Moderne technologie conflicteert vaak met erfgoedwaarden. Tino Mager / TU Delft, illustreert juist hoe cultureel erfgoed en moderne technologie vruchtbaar kunnen samengaan. Paul Rabé / IIAS Leiden, onderzoekt hoe in Bangalore/India voortgaande urbanisering nu oude cultuurwaarden bedreigt.

‘Heritage as an Asset for Water Management’ by Tino Mager & ‘Water, Heritage and Local Perceptions of “Loss”: a Case Study of Whitefield, Bengaluru, India,’ by Paul Rabé.

Heritage as an Asset for Water Management, by Tino Mager

In the contemporary world the functional and heritage dimensions of water management are typically treated separately. Thus, engineers are concerned with supplying/treating water and governments with regulating water supply and use; while local communities may use water for recreation as well as in rituals and ceremonies. Many novel approaches to water management contributed to our current living conditions, but they have also led to many problems. Some solutions, for example, have had fatal environmental consequences, while others have affected certain parts of the population in a negative way. Modern technology often neglects approaches that have proven sustainable over centuries. Strategies that combine water-related heritage management with modern technology can enhance the societal relevance of heritage and can contribute to successfully shape the future. It is therefore important to make efforts to promote the understanding of heritage as an essential element in shaping our world and to combine the potentials of cultural heritage and modern technologies.

Water, Heritage and Local Perceptions of “Loss”:
a Case Study of Whitefield, Bengaluru, India, by Paul Rabé

Water bodies are an integral part of the natural heritage of cities. Water bodies and water systems, in so far as they have been shaped and engineered by humans throughout the ages -for purposes of transportation, basic human needs as well as rituals- may arguably also be considered as an integral part of the urban ‘built and cultural heritage’. In the Western world and parts of East Asia, cities have begun to recognize the heritage value of their water systems and to protect or restore these systems as part of urban revitalization plans. But in many parts of the developing world, the opposite trend is taking place. Here, creeks, canals, rivers and even entire lakes are being filled in to make way for development or are suffering pollution and neglect as unfortunate casualties of ‘modernization’. These trends are occurring in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru (Bangalore), where the elaborate system of water tanks and canals is being severely compromised by urbanization pressures. In my presentation, I will present the case study of Whitefield, an IT suburb of Bengaluru, which is facing multiple threats to its natural, built and cultural heritage – including its water heritage, but also its shrines and temples. I will share the findings of recent research I have conducted, together with Krupa Rajangam of the heritage NGO Saythu, investigating local residents’ and villagers’ perceptions of, and actions related to, their disappearing heritage.

Speakers

Tino Mager studied media technology in Leipzig and art history and communication science in Berlin, Barcelona and Tokyo; 2015 PhD in architectural history (Elsa Neumann Fellowship, Tiburtius Prize). After research stays in Japan and at the University of California, Los Angeles, he was a lecturer at the Technical University of Berlin and the ITU Istanbul, scientific assistant at the Chair of History and Theory of Architecture at the TU Dortmund and postdoctoral fellow of the Leibniz Association. Since 2017, Tino is postdoc at the Chair of History of Architecture and Urban Planning at TU Delft.

Paul Rabé is academic coordinator of the cities cluster at the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Leiden, which includes two networks of urban scholars: the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) and the Southeast Asia Neighborhoods Network (SEANNET). In addition, Paul is Senior Land Expert at the Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, where he heads the Urban Land Governance team. He is a political scientist by training, with a doctoral degree in policy, planning and development from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. One of his research and professional focal areas is the intersection of land policy and the management of water resources in urban and peri-urban areas.

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The ICOMOS lectures take place from 19h30 till 21h30.

Drinks and informal meal are served from 18h30.

ICOMOS members pay no entrance fee.

Non-members pay a € 5,00 entrance fee.

Meal and drinks are € 10,00 per person (members and non-members alike).

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