Gladstone’s Land: the changing face of Edinburgh’s Royal Mile

SUMMARY: This paper presents the results of recent archaeological research into the building known as Gladstone’s Land on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. The aim of the research was to examine to what extent historical fabric had survived in light of extensive historical intervention. The building is a surviving example of Edinburgh’s Old Town urban architecture, which is characterized by tall structures with a shop front and densely occupied residential spaces. The paper presents evidence of the development of the building from the 16th century to its conservation in the 20th century. This development involved the replacement of formerly timber elements in stone and the creation of ornate painted interiors. The history of the building and the archaeological evidence embedded within it offer evidence of the life and changing architectural trends of Scotland’s capital. It also adds to our current understanding of heritage practice in the 20th century, raising issues of authenticity and the social construction of visitor-oriented heritage.     

Rethinking architectural heritage conservation in post-disaster context

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of architectural heritage and its conservation in a post-disaster context by taking into account the interrelationship of form and function. To do this I borrow from the work of Laurajane Smith who argues that heritage is a cultural process linked to activities of remembering and identity formation. This definition requires us to move beyond the idea that heritage is merely tangible and asks us to acknowledge the importance of uses of material culture. Thus, I argue that the relationship between form and function should be central in understanding architectural heritage. The paper examines these issues with particular reference to examples from Banda Aceh post the 2004 Tsunami Disaster and, to do this, borrows some methods from architectural anthropology. The paper argues that the traditional architectural conservation practices, including adaptive reuse, that stress the importance of building forms should be expanded. Thus, the paper offers the idea of adaptive re-form or redesign where function is privileged to the extent that material form may be altered to accommodate the resurrection of traditional uses. This is practically important in post-disaster contexts and Southeast Asian cultural contexts, where materiality is viewed as impermanent.     

From verifiable authenticity to verisimilar interventions: Xintiandi,Fuxing SOHO,and the alternatives to built heritage conservation in Shanghai

ABSTRACT

The introduction of contemporary architecture into historic urban environments creates an open heritage discussion that includes the underlying relationship between development and conservation. This discussion requires theoretical clarification, as heritage conservation is frequently mistaken for other architectural design approaches that, even though they may operate within the historic environment as their primary source, do not comply with the complex definition of heritage authenticity used today. This article aimed to contribute to this debate, offering a characterization of such architectural design strategies operating through principles of verisimilitude that target authentication for tourists and the creative classes in a global city like Shanghai. Comparative studies of Xintiandi (Ben Woods, 2001) and Fuxing SOHO (Von Gerkan, Marg und Partner, 2015) provided an insight into the concepts of historic re-creation and abstract inheritance, currently used as ways of interpreting the historic residential typology of the Shanghai lilong according to the economic and political aims of the entrepreneurial model of governance. This allowed a critical evaluation of the growing attention paid to heritage in Shanghai in the last 25 years, and whether the substitution of the principle of authenticity for authentication has solved the contradictions between urban conservation and development in contemporary China.     

Theory and the history of cartography

Abstract

Cartographic history has been dominated by an empiricism that treats the nature of maps as self‐evident and which denies the presence of any theory. In contrast, this paper argues that theories lie at the root of all empirical study whether or not they are acknowledged. The linear, progressive model of cartographic development, for example, is not a law deduced from historical evidence; if it were it would be easily and quickly dismissed. It derives instead from our cultural beliefs concerning the nature of maps, which is to say from our unexamined theories. Historians of cartography need to be critical of their assumptions and preconceptions. Theoretical discussions in the history of cartography must address not whether we should use theory at all but to which theories we should adhere. It is inadequate simply to knock theories down. We must establish a debate in which old understandings of maps, of their creation, and of their use are replaced by better (that is, more consistent and coherent) theories.     

Colonial Representations and Carthaginian Archaeology

In spite of the interest generated by Phoenician‐Punic Archaeology, this area of study has always been underestimated by comparison with Classical Archaeology. One of the main reasons for this is the persistence of a colonial representation of the ancient Mediterranean which assumes Greek culture to be the supreme expression of civilization. Other groups may imitate it through an acculturation process: Hellenization. As we shall see, this representation pervades even the Phoenician‐Punic history and archaeology university textbooks. Starting with the various reasons leading to this situation, I aim to focus on the interpretation given to the ancient excavations at Carthage and, specifically, to its architectural and urban record, since this was the area of study where the prejudices about the Phoenician‐Punic culture found an (albeit misunderstood) archaeological proof. I shall argue that the misinterpretation of these excavations is the key to understanding later developments and the general underestimation of Phoenician‐Punic Archaeology.     

Investigation Techniques for the Seismic Response Assessment of Buildings Located in Historical Centers

ABSTRACT

It is an acknowledged fact that historical centers, given its significance from the cultural and architectural viewpoint, bring further challenges in terms of maintenance planning, survey, and safety assessment. The preparation of an adequate investigation plan and the extent of data to be collected is highly reliant on many aspects, such as the category of the architectonic asset, the importance of the heritage site, or the resources available, for example. In what regards the seismic response assessment of urban cultural heritage assets located in historical centers, the amount and detail of data also depend on this article, scale of assessment, and current state of conservation and occupation. Within this framework, this article provides an overview of the state of the art of investigation techniques currently used in survey operations, which are currently available for improving the knowledge level of urban cultural heritage assets within historical centers, as a supporting tool for the seismic response assessment of such singular assets. Finally, acknowledging the lack of accuracy when evaluating the seismic response of an asset enclosed in aggregate as an isolated structure, this article also focuses on the identification of the main particularities inherent to buildings enclosed in aggregate.     

Mud Brick Metaphysics and the Preservation of Earthen Ruins

In the conservation of built heritage, earthen ruins rank as one of, if not the most, intractable of problems to be confronted. Lacking the very architectural devices originally in place to combat and control weathering, earthen ruins face rapid deterioration without constant remedial and preventive conservation. Often it is the enormous mass of many ancient earthen ruins that explain their persistence; however, even these will collapse over time from differential erosion, or eventually stabilize as formless lumps. The impossible demands of simultaneously preserving architectural form and fabric (materiality) challenge the archaeologist and conservation professional who attempt to manage both for temporary and permanent display.     

Building communities to promote physical activity: A multi-scale geographical analysis

The objective of this paper is to make explicit the linkages between specific characteristics in the urban built environment, moderate physical activity (in particular walking and cycling), and public health. The review will take place at three different scales — the region, the city and the city‐block. At all three scales, the main interest is placed on accessibility, with the recognition that if distances are short enough and there is high connectivity within neighbourhoods, people might be encouraged to walk or cycle. The paper will draw on urban built environment characteristics from a number of Michigan municipalities, including Detroit, Ann Arbor, Birmingham, East Lansing and Okemos.     

The Conservation Programme of the Côa Valley Archaeological Park: Philosophy,Objectives and Action

Abstract

This paper outlines the methodology for the conservation of Côa Valley rock art, as carried out by the Côa Valley Archaeological Park Conservation Programme. It examines the overall conservation environment that has determined this approach, which aims at an understanding of all the factors affecting the survival of the Côa Valley heritage. We stress that although the Programme sets precise guidelines for the examination and testing of conservation work to mitigate the effects of complex weathering dynamics in action, there are no miraculous solutions to ensure the complete longterm in situ preservation of this World Heritage Site. Despite this geological impossibility, we also emphasize that in a human time scale it makes sense to try to conserve significant heritage (such as the Côa Valley rock art) that expounds and explains our history and ourselves.     

Classical Temples and Industrial Stores: Survey Analysis of Historic Unreinforced Masonry (URM) Precincts to Inform Urban Seismic Risk Mitigation

ABSTRACT

Oamaru, Winton, and Invercargill feature some of New Zealand’s most intact heritage precincts that are confronted by ongoing threats of seismic activity. The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence and Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission of 2012, identified a nationwide trend through the proportion of deaths that occurred in public places as a result of the prevalent historic unreinforced masonry (URM) building stock. The reported study was undertaken to address urban safety and seismic risk mitigation through the lens of heritage conservation. The range of classically designed public buildings and industrial warehouses in the South Island of New Zealand were often produced by singular architectural practices, using locally sourced materials and construction techniques. It is vital to incorporate an examination of unique architectural qualities within urban seismic risk assessment and mitigation. Historic urban layout, architectural deployment of masonry, and extent of retrofits were recorded through onsite visual surveys via Geographical Information Systems and three-dimensional representation technologies. Extending the scope of information collected for engineering seismic risk assessment by focusing on the historical architectural context informs the selection of future mitigation measures. Oamaru, Winton, and Invercargill present intriguing case studies for multidisciplinary analysis, prior to testing urban-scale survey approaches within comparable historic centers across New Zealand.     

临潼城市生态保护初探

历史城市一般都具有自然生态与传统文化同生共荣的特征。研究历史城市的生态保护,对于城市未来的良性发展,具有十分重要的意义。
陕西临潼骊山山色秀美,华清宫温泉载誉中外。城市因帝王行宫而发展,山、水、城独具特色,生态环境良好。在城市化快速发展过程中,临潼城区蔓延式扩张和内部空间的整合,对城市内部生态系统造成改变与破坏;景区在发展旅游过程中,面临生态环境质量下降的问题。本文立足于定性分析,通过对临潼城市生态问题分析,提出落实"景城分治"的基本策略,以及遗址区生态保护应当注意的问题。     

柬埔寨吴哥石窟建筑结构形式及其破坏特征分析

柬埔寨吴哥石窟的文物建筑规模宏大．保存完整,蕴含极高的历史、艺术和科学价值,足著名的世界史化遗产,在世界建筑史上占有重要的地位。本研究从结构工程的角度,介绍了吴哥石窟建筑结构形式．并在现场勘察的基础上简述了吴哥石窟建筑破坏的类型,即结构破坏与材料破坏两种类型,在保护修复中,应针对不同的破坏肜式采取相应的技术措施。     

Our history is not false: perspectives from the revitalisation culture

Two dominant themes in architectural conservation doctrine are to (1) avoid the fabrication of ‘false’ histories through the clear differentiation of ‘new’ from ‘old’ building fabric; and (2) the deprecation of subjective ways in which the perception of building fabric engenders sense of place. This study explores the cultural values of a group of citizens engaged in revitalising their historic downtown through the ‘Main Street’ program in Anderson, South Carolina, United States. This ‘revitalisation culture’ values and promotes treatments to its historic environment that emphasise the conjectural fabrication of ‘historic’ elements to existing buildings and the use of historicised design for new, infill construction. Whilst these values go against the grain of conservation doctrine, the revitalisation culture is preserving a kind of authenticity that stems from socially and culturally constructed values in an effort to maintain the ability of the historic environment to engender ‘spontaneous fantasies’, which serve to emotionally attach the revitalisation culture with its historic downtown. Ultimately, the revitalisation culture is engaging in ‘unethical’ behaviour from the perspective of conservation professionals, which begs the question of whose values deserve attention and if the field of heritage conservation is able and willing to accept pluralistic concepts of how the authenticity of historic places can and should be conserved.     

基于制度转型的中国城市空间结构研究初探

1990年代以来全球范围内的众多国家发生了重大制度转型,以中国为代表的社会主义国家转型引起了国际学者的广泛关注。城市空间结构是城市社会、经济发展的空间投影,对其理解也必然要从制度转型的深刻层面去加以认识。文章系统回顾了西方城市空间结构研究经历的城市形态研究、实证主义方法、政治经济学分析等过程,揭示出其基本走向是转向对深层制度性因素的关注。继而文章着重分析了中国制度转型的三个根本方面,并概要性地阐释了其对城市空间的影响,最后列举了相应的一些重要研究领域和基本方向。     

Paper 4: Mechanical Properties of Bricks of the Coudenberg Archaeological Site in View of a Proper Conservation Strategy

Abstract

Archaeological sites are essentially submitted to decay phenomena inherent on their history as well as the environment to which they are exposed after excavation. The history of such archaeological sites is particularly related to their long-term underground conservation conditions during which they were subject to salt migration into the architectural remains. This paper describes the results of drill resistance measurements using a drill resistance measurement (DRMS) device to evaluate the mechanical damage resulting from salt crystallization pressures. Further tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) was applied on powdered bricks of often moist archaeological remains. It was noticed that TEOS serves as potential nutrient for present moulds. The mechanical consolidation effect was evaluated by comparing the hardness profiles after treatment with the reference ones. Bricks used for the construction of the Aula Magna, situated underneath the Royal Square, are characterized by severe patterns of fissures for which the damage diagnosis was built up.     

Natural and cultural heritage

We receive communal legacies from two sources—the natural environment and the creations of human beings. To be sure, these inheritances everywhere commingle; no aspect of nature is unimpacted by human agency, no artefact devoid of environmental impress. Yet we have traditionally dealt quite differently with these two kinds of legacy. Though management of both heritages has many features in common, and both realms often share similar, if not the same, leaders and spokesmen, relations between the two are marked less by cooperative amity than by envy and rivalry. This essay discusses the reasons for our dissimilar approaches to nature and culture, and shows how they bear on the campaigns to protect and preserve each. In some important ways, the history, politics, and rhetoric of conservation and destruction are shown to have converged, in others to have diverged, over the last half century.     

Sustainable architectural conservation according to traditions of Islamic waqf: the World Heritage–listed Stone Town of Zanzibar

Sustainability in the conservation of architectural heritage is now more extensively considered than it was decades ago. The introduction of the concept of sustainability to the field marked hopes to overcome problems threatening heritage sites. There are general concepts guiding sustainable conservation. However, heritage specifics play important roles in achieving sustainability, and may direct the formulation of sustainable concepts to be applied. This paper is an attempt to add to the discourse of heritage sustainability by discussing buildings managed through a tradition of Islamic waqf in the World Heritage Stone Town of Zanzibar. It examines sustainability in terms of its financial, social, managerial, and environmental aspects. The relatively good survival rate of waqf buildings in the old town over several centuries suggests sustainable and transmissible ‘genes’ within the tradition. Waqf was found to elaborate ways to strike a balance between heritage consumption and use, avoiding gentrification, and enabling collective urban conservation. It further suggests that sustainable conservation cannot avoid monetary sacrifices, and if it is to be sustainable in the long term it should be inherent in the heritage itself.     

我国历史文化村镇保护的内容与方法研究

历史化村镇是我国遗产保护体系的重要组成部分,随着第一批中国历史化名镇(村)的命名公布。遗产保护工作又进入了一个崭新阶段。我国历史化村镇保护研究较国外起步较晚,相关研究也欠深入全面。导致在当前城镇化快速发展过程中,一些颇具价值特色的古村镇没有得到很好保护。本首先回顾了国内外历史小城镇、村落保护的演变发展,然后指出历史化村镇保护在价值特性方面,不同于历史化名城;在保护内容方面,要在以往偏重于物质化遗产保护的基础上。进一步加重非物质化遗产的保护;在保护方法方面,要综合运用历史学、地理学、建筑学、社会学、景观生态学等方法,才能达到较好的保护效果。     

旅游业发展趋势与面临压力:2012-2050

国内大学的旅游研究已有30余载,1980年代没有因特网和信息技术影响,那时可否推测2012年的旅游业动态呢?2012—2050年旅游发展态势又将如何?本文首先确定经济、人口、年龄分布、气候等旅游发展动力。然后根据Yeoman教授提出的"旅游前景"设想,以资源多少和政治合作对抗两个动力维度构成矩阵,引用其"生态天堂"单元提出启示。最后预测新技术推动未来旅游更快、更大规模地发展,但会受制于多种压力,环境保护需求凸显。新旅游将基于新技术操纵人们感受的模式,并在新兴的大型城市间进行。旅游学者则要在更广阔的社会技术场景和城市规划中来研究旅游。     

Heritage views through urban exploration: the case of ‘Abandoned Berlin’

This article frames the practice of urban exploration and its interest towards abandoned places from a heritage perspective. It is argued that most urban explorers prioritise the excitement of trespassing and the creation of their own narratives over the historic importance of the sites they explore. These ‘performative’ explorers avoid deliberate attention that may lead to vandalism or touristification – an alternative way of ‘preserving by not preserving’ that celebrates decay and assumes the sites’ progressive loss. To achieve this, they prefer not to disclose exact locations, creating a divergence towards a minority of practitioners who prefer to collect data on history and current state of conservation to make it public. Attention is paid to these ‘communicative’ explorers, whose documentation renders abandoned places visible, opening further debates about a more inclusive preservation and memorialisation. By distinguishing both heritage views, the objective of this article is to contribute to the enlargement of Heritage Studies by incorporating urban exploration as a space for reflection between loss and bottom-up preservation and interpretation.