Our Faculties

Ajay Khare

Prof. (Dr.) Ajay Khare, Conservation Architect and presently Professor at School of Planning and Architecture , Bhopal, educated at Delhi, York and Leicester, a Fulbright Fellow at USA and Charles Wallace Fellow at UK, has rich teaching experience as Professor/ Dean at premier institutes of India and abroad, the Founder Director of School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal of MHRD, Govt. of India and also former whole time member of the National Monuments Authority. He has authored the widely acclaimed book ‘Temple Architecture of Eastern India’ published in 2005. For this book he received ArchiDesign award for best written work in Architecture during 2007. He has edited many conference proceedings and written articles, research papers and book reviews in national and international journals. He edits international journals called ‘CONTEXT’ as member of the board of editors, 'SPANDREL' and ‘ABACUS’ as Chief Editor. The most notable among the conservation projects to his credit is the Conservation of City Palace Complex, Udaipur funded by Getty Foundation USA. Prof. Khare was nominated by Government of India to take part in India-Yale Leadership Programme along with twenty six Directors of National Institutes and Vice-Chancellors of Central Universities. As a Fulbright fellow he took part in first ever India-US Higher Education Summit at Washington and visited many top universities of the USA including Harvard, Columbia, Pennsylvania and Georgetown University and interacted for academic collaborations.


Dr.Ajay Khare

Professor

B.Arch (Lucknow university, UP)

M.Arch (SPA  New Delhi)

M.Arch ( York, UK)

Ph.D (Leicester , UK)

Work Experience: Teaching , Research and Administration  28 years

Institutional Research:

Institutional Responsibilities: Founder- Director of School of Planning and architecture, Bhopal.

Research Interest: 

For more details

Email : ajaykhare@spabhopal.ac.in

Vishakha Kawathekar

Head of the Department of the Masters in Architecture (Conservation) programme at School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal and is instrumental in establishing the Centre for Cultural Knowledge Systems, at School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. Qualified as a Conservation architect, she has worked as a conservation consultant for Archaeological Survey of India. She has taught in various graduate and post graduate programmes in the Department of Architectural Conservation, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi; Dept of Museology, National Museum Institute, Delhi and Dept of Recreational Architecture & Urban Regeneration of Jamia Milia Islamia, Delhi. She is a key resource person for teachers training programmes and capacity building programmes for government officials related to conservation in India. Her doctoral research is on “Relevance of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act 1958 with its amendments and its applicability in the changed scope and advancements in the field of Heritage and its protection”. Her research concentrates on Traditional Knowledge Systems and works associated with perception, interpretation and memory.  She has recently published the book "Legal framework for the protection of built heritage in India". She is the Principle Investigator for many collaborative institutional projects including Heritage Impact Assessment for the Khajuraho World Heritage Site, and Ashapuri Temple Project. She has more than fifteen years of experience in collaborative research projects including international projects with Cardiff University, UK and NTNU, Norway. 


Dr.Vishakha Kawathekar

Professor 

B.Arch (MIET Gondia / Nagpur university)

M.Arch - Architectural Conservation (SPA  New Delhi)

Ph.D - Museology (National museum institute, New Delhi)

Work Experience: Teaching , Research and Administration  26 years

Institutional Research: Ashapuri Temple Project, Perception, Interpretation and Memory 

Institutional Responsibilities :Coordinator, Center for Cultural Knowledge Systems 

Research Interests: Traditional Knowledge systems

For more details

Email :vishakhakawathekar@spabhopal.ac.in

Ramesh P Bhole

Ramesh P Bhole, heads Centre for Cultural Knowledge systems (CCKS), at SPA Bhopal and is also the Coordinator of Conservation programme. With over 10 years of teaching experience in various institutions across India and 12 years practical experience at conservation sites across India, he currently teaching in Department of Conservation at SPA Bhopal. Working as a Conservation Architect, he shifted to Sites undertaking Conservation works at an early stage and worked with masons and craftsmen. He has worked in many Conservation projects across India including Our Lady of the Mount Goa, Maheshwar Wadaas, Maheshwar , Gohar Mahal Bhopal and Raja Mahal Chanderi among others. His strength in research is Structures and historic building Materials. He has conducted many material based workshops including Lime workshops for the students and professionals in many institutes across India. He has received Charles Wallace India Trust Scholarship for Heritage studies and ICCROM grant to participate in the 2nd International course on Wood Conservation in the World Heritage site of Khizi, Russia. He is currently engaged in the doctoral research titled “Traditional Construction Transformation In Brick And Stone Masonry, Timber And Iron: Case Study Of Historic Structures in Bhopal State Since 1818 - 1947 AD” at SPA Bhopal. 


Ramesh P Bhole

Assistant Professor

B.Arch (MACT/MANIT, Bhopal)

M.Arch - Architectural Conservation (SPA  New Delhi)

Ph.D - Architectural Conservation (Ongoing - SPA, Bhopal)

Work Experience: Teaching , Research and Administration -  12 years, Industry  - 12 years Teaching

Institutional Research: Structures and historic building materials.

Institutional Responsibilities :Coordinator, Center for Cultural Knowledge Systems & Co-ordinator, M. Arch. (Conservation) Degree Programme 

Research Interests: History of Architecture, Construction techniques, and the knowledge systems. 

For more details

Email :rameshbhole@spabhopal.ac.in 

Shweta Vardia

Shweta Vardia, Conservation Architect and presently working as Assistant Professor in Conservation Department at School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. She has been working in the area of Conservation for the past 16 years. She has done her B.Arch from School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. She has been awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship from European Union to pursue Masters Degree in Structural Analysis of Historic constructions at CTU Prague and the University of Minho, Portugal. She has professionally worked with various International and National conservation project with eminent conservation architects and firms. Among which the prominent ones are: working with National Park Service, USA, as a US/ICOMOS intern on the Covered wooden bridges in the New Hampshire and Vermont in the USA. She has worked on the Conservation Master Plan of City Palace, Udaipur funded by the Getty Foundation. Her work on the restoration of Nagar Khana ki Chattri at City Palace was highly appreciated at UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards 2008. Presently she is pursuing her Ph.D. at University of Georgia, Athens, USA and her area of research is further exploring the environmental design and planning concept with focus in heritage sites in India. 


Shweta Vardia

Assistant Professor

B.Arch (SPA  New Delhi)

M.Sc - Structural Analysis of Historic Construction

Ph.D - Architectural Conservation (Ongoing - University of Georgia, USA)

Work Experience: Teaching , Research and Industry -  16 years

Institutional Research: Conservation practices and traditional materials, History and Settlement Study, and Building Construction and services. 

Research Interests: Environmental design and planning concept with focus in heritage sites in India.

For more details

Email :swetavardia@spabhopal.ac.in 

Apoorva Pillay

Assistant Professor

B.Arch (MANIT Bhopal)

M.Arch - Architectural Conservation (SPA Bhopal)

Work Experience: Industry and Project Management - 8 years

Institutional Research: Ashapuri Temple Project and Research paper on "Understanding the  Significance of Dhar(India) through Ancient Text."

Institutional Responsibilities: Member of Institution Innovation Council (IIC).

Research interests: Iconography, ancient gardens, and  photogammetry.

For more details

Email :apoorva.pillay@spabhopal.ac.in