The architecture of power: François Mitterrand’s Grands Travaux revisited 1

Building on earlier research, this paper proposes a more refined analysis of how the main decision‐making processes pertaining to the grands travaux were established in the very early stages. Informed by consultation of official archival sources to which access was obtained by special permission (dérogation), it shows the manner and extent of the personal intervention by François Mitterrand, and offers new insights into his attachment to the Grand Louvre project, which drove the wider programme of architectural and cultural projects. It shows how and why a set of disparate projects were packaged into a flagship policy, and sheds light on the conflicts of power within the machinery of government under the Fifth Republic, especially relating to cultural policy during the Lang years. It shows how the highly politicised context motivated Mitterrand’s drive to circumvent normal administrative processes in order to mark his presidency with a cultural stamp.     

Of Gates in the Ground and Castles in the Air: A Case of Biblical Unreal Estate

ABSTRACT

The latter part of Psalm 24 describes the personified gates of Jerusalem as raising themselves up in order to allow the King of Glory to en-ter. This, in addition to the rest of the strong mythical overtones of the psalm, creates an image of architecture coming alive to join in the celebratory entry of the divine ruler.

There are numerous, but no definitive, suggestions as to the identity of who or what is supposed to be entering the gates and under what circum-stances as well as how the raising gates are to be understood. In this essay it is argued that the psalm only supplies half the data and that it forms the optimis-tic complementary ending to the anguished cry of despair of Lam 2,8–9. Ap-plying critical spatial analysis to these two texts, in addition to other support-ing material, will not only show that one is a response to the other, but may also provide a more secure dating for the psalm and its social setting as well as a clearer understanding of the specific metaphor of personified architec-ture.     

Re-thinking threats to architectural heritage

This paper proposes the need for heritage strategies and policies to engage with the psychological literature on risk perception because current heritage processes exclude many groups of people due to the psychological processes that are favoured in current procedures. Risk perception research has affected mitigation strategies in the realms of natural disaster planning (for example, earthquake preparedness) and, more recently, climate change mitigation. The paper outlines relevant psychological research and highlights areas that have the potential to inform heritage loss mitigation.     

内与外 虚与实——五代、宋墓葬中仿木建筑的空间表达

五代、宋墓葬中的仿木建筑砖雕表现的均为建筑的外观,该形式处于墓葬这一内部空间时,必然会导致一系列问题,如何协调仿木建筑的外观与墓室内部空间之间的矛盾?怎样表现仿木建筑构件之间的空间关系?通过什么方式塑造仿木建筑的虚拟空间?这正是本文作者试图解决的主要问题。     

江苏省古建筑无地仗层彩绘传统制作工艺研究

本文通过文献回顾、现场调查、实验分析、综合研究等方法,对江苏古建筑无地仗层彩绘传统制作工艺进行了研究。     

规范化历史建筑维修理论架构概说

古建筑维修理论应用历史建筑维修概念,即：作为观念的维修、作为制度的维修、作为管理策略的维修、作为技术手段的维修理念和可持续发展理念。     

广西富川百柱庙建筑彩绘的保护修复研究

广西富川百柱庙为明朝修建,该建筑物建筑构件的型式、彩绘、斗拱的制作技法等保留了典型的地方民族风格,是研究古代瑶族历史的重要实物资料,但已年久失修。为了对该建筑进行维修,特别是对建筑内彩绘进行加固修复工作,应用XRD和FT-IR方法分析了彩绘颜料层的化学成分,结果表明全部为无机矿物颜料。以古建筑保存环境和彩绘层颜料化学成分为依据,通过现场实验确定用3％的Paraloid B～72丙酮溶液对彩绘层加固,结果表明该加固剂的渗透性、均匀性、加固强度都达到了对彩绘物的修复要求,加固后彩绘的颜色也较前鲜艳、明亮。     

Recent research in the archaeology of architecture: Beyond the foundations

Although architectural remains have always been a principal focus of archaeological investigation, research on such remains, particularly small-scale structures, has taken on new importance because of the information they can offer on human behavior. This article provides a review of recent trends in the archaeology of architecture (mainly domestic in nature), including current work in household archaeology and spatial patterning analysis of architectural remains, and discusses the new models and methodologies being generated to interpret these remains. The main areas covered in this review include the New World, Mesoamerica in particular, Europe, and general focus on recent work in the Near East.     

La concession familiale Bamiléké: un exemple d'architecture endogène au Cameroun

This paper addresses the issue of vernacular or endogenous architecture and design in Cameroonian cities. More precisely, we study the traditional Bamiléké family estate as a specific type of housing and property structure within the community of Pète-Bandjoun. According to our research, these estates usually involve the following spatial units: green spaces, a delineating structure, a courtyard, the family landfill, the magico-religious place, the family cemetery, the dwelling itself, and the dwelling's main functional units (kitchen, toilets, attic, etc.). We suggest the idea that the Bamiléké family estate is in itself an important source of endogenous knowledge related to architecture and planning. Moreover, it is a tangible and intangible cultural heritage which should be preserved in Cameroon despite widespread urbanization.     

The iron age in Mediterranean France: Colonial encounters, entanglements, and transformations

During the last seven centuries of the first millennium BC, the indigenous societies of Mediterranean France underwent a series of gradual social and cultural transformations that are linked in complex ways to their encounter and increasing entanglement with the broader Mediterranean world. This article presents a synthesis of current knowledge of this issue and explores some of the main themes guiding research. New evidence concerning the alien colonial agents (Etruscan, Greek, Punic/Iberian, and Roman), and the contrasting nature of their presence and power in the region, is discussed, as is evidence concerning forms of indigenous engagement with colonial states and paths of social and cultural change. The consumption of alien goods (wine, ceramics) and the adoption of foreign techniques and practices (ceramic production methods, coinage, writing) are examined in terms of the locally situated logic of demand and the ramifications for entanglement and change. Transformations in settlements, ritual spaces, funerary practices, and the agrarian landscape are discussed.