Capturing the Spirit of Singular Places: A Biographical Approach to Historic Building Recording

SUMMARY

I am fortunate enough to spend my working life exploring many different buildings, from medieval manor houses to 20th century football stadia, as part of a development-led brief to record them for posterity. This provides the opportunity to access places that few members of the public (other than squatters and urban explorers) ever see. It also involves many hours picking round derelict hulks with the rain coursing down the walls. This work feeds into the undeniable research value that arises from the study of individual buildings and how they inform our understanding of past societies and social practices. Conversely, there is also the less classifiable output of our attempting to capture the ‘spirit’ of a building prior to its demolition or conversion. Whilst the former is prioritised in guidance literature and methodologies, the latter arguably comprises the majority of what we do. What follows is an attempt to reconcile these two mindsets, with what can be termed a ‘biographical’ approach to historic building recording.     

Zada Burab:A Holy Land

ZadaBurabisamountainvalleysandwichedbetweentheShiquanheNgari.WhenIwasthere,thenarrowvalleywasfilledwithcolorfulsutrastreamersflut-teringhighabovetCntsandcats.ItwasanoceanofPeople,whocameforaritUalwalkaroundtheholymountain.SomespuntheirPrayerwheels;otherst…     

Patent Places: Size Matters

In this paper I investigate the United States urban system of technical advance by analysis of metropolitan patent data. Residents of metropolitan areas obtain most of the patents awarded to Americans and the largest areas predominate, signifying that urbanization externalities facilitate invention. The advantages of large areas arise from lopsided concentrations of technologically intensive manufacturing and an uneven distribution of well-educated people. Location with respect to the traditional manufacturing belt also plays a role. Metropolitan residents in the manufacturing belt remain the most industrious inventors. The contribution of leading educational and research institutions to technical advance is manifest in small urban centers and outside the traditional manufacturing belt.     

Jokhang Monastery:Holy Land in Lhasa

Iam-alamawiththeJokhangMonasteryinLhasa.IwasborninComaiTownship,DoilungdeqenCounty.Uponmygraduationfromthecountymiddleschool.IenteredtheTibetBuddhistCollege.Beforelong,IfollowedBomeQambaLhozhub,thecollegepresident.totheJokhangMonasteryandhavestayedhereforeightyears.TheJokhangMonasteryisoneoftheoldestofitskindinTibet.ItwasbuiltduringthereignoftheTibetanKingSongtsanGambo,some1,300yearsago.CONSTRUCTIONOFTHEMONASTERY.Leg-endhasitthatthesiteoftheJokhangMonasterywasalakenamedWo…     

Crows: From Holy to Evil Birds

Ridingonhorseback,IpassedDagarVillagebytheNyemo-QuxuHighway.A.truckbehindmewasobviouslyinahurryonitswaytosomewhere,andthedriverkeptpressingthehorntourgememakewayforhim.Allofasudden,adarkcloudrosefromnearbywalnuttreestowardthebluesky.Itwasactuallyadarkcloudofcrows.Outofcuriosity,Imovedtothewalnuttrees.Icountedcrownestsandfoundtheynumberedmorethan100.SKILLSOFCROWS.Crowsaregoodatbuildingnests.Eachnestiscomposedofsevenlayers,andeachlayerisbuiltwithmaterialsdifferentfromotherlayers.Notall…     

Warm nationalism: Mapping and imagining the Jordanian nation

In 2002, fourteen years after their withdrawal from the West Bank, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan revealed its new national program known as “Jordan First.” The Palace initiated this campaign as part of its shifting national discourse which now sought to actively unite Palestinian-Jordanians and East Jordanians living to the east of the Jordan River. This campaign, and particularly its common map-logo symbol, has evolved over the last fourteen years into a rather “banal” national discourse and symbol. However, Jordanian nationalism and the everyday symbols of the Jordan First campaign are not forgotten. Instead, for many Jordanians, the campaign is a reminder of “hot” geopolitics and palpable identity politics. Drawing from Michael Billig's theorizations of banal nationalism, I examine the relationship between banal and hot forms of nationalism in Jordan and argue that scholarly work on banality needs to focus attention on the connections between these categories. As such, I suggest that framing nationalism as something quite “warm” can in many instances more aptly capture the complexity of nationalism. Using a multi-method approach that includes analyses of national maps and map-logos of Jordan and in-depth interviews with Jordanians about their national identities, I highlight the connections of hot and banal nationalism. Through my analysis, I also show that a Jordanian national identity is multi-scalar, merging Arab supranationalism with Jordanian and Palestinian identities; and thus I also extend Billig's work to examine the multiple scales of nationalism.     

圣地秘宝 最接近天空的宝藏展中的造像

佛教源于印度,7世纪传入西藏以后,历经1300余年的发展,一方面吸收了印度、尼泊尔和中原佛教的精华;另一方面又融入了本土宗教——苯教的诸多元素,使得佛教在西藏脱胎换骨,形成了独树一帜的藏传佛教。     

Dear Hong Kong:Your Have Our Holy Blessing!

BeforeandafterHongKong'sreturntothemotherlandonJuly1,TibetwasimmersedinhaDDVce1ebrations.INNORTHERNTIBET.OnthemorningofJune20,some10,000Tibetans,inleatherTibetanrobesandwearinggo1dandsilveradornments,gatheredtoperformGorzhuangdanceinthevastNorthernGrassla…