For conservation architect Vikas Dilawari, the path to heritage was not paved with grand ambitions but marked by quiet awe. “The first impression of CSMT was during our school days when my parents took me to town—I was awestruck by the scale and detailing of it,” he recalls. It was a moment of wonder, the kind that doesn’t fade. Just like the structures he now spends his life protecting.
Over the years, Dilawari has helmed some of India’s most meticulous restoration efforts, from Mumbai’s Flora Fountain to the Opera House, and yet he resists the idea of being ‘inspired’ by a single monument. “All sites have something to teach,” he says. He further adds, “And as our work is mostly in restoring other persons’ creations, we try to understand the intent of the architect who designed it, and try to wear the same shoes—thinking how the original architect would have integrated present-day needs and services into the heritage building he created back then as architecture.”
In a country constantly building upward and outward, the question of whether heritage can exist alongside modernity is more urgent than ever. Dilawari’s answer is simple: it depends on intent. “Yes, it can—provided there is a good urban design brief, and the need to improve the city or site is the determining factor, rather than plain commercial interest,” he asserts. He points to early 20th century Bombay—an era when civic improvements were rooted in public health and urban well-being. “This architecture of yesterday was aimed at improving the living conditions and quality of life of the city, and is today’s heritage. If similar things happen now, it would be a welcome change.”
At its core, conservation is not about nostalgia. It’s about continuity. “Architecture is always the mirror of society,” he explains. “The heritage buildings depict that mirror of the society then and has a strong component of climate and community—as these two are important along with the availability of the material of construction that shapes it.”
Yet today, that mirror is fogged by unchecked development. “They are at crossroads,” he says, when asked about the relationship between art, architecture, and heritage. “City’s needs are not paramount but individual profits of developers dominate. Urban design, good planning and quality of life and social responsibility is lost.”
Despite these challenges, what keeps Dilawari going is not just his craft but a quote that has stayed etched in his mind—and on his phone—for over a decade: “It is good not because it’s old. It’s old because it’s good.”
Vikas adds, “Our heritage was built with love and care and that’s why it has lasted and served so well. I wish the same could be true for new construction too.”
Also Read: #WorldHeritageDay Sonali Rastogi on heritage as a living, breathing continuum
