Between History and Memory, the Blue Jodhpur: Experiences of integrated documention and survey techniques

This book describes the outputs of a cooperation path between the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara and CEPT University of Ahmedabad, India. When we started this experience, in 2013, we firstly identified the crucial features of a possible educational approach in dynamic and changing contexts such as those of Global South Countries. In order to address this topic, this book presents the results of the educational project developed in the Blue City of Jodhpur (India) as an academic cooperation involving professors, researchers and young students from the two countries, local authorities and professionals. The book aims at examining the role that heritage documentation and representation can play in emerging countries such as India if they are implemented as joint activities involving different stakeholders. Jodhpur, the so-called “Blue City”, is an outstanding example of the extremely relevant role of mixed research and documentation methods applied in a context where tangible and intangible heritage are closely linked and in a great risk of loss, due to population pressure, growing tourism and other threats. The book presents several on-field approaches concerning visions about cultural heritage documentation in terms of research, future directions, methodologies and working tools in the field of education for heritage preservation and enhancement. As the reader will understand the workshops experience have been organized over a period of five years, consisting in research and on-field surveys carried out by the group of students supervised by professors coming from the two institutions. During the last year the workshop was open to students with a background of design coming from the University of Ferrara as well as to students of urban management of CEPT University. In these workshops, different urban areas of the historical city center have been analyzed and surveyed, setting up a methodology able to meet the main needs of knowledge, understanding, refurbishment and conservation. In this direction, integrated survey processes were tested and applied in order to provide tools for an overall “reading” of the uniqueness of the local heritage and to point out possible conservation strategies.