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Architectural conservation is conventionally associated with preservation of buildings or ensembles that were seats of religious or secular power marking great architectural, political, or scientific accomplishments.
Dark and difficult heritage concerns events of disasters, extermination, and war. But what happens to stories and their places that do not fit into any of these categories? They are neither grand or beautiful, nor explicitly traumatic but nonetheless they embed cultural values and norms, or perhaps even the opposite of them: the bordellos and the marginalised groups of society that are usually disregarded in heritage discourses.
The question of sex work in contemporary culture holds an important place, as it is connected to social and economic rights of women. Historic sex work, and the places associated with it, imbed in this sense a contention value, because still today it provokes debate among different interest groups.
This research work presents the first in-depth study into the location of Florentine bordellos and sex workers between 1860 and 1888. It was a central moment in the history of these women and their trade because a new regulation on sex work was introduced by the recently unified Italian state which spatially controlled the sex trade. Each bordello and the sex workers came under intense scrutiny of the law. What was a dramatic development in the life of these women at the time, has allowed for extensive historical analysis.
The research draws primarily from over 5,000 archived police files and examines the location of sex trade in relation to the legal framework provided by the regulation known as the Regolamento Cavour. It was to ensure that sex workers would not pass on any venereal disease, while, at the same time, strived to maintain moral order in a continuously growing city, faced with urban development. In addition, the historic spatial development of bordellos within the perimeter of the ancient city walls was studied as well as the economic and political factors which influenced the position of a bordello within the urban fabric. For that purpose, the study incorporated information from historic city and street directories as well as cadastre maps. These different layers of information are conveyed in numerous maps to visualise the spatial context of and relation between sex work and spaces.
Conservation work on cultural heritage occurs mostly ‘behind the scenes’, hidden away from the general public. Research has shown, however, that there is considerable interest from tourists and locals alike to gain insights into conservation practice. While this can be done through visits to conservation laboratories or heritage sites, an additional tool to complement these visits is to provide documentary films of ongoing conservation work.
In the summer of 2016, a group of international master’s students from different study programmes at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg visited Florence to study issues related to the preservation of cultural heritage. In particular, they examined conservation-related work being done at the Courtyard of Michelozzo in the Palazzo Vecchio, where Giorgio Vasari originally decorated the upper wall sections and ceiling with frescoes in 1565. Due to daily wear and tear, which has been exacerbated by a high number of visitors as well as climatic conditions, conservation work became necessary to address soiled painted surfaces, disintegrating plaster and missing sections of the plaster and paint layers.
This collection of papers addresses a variety of topics relating to the wall paintings by Vasari, as well as threats and tools to protect and conserve them and other cultural heritage sites that are faced with growing tourism. This student project was carried out in collaboration with the UNESCO Office of the Municipality of Florence (Carlo Francini and Chiara Bocchio), the Fine Arts Department of the Municipality of Florence (Giorgio Caselli), the director of the conservation work (Fabio Sforzi), wall painting conservators of the Vasari frescoes (Cristina Conti and Alessandra Popple), the Department of Architectural Conservation at Università di Firenze (Giuseppe Centauri and Daniela Chiesi) and the BTU Media Centre (Ralf Schuster).
Conservation of heritage sites is an integral part of history and culture through which new generations can learn about their forefathers education, professionalism, cultural characteristics as well as their civilization. Almost all countries of the world tend to conserve their historical sites for their own generations and travellers from abroad. Despite Bangladeshs economy is becoming stronger, it is not paying enough attention to the development of archaeology to conserve its heritage sites. Unlike many other developing countries, Bangladesh tends to considers it a luxury to preserve it’s heritage sites. It is mainly because of the scarcity of land. The tiny country has a huge population (about 180 million), the density of which is perhaps the highest in the world.
Apart from some very significant heritage sites, most others are awfully neglected. Lack of education and awareness among the respective local people and other stakeholders are also responsible for most of the heritage sites facing threats of demolition, vandalism, losing authenticity and integrity.
Panamnagar, the case study for this thesis paper, is not apart from the above scenario. It is the last surviving intake city of lost Bengal. The place witnessed Mughal emperor, British rule, the partition of Bengal, Liberation war of Bangladesh, Hindu-Muslim riot, illegal habitation of people, forced eviction and abundance. The historic city went through lots of historical events and is still standing as a testimony to the golden era of Bengal. Currently, this heritage site is facing multiple threats to its existence and authenticity. The city is vacated by the authority - the Department of Archaeology. But as the local people are not aware of the historic value of the site, they are not at all cooperating with the authority. Meanwhile, the authority is trying to incorporate adaptive reuse of the site to give life to it again and collect revenue for the maintenance. But they are doing it without assessing the cultural significance of the site properly, which could be a potential threat for the authenticity of the heritage site. Thus, this paper has focused on assessing the cultural significance of the heritage site, with a hope that it will help the authority to make policy decisions for the conservation of the site more cautiously. To assess the cultural significance properly, history and architectural significance are described briefly. A site analysis has been conducted to understand the current site condition properly. The paper concludes with statements in support of the cultural significance of Panamnagar site and recommends appropriate conservation tools to sustain its significance.
The World Heritage List, created in 1972 by the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage, exhibits few cultural sites younger than
the signing of the convention, as well as everyday structures which comprise the contemporary urban life.
This idea of heritage as something related to the ancient not only is manifested in the international sphere but has also permeated national views, weakening awareness for discreet heritage, which compete with designs from famous architects or monumental structures, giving the impression that grandeur and looks are highly coveted. This does not only discard relevant events of the mid-late 20th century attached to smaller constructions that had impacts on different cultures, but also integral components of urban fabric. Furthermore, these approaches towards heritage relevance resonate within the local populations, who, taking as examples how heritage is treated and approached in an international context, tend to overlook structures that are considered aesthetically displeasing because they do not adhere to this traditional scheme seen in the heritage field.
From here extends the idea of analyzing case studies that fall within overlooked heritage from a new angle: one of valuating aesthetic displeasure. The thesis will focus
on individual and serial constructions of the 20th century commonly seen as displeasing due to their typologies and styles but also due to their formal characteristics,
redirecting the attention from those considered aesthetically pleasing and grandiose towards otherwise ignored built heritage. Additionally, it will address the perceptions of such structures in the context of the international heritage and conservation spheres, to present how these structures are currently not fully appreciated within the traditional idea of heritage due to their looks and commonality. This approach does in fact overlook, and even relegate, those buildings that do not fit into the preconceived idea of aesthetics, denying the opportunity to explore and find their potential for heritage value.
This paper offers a new perspective on heritage interpretation as a mechanism for understanding heritage sites. It builds a theory of understanding for heritage interpretation based on constructivism perspectives, which shift the focus of attention from heritage interpretation and the process of understanding as a purely cognitive process into a communicative one. In such a view understanding a heritage site means meeting orientation expectations put forth by heritage interpreters in interpretive provision. By analyzing visitor responses (emotional, verbal and behavioural) managers of a heritage site and heritage interpreters are able to determine whether orientation expectations have been met and thus whether understanding took place. In so far understanding of a heritage site means orienting visitors’ perceptions of and behaviours at a heritage site. The paper also analyses the role of culture in the process of understanding and in the process of heritage interpretation. Culture as such does not influence understanding, nevertheless the collective knowledge systems inherent in it are important for the process of understanding and communication, as they offer the meanings, structures and symbol systems that allow the individuals of a particular cultural group to communicate effectively with each other. Because cultures are characteristic of having a pattern and overlapping with each other, a communication and understanding between the individuals of various cultures is a difficult but not impossible process. In order to ensure effective communication and reaching understanding a communication model for heritage interpretation was suggested with three interlinked components (team of communicators, active meaning-maker and interpretive medium), which ensure message formation, interpretation and exchange. In order to assist in communication with various visitors, and especially visitors from different cultural backgrounds, some techniques in the construction of information have been analysed, which allow assisting in reaching understanding on the presented issues in heritage interpretation. These techniques are framing, making of themes and stories. The use of these techniques in the construction of the interpretive information, as well as the overall influence of interpretive provision for understanding, have been tested in two cross-sectional studies. These studies have shown that, in view of constructivism theories, a well developed interpretive activity is able to contribute to a better understanding of a heritage site.