Architectural Conservation Beyond the Authenticity-Centred Paradigm: Perceptions, Processes and Prospects
Name of Event/Lecture
Architectural Conservation Beyond the Authenticity-Centred Paradigm: Perceptions, Processes and Prospects
Name of Speaker
Neel Kamal Chapagain
Location
SDE3 Level 4, LT421
You are cordially invited to attend the research seminar by Neel Kamal Chapagain:
Date: 7 Nov 2025
Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Venue: SDE3 Level 4, LT421
Architectural Conservation Beyond the Authenticity-Centred Paradigm: Perceptions, Processes and Prospects
Abstract:
Following the ‘GenZ protests’ on 8 and 9 September 2025, Nepal sees a massive reconstruction task ahead that involves a few buildings perceived as nation’s architectural heritage. Some of them had been restored just a few years ago following the devastation of the 2015 earthquakes. However, such repeated cycles of (re)construction and restoration are not new phenomena.
Accordingly, layers of restoration and even reconstruction at different times and contexts have yielded varying outcomes – sometimes restoring the same physical form and details, and in other times reincarnating the heritage with different physical characteristics. These are not random occurrences, but reflections of cultural perceptions and socio-political negotiations. This presentation will reflect on such nuances of varying perceptions of architectural heritage as well as processes of their conservation among the public and the professionals.
Amidst such nuances, this presentation attempts to explore possible prospects for conservation of architectural heritage in the 21st century. Such an exploration reflects on the conundrum of conservation – is conservation merely about restoring back the authenticity or is it also about charting sensible and sustainable built environment that sometimes may not squarely fit into the expectations of physical, material and historical authenticity as in the conventional notion of conservation.
The presentation will conclude with a brief reflection on the implication of these discourses on the education for architectural heritage conservation.
Neel Kamal Chapagain is an architect and heritage professional/educator who recently joined Kathmandu University, Nepal as a Professor. Until recently, he was engaged as a Professor at Ahmedabad University, where he served as the Director of the Centre for Heritage Management from 2017 to 2024. He had joined Ahmedabad University in 2013 and had led the process of setting up a graduate programme on Heritage Management (launched in 2015), a Journal of Heritage Management (launched in 2016), and an annual conference series on Heritage Management Education and Practice (since 2017).
He is also part of the UNESCO network of global facilitators for the 2003 UNESCO convention on safeguarding intangible cultural heritage, and had previously been a facilitator for a MOOC course on ICH and Sustainable Development (UNESCO and SDG Academy). He has also contributed to UNESCO’s Competence Framework for Cultural Heritage Management, particularly in framing a set of academic learning outcomes based on the draft competence framework.
He is also a visiting professor at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines. Recently, he taught as an international facilitator for the Mongolia Heritage Programme, jointly hosted by UNESCO Beijing Office, the Mongolian National University of Arts and Culture, Mongolian Government – Ministry of Culture, Tourism, Sports and Youth, with assistance from WHITRAP. critical dialogue and collaboration between Asia and Europe.