Honoring India’s Modern Heritage

Earlier this year in Ahmedabad, a group of professionals from the Indian subcontinent—architects, conservators, and academics—gathered beneath the sweeping concrete canopy of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Stadium to study the building up close. The visit was part of the Getty Conservation Institute’s course Modern Architecture Conservation in India.

Designed in the 1960s by architect Charles Correa and engineer Mahendra Raj, the SVP Stadium was built to host national and international cricket matches, but its construction was more than functional—it was visionary.

After India gained independence from British rule in 1947, the newly sovereign nation sought not only to rebuild but to redefine itself, and concrete became a key material in this transformation. The bowl-shaped stadium is made entirely of exposed reinforced concrete, featuring a cantilevered roof that “floats” above the stands with no columns to interrupt the view. Formed from a series of folded plates, the striking geometric roof was groundbreaking for India at the time, with the stadium as a whole standing as a marvel of engineering.

Concrete, beyond being economical and adaptable to the local climate, came to symbolize innovation, optimism for the future, and renewed national pride in mid-20th-century India. Within this context, Correa was part of a group of local and international architects—including B.V. Doshi, Le Corbusier, Raj Rewal, and Achyut Kanvinde—who helped shape India’s post-independence modernist architecture and, in turn, its new identity.

While admiring the building’s structural integrity and overall significance, course participants also noted its weathering and the condition of the reinforced concrete. In 2020, the SVP Stadium—which had been degrading due to deferred maintenance—received a grant from Getty’s Keeping It Modern initiative. The funding supported the preparation of a conservation management plan, a framework for the building’s ongoing care that emphasizes not only its physical features but also its intangible values—the cultural, historical, social, and emotional significance that gives the site meaning.

Heritage architect Annabel Lopez led the preparation of the plan, and at the stadium she guided the group through the process, revealing what it takes to preserve a modern monument—and why it matters.

“The conservation of modern architecture is essential, for it embodies the social ideals, technological innovations, and cultural aspirations of the 20th century,” says Lopez, who served as a specialist consultant and advisor for the course. “Without it, we risk erasing the very narrative of our recent past.”

Both an architectural landmark and a haven for cricket lovers, the stadium holds a special place in the Ahmedabad community. Yet even with growing appreciation, many modern buildings across South Asia are still at risk of deterioration, demolition, or insensitive alterations.

Modern Lessons

To address this issue, the Conservation Institute partnered with the Heritage Academy at the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) to develop the Modern Architecture Conservation in India course. Through lectures, demonstrations, exercises, and site visits to modern heritage places such as the SVP Stadium, it provided specialized knowledge and technical skills previously inaccessible to conservation professionals in the region.

For conservation architect Abhilasha Sharma, the preservation of modern buildings was only briefly touched upon in her master’s program. The course enabled her to explore it in depth. “I think it is the need of the hour to give credit to modern architecture conservation in this nation and to spread awareness,” she says. “I joined with the hope that this course would equip me well to do the same.”

From January to February 2025, the course brought together 23 mid-career professionals for four weeks of online learning followed by one week of intensive programming in Ahmedabad, where the Center for Heritage at CEPT University served as both host and knowledge partner.

During the online phase, participants completed weekly modules that included video lectures, short assignments, and live online sessions with national and international experts, fostering meaningful conversation and deepening participants’ understanding and appreciation of modern architectural conservation.

“Modern architecture as heritage is a little-appreciated concept in the Indian context, particularly due to the rich legacy of built heritage that spans across many centuries and colors the idea of heritage from the perspective of its age,” explains Parul Munjal, former director of INTACH Heritage Academy. “The course was not only instrumental in building the capacity of a group of professionals and academics in addressing concerns around modern architecture and its conservation, but also created a network that is helping them debate, discuss, and intervene when facing challenges in the field.”

Plan for the Future

In Ahmedabad, a carefully curated program of in-person lectures, hands-on exercises, and site visits followed. Participants took trips to local icons of modern built heritage, including the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, the National Institute of Design, Tagore Hall, Sangath Office, and Villa Sarabhai.

They also toured CEPT University’s Faculty of Architecture building, designed by B. V. Doshi—the first Indian architect to receive the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize—where faculty, students, and alumni currently lead conservation efforts.

Established as the School of Architecture in 1962, the Faculty of Architecture building served as a learning opportunity for architecture and engineering students even during its construction, and over time, as a center for built environment education, it gave birth to the building culture that informed and enriched the modern architecture of Ahmedabad.

“Conservation of the building serves the same purpose, which is to inform the new generation of architects, engineers, and other built environment professionals about how to conserve these buildings,” says Jigna Desai, professor at the Faculty of Architecture at CEPT, and 2024–25 Conservation Guest Scholar at the Getty Conservation Institute. “In doing so, it carries forward the spirit of patronage of the very citizens of Ahmedabad, who were responsible for bringing modern architecture to Ahmedabad.”

Led by conservation experts and site managers, these visits complemented step-by-step guidance on conservation planning. To apply their learnings, course participants worked in groups to develop a mock conservation management plan for the Mill Owners’ Association Building, designed by Le Corbusier, one of the most influential pioneers of modern architecture worldwide.

The exercise sparked engaging discussions among the teams and with facilitators, including professionals from the Conservation Institute’s Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative (CMAI), who led planning for the course.

“We selected the Mill Owners’ Association Building as our case study because it is a well-known early work of modern architecture in India—its social history is intimately related to Ahmedabad's important textile industry, and it is constructed entirely of exposed reinforced concrete,” adds Chandler McCoy, architect and manager of CMAI. “The participants had a lot of issues to consider, a lot of history to explore, and some real-life problems to confront."

Concrete Steps

Ahmedabad was once a hub for modern architecture, but India’s modernist footprint reached far beyond the city. Le Corbusier’s legacy extended to Chandigarh, designed in the 1950s as India’s first planned modernist city, with wide boulevards, organized sectors, and civic buildings noted for their exposed concrete and seamless integration of indoor and outdoor space. Today, the city is an active site for the Conservation Institute’s research for the conservation of concrete buildings.

Several years ago, the Institute hosted a workshop in India to discuss the conservation of three museums designed by Le Corbusier—two located in India and one in Japan. These included the Sanskar Kendra Museum in Ahmedabad and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, the latter of which was also a Keeping It Modern grantee. Both buildings are distinguished by their concrete frames and columns and brick tiles, emblematic of Le Corbusier’s architectural style.

The conservation of reinforced concrete is a key interest of CMAI, which has contributed a number of publications on the topic. For the course, they used the Conservation Institute’s publication Conservation Principles for Concrete of Cultural Significance as a go-to guide.

“Reinforced concrete is one of the defining materials of 20th-century architecture, yet exposed reinforced concrete is notoriously difficult to conserve,” highlights Margherita Pedroni, Italian-qualified architect and heritage expert in the CMAI team. “Achieving durable repairs while preserving cultural significance demands specialized skills and greater awareness. Developing these capacities is one of the central goals of our course.”

One full day was dedicated to concrete, with lectures, a lab session and demonstrations at CEPT, and a site visit to the SVP Stadium, where extensive studies have been conducted. The cohort examined deterioration patterns, assessment techniques, and conservation methods in action.

Ancient Cities, New Ideas

Recognition of modern heritage is growing in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh, but some course participants come from regions where modernist architecture remains overshadowed. While India is famed for its rich heritage of ancient temples, palaces, and fortresses, conservation professionals are just as eager to study, protect, and conserve its modern identity.

“It is definitely a challenge to highlight modern architecture where the older heritage is already so celebrated,” says Sharma, who arrived from Jaipur, a World Heritage city (as is Ahmedabad) prized for its city wall and medieval Hindu architecture. “I am planning to spread awareness through curating talks and walks and research further into how this movement evolved in my city and why it is important to recognize this now.”

Munjal sees this same spirit in the rest of the cohort: “The professionals and academics who completed the course are now enthused towards contributing to this discourse, along with encouraging more training and capacity building on the subject matter,” she says. “This is certainly a step towards imagining a better future for modern architecture in India.”