Architectural Heritage and Conservation
Introduction
Architectural heritage and conservation
- Immovable (architectural) heritage
o Onroerend erfgoed (‘monumenten)
- Conservation movement
- Safeguarding = conservation
o àreconstruction= fake
- Old discipline: until ca 1990: heritage = ‘monuments’
- Long term approach: chronological (from antiquity to today) & thematic
Vs
Critical heritage studies
- Intangible, moveable and digital heritage
o Immaterieel, roerend en digital erfgoed
- Critical heritage studies movement
- Safeguarding = recreation
o àreconstruction= required
- New discipline: since ca 1990
- Focus on 21th century
Gravensteen Gent
- People didn’t want them to touch the castle, not
everyone was fan of the intervention
- Eventually they decided to not do the intervention
Het Steen Antwerpen
- There was a project to extend the building, also to
make it accessible from the river
- People thought it was inappropriate to build it next
to an historical monument
- DiUerence with Gent: it has been build
- It eventually won a price for a good heritage?
Conclusion: there is always a lot of discussion if we can
build a modern extend to a historical building, there are a
lot of diUerent opinions
There is a lot of critique on using church buildings for
other activities, like for example a fitness or a
supermarket.
1
,‘QUALITY ‘IN ARCHITECTURE TODAY
What is (good) architecture?
= function+form+construction (functie+vorm+ constructive)
àtoday:
= social needs +meaningfulness+ sustainability (maatschappelijke noden+ betekeniswaarde+
duurzaamheid)
- Tekst canvas: Nieuwe gebouwen zullen vandaag de dag bijna onvermijdelijk voor een
groot deel bestaan uit reconstructies van bestaande gebouwen
Fire in the notre dame, what now?
1. Conserve: consolidate and preserve in damaged state
2. Reconstruct: bring back to state before fire (conclusion)
3. Restore/renovate: do ‘something’ new
Example: Catherdral of Chartres: they chose to do an iron rood
construction after the fire
THIS COURSE IS ABOUT ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION =’ MONUMENTENZORG’
Monumenten
è More then just ‘monuments’:
- Architectural/ bouwkundig erfgoed
o Architectural heritage
o Patrimoine architectural
o …
- “Monumenten en landschappen”
o Vb. Koninklijke Commissie voor Monumenten en Landschappen
- “Onroerend Erfgoed”
o Vb. Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed:
§ Gebouwen
§ Landschappen
§ Archeologische sites
§ Varend erfgoed
2
,Zorg
àmore then just ‘conservation’:
- Behoud, bescherming, onderhoud, herself, restauratie, renovatie, reconstructie,
herbestemming, …
o Heritage conservation
o Historic preservation
o Architectural preservation
o Conservation du patrimoine
o Denkmalpflege
o …
- Architectural conservation:
= the attempt to protect valued buildings from unwanted change
3
, These introductory examples are illustrative of:
- Returning themes in architectural conservation:
o Impact of war: important stimulus for development of conservation movement
o DiUicult relationship with nationalism
o DiUicult relationship with new/modern architecture
o What is ‘authentic’?
§ Its often a very diUicult question
- Wide variety of ‘conservation’:
o Archaeological ruin
o Modern new construction
o Facsimile reconstruction
o Reuse of fragments
But they are extreme examples: ‘total destruction of ‘big monuments’
- Sudden destruction of the whole building
- The building is evidently of great value
What about the less extreme cases in ordinary practice?
- What about ‘small destructions’ (decay, renovation, adaptive reuse, ..)
o Can nothing be changed in a building?
- What about ‘small monuments’ (houses, factories, warehouses, ..)
o Must every building be protected?
è Conceptual framework (‘denkkader’) is necessary!
This framework (the Conservation Movement):
- Has a long history
- Is essentially a product of Europe in de 19th and 20th century
- Continues to evolve today (e.g. globalization, critical heritage studies)
Conserve what?
Conserve how?
àno simple answer…
- Conservation = filter
o Cf. memory, canon: process of selection, sieve (partly intentional , partly
coincidence)
§ Preserving everything is not possible but also undesirable
- Conservation= design
o There is no algorithm, no fixed recipe to arrive at the solution, only general
principles
o And these principles are themselves subject to debate and change
o Each case is diUerent, diUerent ‘good’ solutions are possible, not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
4
Introduction
Architectural heritage and conservation
- Immovable (architectural) heritage
o Onroerend erfgoed (‘monumenten)
- Conservation movement
- Safeguarding = conservation
o àreconstruction= fake
- Old discipline: until ca 1990: heritage = ‘monuments’
- Long term approach: chronological (from antiquity to today) & thematic
Vs
Critical heritage studies
- Intangible, moveable and digital heritage
o Immaterieel, roerend en digital erfgoed
- Critical heritage studies movement
- Safeguarding = recreation
o àreconstruction= required
- New discipline: since ca 1990
- Focus on 21th century
Gravensteen Gent
- People didn’t want them to touch the castle, not
everyone was fan of the intervention
- Eventually they decided to not do the intervention
Het Steen Antwerpen
- There was a project to extend the building, also to
make it accessible from the river
- People thought it was inappropriate to build it next
to an historical monument
- DiUerence with Gent: it has been build
- It eventually won a price for a good heritage?
Conclusion: there is always a lot of discussion if we can
build a modern extend to a historical building, there are a
lot of diUerent opinions
There is a lot of critique on using church buildings for
other activities, like for example a fitness or a
supermarket.
1
,‘QUALITY ‘IN ARCHITECTURE TODAY
What is (good) architecture?
= function+form+construction (functie+vorm+ constructive)
àtoday:
= social needs +meaningfulness+ sustainability (maatschappelijke noden+ betekeniswaarde+
duurzaamheid)
- Tekst canvas: Nieuwe gebouwen zullen vandaag de dag bijna onvermijdelijk voor een
groot deel bestaan uit reconstructies van bestaande gebouwen
Fire in the notre dame, what now?
1. Conserve: consolidate and preserve in damaged state
2. Reconstruct: bring back to state before fire (conclusion)
3. Restore/renovate: do ‘something’ new
Example: Catherdral of Chartres: they chose to do an iron rood
construction after the fire
THIS COURSE IS ABOUT ARCHITECTURAL CONSERVATION =’ MONUMENTENZORG’
Monumenten
è More then just ‘monuments’:
- Architectural/ bouwkundig erfgoed
o Architectural heritage
o Patrimoine architectural
o …
- “Monumenten en landschappen”
o Vb. Koninklijke Commissie voor Monumenten en Landschappen
- “Onroerend Erfgoed”
o Vb. Agentschap Onroerend Erfgoed:
§ Gebouwen
§ Landschappen
§ Archeologische sites
§ Varend erfgoed
2
,Zorg
àmore then just ‘conservation’:
- Behoud, bescherming, onderhoud, herself, restauratie, renovatie, reconstructie,
herbestemming, …
o Heritage conservation
o Historic preservation
o Architectural preservation
o Conservation du patrimoine
o Denkmalpflege
o …
- Architectural conservation:
= the attempt to protect valued buildings from unwanted change
3
, These introductory examples are illustrative of:
- Returning themes in architectural conservation:
o Impact of war: important stimulus for development of conservation movement
o DiUicult relationship with nationalism
o DiUicult relationship with new/modern architecture
o What is ‘authentic’?
§ Its often a very diUicult question
- Wide variety of ‘conservation’:
o Archaeological ruin
o Modern new construction
o Facsimile reconstruction
o Reuse of fragments
But they are extreme examples: ‘total destruction of ‘big monuments’
- Sudden destruction of the whole building
- The building is evidently of great value
What about the less extreme cases in ordinary practice?
- What about ‘small destructions’ (decay, renovation, adaptive reuse, ..)
o Can nothing be changed in a building?
- What about ‘small monuments’ (houses, factories, warehouses, ..)
o Must every building be protected?
è Conceptual framework (‘denkkader’) is necessary!
This framework (the Conservation Movement):
- Has a long history
- Is essentially a product of Europe in de 19th and 20th century
- Continues to evolve today (e.g. globalization, critical heritage studies)
Conserve what?
Conserve how?
àno simple answer…
- Conservation = filter
o Cf. memory, canon: process of selection, sieve (partly intentional , partly
coincidence)
§ Preserving everything is not possible but also undesirable
- Conservation= design
o There is no algorithm, no fixed recipe to arrive at the solution, only general
principles
o And these principles are themselves subject to debate and change
o Each case is diUerent, diUerent ‘good’ solutions are possible, not ‘right’ or ‘wrong’
4
