Ratish Nanda

Since 2007, Aga Khan Trust for Culture has been undertaking two major urban conservation projects in India - centered at the Humayun’s Tomb World Heritage Site in Delhi and at the Qutb Shahi Tombs at Golconda, Hyderabad. The conservation effort in Delhi has been in partnership with the Archaeological Survey of India and 25 years after the project in Delhi was commenced, AKTC remains the only private agency undertaking conservation of national monuments in India. 60 monuments spread across 300 acres in the national capital have been conserved and over 100 at Golconda, with craftsmen clocking over 1.5 million man-days of work. Conservation of monuments dating from the 14th century onwards has been coupled with significant environmental development and socio-economic development measures to enable these heritage assets to improve quality of life for local communities and the people of Delhi and Hyderabad. The lecture will explain the philosophy, process, and learning from these award winning initiatives.

This will be a hybrid event. You may attend in person (lunch will be provided), or join via Zoom. Register for the Zoom meeting.

Ratish Nanda, conservation architect, is India CEO for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. He heads the multi-disciplinary AKTC teams presently undertaking the two major award winning urban conservation projects in India: the Nizamuddin Urban Renewal Initiative, Delhi and the Qutb Shahi Heritage Park Conservation at Golconda, Hyderabad. For AKTC, he was earlier responsible for the Bagh-e Babur restoration (2002-07), in Kabul, Afghanistan and the garden restoration of Humayun’s Tomb (1999-2003). He has earlier worked for Historic Scotland in Edinburgh (1998-99) and been responsible for ICOMOS missions to Turkey, Iran and Nepal. He has lectured in over 20 countries and has a host of publications to his credit including the INTACH Publication, Delhi, The Built Heritage.  

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu. Please note, we require at least five (5) business days’ notice.