Integrated Site Management Plan for Srirangapatna, Karnataka- Ongoing.

SUI is engaged in design and policy interventions in Srirangapatna to explore the cultural, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability in managing urban heritage. With a perspective that places have complex ecologies that need to be nurtured and sustained, SUI has expanded the idea of heritage beyond monuments to the intersections of nature, culture, and the built environment. SUI views local knowledge, spatial and building practices, and landscape interpretations of hydrological systems as integral to the cultural landscape of a place. Identifying such “heritage” is a collaborative effort with local residents, also helping recognize livelihood forms, practices, and skills that have been lost. Efforts to develop a heritage-sensitive town plans based and reviving and adapting traditional construction technologies all integrate heritage conservation with design, development planning, and natural resource management. SUI’s minimalist design and planning interventions are aiming to enhance local economic development, while enabling local populations to express their historically derived placed-based identities. SUI is involved in a range of studies, policies, and design interventions for Srirangapatna through extensive community and stakeholder consultations. They include sustainable tourism development, redesign of public spaces, adaptive reuse of historic structures, sustainable designs for infrastructure and public facilities, redevelopment of common property resources, design of street signage, renovating the interior of homes, and the design of movable public performance spaces.

Partners

• Archaeological Survey of India.

Publication

• Sustainable Conservation and Development of Srirangapatna Heritage Town. Monograph prepared for the Department of Archaeology, Heritage, and Museums, Government of Karnataka, India, March 2007.