2nd International Standing Conference

Chandigarh, 25^th February, 2016:- The 2^nd International Standing Conference of state parties comprising delegates of 6 countries who have joined hands in a Trans Border  Serial Nomination Dossier for UNESCO Heritage status for works of Le Corbusier was held today in City Beautiful at Hotel Mountview. The first conference was held in France in year 2015.

The conference was chaired by Sh. Vijay Dev, IAS, Adviser to the Administrator, U.T and attended by Sh. Anurag Agarwal, Secretary Tourism, Sh. Kapil Setia, Chief Architect, Sh. Jitender Yadav, Director Tourism, U.T, Smt. Sumit Kaur, Ex-Chief Architect, Sh. Pradeep Bhagat, Principal, Chandigarh College of Architecture and other Senior Officers from Chandigarh Administration as well as faculty from Chandigarh College of Architecture.

 The foreign delegates from the participating countries included Mr. Olivier Poisson from the Ministry of Culture & Communication, France, Mr. Michel Richard, Director, Le Corbusier Foundation, Ms. Benedict Gandini, Le Corbusier Foundation, Mr. Piet Geylens from Belgium, Mr. Yohiyuki Yamana and Mr. Chihei Suzuki from Japan, Mr. Oliver Martin from Switzerland and Friedemann Gschwind from Germany.

 The conference began with a welcome address from the Secretary Tourism in which he highlighted the united efforts made by various departments of Chandigarh Administration in restoring the Capitol Complex to its former glory followed by opening remarks from Mr. Olivier Poisson who briefed about the chain of events including the status of dossier after transmission of the updated elements to ICOMOS, the World Heritage body. Mr. Michel Richard briefed about the chain of events which are likely to take place during the year and informed that France’s Ambassador to UNESCO shall be inviting representatives of all participating countries in May this year for discussions before the meeting of the World Heritage body to be held from July 10-20, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey during which the heritage status shall be decided. Other delegates from the participating countries also shared their views and experiences in making of dossier and agreed in principle to meet in France in May, 2016.

 Sh. Kapil Setia, Chief Architect made a brief presentation on the Management Plan of the Capitol Complex which is India’s entry as part of Trans border Serial Nomination Dossier in which he highlighted the various efforts made by Chandigarh Administration in conservation and restoration of Capitol Complex.

 In the end, the valedictory address was given by the Adviser to the Administrator who highlighted the special bonding between the participating nations by way of sharing the common legacy of Le Corbusier and emphasized the need to learn from the experiences of each other regarding maintenance of the timeless architecture of Le Corbusier.