IA&B - APR 2010
49
book review
The Royal Treatment An excellent documentation on the conservation works that took place on the Ahhichatragarh Fort at Nagaur, which also received the UNESCO Award of Excellence, a first in India.
E
mbodying the struggle to success, frustration to immense joy, rudderlessness to absolute clarity of destination and above all the tremendous sense of commitment by all involved, the book ‘Architecture of a Royal Camp: The Retrieved Fort of Nagaur,’ is a brilliantly compiled documentation of the extensive research and work done on the fort. Beginning with a comprehensive historical background, an introduction to the region and a word about the spawning of the conservation initiative, the book progresses to the chapter titled ‘Articulative Fortwall’. This chapter beautifully highlights, with the help of plans, the fort wall against the entire fort campus. The chapter details the construction of the Fortwall and the elements it encompasses. Various illustrations in the form of plans, sections and axonometric views make it very easy to understand the mechanism of how elements like baori and the aqueduct walls worked. Furthermore, the section discussing pols and bastions has excellent detailed description of various arches and the techniques used. Besides being extensively descriptive of the various parts of the entire fort, the book elaborates on ideologies, traditions and construction of this region. One comes across several interesting facts like how people here made up for the absence of foliage in this region by making intricate designs in the buildings and also how the intelligent use of pre-formed and pre-carved building elements existed even then. An entire chapter dedicated to water, aptly dubbed ‘Water Nuances,’ describes the designs and techniques, which ensured the most effective use of the scarcely available resource. The descriptions range from systems that were purely functional in nature to the ones that added to the aesthetic values. The last chapter describes in detail the conservation strategies and approach used by the architects. It starts with a comparative study of the pre-conservation (1993) and post-conservation plans (2008). To conclude, the book is a good read for anyone who wants information on the Ahhichatragarh fort in context with its history, conservation strategies and present day use. The book is also a good guide to anyone who wants to learn about the whole process of conservation in terms of documentation, authenticity, historic relevance, interventions and adaptive reuse considering future growth.
– Reviewed by Ar. Prachee Mishra
Book: Architecture of a Royal Camp: The Retrieved Fort of Nagaur Authors: Minakshi Jain, Kulbhushan Jain and Meghal Arya Publisher: AADI Centre Language: English ISBN: 978-8190852807