Krupali Krusche

Krupali Uplekar Krusche is the Director of DHARMA (Digital Historic Architecture and Material Analysis) and the Director DVARCA (Development and Advancement of Resilient Cities Alliance) research teams. She teaches urban and architectural design and her expertise is in digital documentation at the School of Architecture. Since 2007, she has founded and directed DHARMA Lab research specializing in 3D documentation of World Heritage Sites using advanced mapping techniques. This includes the digital documentation of Taj Mahal in partnership with the Archeological Survey of India (ASI), the world renowned Roman Forum in partnership with the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (now known as P.AR.Co), Ministry of Heritage and Culture and the Archaeological Service, Rome and her latest project started in Nov 2016, is documenting the Belvedere at the Vatican in collaboration with the Chief Architect at the Vatican Museums and the Sovrintendenza Beni Architettonici. These projects are part of the four-year agreement with the World Heritage Center of UNESCO.

Krusche has written multiple papers, conference proceedings and books through this research. A 3D Exhibit and International Conference, 'The Digital Future of World Heritage' was conducted in partnership with the United States Embassy to Italy, NASA, UNESCO and the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage in 2014. A Drawing Exhibit of the ongoing work was set up at the Villino Stroganoff, titled New drawings of the Vatican Belvedere, in collaboration with the Vatican and Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome in 2018.

The first of the two books on the forum have been published recently titled, From Pen to Pixel Studies of the Roman Forum and the Digital Future of World Heritage. Prof. Krusche co-authored a book with Vinayak Bharne titled Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India, Cambridge Scholars Press, fall 2012.

Beyond DHARMA, Krusche is the Director of DVARCA Lab. DVARCA, is a team of scientists and researchers tackling issues related to climate change, including sea level rise as it relates to regional and urban design interventions. This research brings together scientists that are examining incremental changes in sea level rise with practitioners who are planning and building transformative cities to build more resilient cities that can act as net zero, positive green contributors in reduction of carbon emission and heat island effects on the climate. The research includes planning tools like assessing onsite responses to transformations throughout the year being recorded and included with studies done by NASA Sea Level Change Team (N-SLCT). These studies are used to create comprehensive urban planning solutions on a regional scale for the site through faculty expertise at Notre Dame. The resulting proposal is generally to the level of an individualized local community with impact on the ground and local interventions for it. Local and National government collaboration is valuable.