attention to people who care about a facility, and also because it takes time to engage faculty from multiple disciplines in understanding the campus as a living laboratory for research that can benefit students' education in addition to housing them. I try to articulate why faculty, administrators and development officers should care about spending funds on existing facilities (rather than new space). Enduring discomforts associated with displacement that doesn't result in new building is always a challenge. Connecting conservation to sustainability broadly speaking, to carbon mitigation and student learning in multiple disciplines (materials science, environmental sciences, architecture, landscape design, public history, construction management, etc.) makes it more attractive.
I will also share 3 case studies at a very high level. They provide an overview of the impacts on building configuration, systems upgrades, accessibility and conservation. These also emphasize the human component of improvement – color, novel programmatic goals, and good design. And of course as a public university we are always extremely constrained by budgets. And our buildings suffer from the presence of PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls) in construction joints, which are difficult to manage.
Many thanks and please feel free to share! -Ludmilla
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Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham AIA
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA
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