Safeguarding Kolkata's Living Heritage Through Design and Dialogue.
Sanchita Chatterjee, BS News Agency, Kolkata, 6th September 2025: The Calcutta Heritage Collective, in collaboration with School of Architecture, CEPT University, Ahmedabad, unveiled the Sovabazar Urban Conservation Exhibition at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity, bringing together conservation architects, developers, property owners and concerned citizens to reimagine one of North Kolkata's most culturally rich neighbourhoods.
The exhibition saw the culmination of a semester-long Conservation and Regeneration studio at CEPT University, led by some of the institution's most respected faculty members. As part of their immersive engagement, students traveled to Kolkata and studied the culturally vibrant neighbourhood in North Kolkata, Sovabazar-home to Kumartuli's sculptural traditions, colonial-era mansions and ancient canals - developing nuanced proposals that balance preservation with modernization. Their designs ranged from adaptive reuse and sensitive restoration to public realm enhancements and policy toolkits, shifting the conversation from monument-centric conservation to a holistic vision of urban revitalization.
The showcase opened with a formal inauguration, followed by insightful panel discussions featuring eminent voices in the field of conservation. The panelists included Vikas Dilawari from Mumbai, a conservation architect with more than three decades of experience and 19 UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Preservation to his credit; Gurmeet Sangha Rai from Delhi, Founding Director of CRCI and The Lime Centre, with projects spanning UNESCO World Heritage sites and national monuments, recipient of multiple UNESCO awards including the Award for Excellence in 2023, and Sonal Mithal from Ahmedabad, an academic and practitioner in heritage studies whose work bridges policy, practice and education. They were joined by Hemant Bangur & Darshan Dudhoria, eminent industrialists and heritage conservation enthusiasts from Kolkata who brought on-ground perspectives to the discussion.
The panel discussion was facilitated by faculty members, Ayan Sen and Sonal Mithal, who reflected on 'Conservation as a tool for sustainable urban future' and the idea of 'Architectural alchemy turning heritage into opportunity' with industry experts. Together, the speakers highlighted how urban conservation can be reimagined as a dynamic process that not only preserves the past but also shapes resilient futures for historic cities like Kolkata.