World Heritage Concepts, Management and Conservation

So excited that (finally) this is almost out … Simon and I had a thought in those hazy pre-Covid days for this overview of World Heritage. This is based on my work (as a heritage/conservation/sustainability person) and Simon’s (as a tourism/marketing/sustainability/ person) and so it is a coming together of multiple disciplines and how they interact with World Heritage.

It has taken a while but this comes out for the 50th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.

More information to post in the coming weeks – and until then full blurb and information on how to order: https://routledge.pub/World-Heritage

almost time again

There is an old saying that the arrival and departure of the swallows coincides with the optimum time for building with earth.

It is almost Swallow time of year again – so just a wonderful picture of our earth building hands-on activity.

3 different earth materials (from clayey to silty) makes for 3 different ways in which earth can be used.

The blog has been very quiet – but more about my teaching through the MA Conservation Studies and MA Conservation of Historic Buildings.

What makes a good dissertation?

It is the time of year students on our two University of York postgraduate degrees – Conservation Studies and Conservation of Historic Buildings develop their dissertation ideas.

So what makes a good dissertation? The trick is choosing a topic that will interest you and sustain that interest through the long period of time you are working on it. But also one that is manageable – not too big – but also not too insignificant. 

I always start these conversations by asking students about the taught postgraduate modules – what did you find interesting? A topic, issue, case study or approach? Go back to that and read your notes or listen to it again – easier this year with our prerecorded lectures supplementing our in person teaching. Then look at the reading lists again – pick up on the relevant reading – reread it and look at the bibliography that is referenced – follow your interests through – a little light work on Google Scholar will pull up published papers by the author or on the issue.

This stage is like starting with the edges with colouring in or doing a jigsaw. It’s not until that deep dive into the reading that you realise the gaps in research and practice and have a sense of your own research and how this will plug the gap

Also think about skills you might want to use in your dissertation – it’s a portfolio piece so is there an approach or method you would like to experience?

It’s also important to look at past dissertations – this gives a sense of structure and expectations – and should help with those worries of this feeling too overwhelming 

The other approach is to be guided by dissertation topics we propose- these develop from our own interests research or from where other organisations flag up potential research projects.

And if all of that fails – a good walk is always the next stage -to put those ideas into perspective and have a think away from the distractions of the screen.

The supervision of dissertations is also really special … both projects that we develop from our own interest, but also those project students develop themselves and we then see take shape.

 

Re-post – Changing 20th century buildings?

This is a re-post of an earlier blog – which I have revisited whilst updating a lecture on conservation of 20th century buildings.

If you would like to find out more about the Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde’s plans following on from a 2019 assessment of the building having a 5-7 year lifespan: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/frontend/Dokumenter/Prospectus_for_a_new_viking_ship_museum_EN.pdf

Original post: In 1962 five 11^th century ships were excavated from the water at Skuldev, Denmark. The reconstruction of the 5 ships and subsequent research by Ole Crumlin-Pedersen has given archaeologists valuable insight into Viking shipbuilding and history. We now know the 5 ships were deliberately sunk in Roskilde Fjord to block a sea channel as a form of defence.

Following on from the interest in the initial discoveries the Viking Ship Hall was designed by Danish architect Erik Christian Sørensen and built in 1967-68 with the specific purpose of exhibiting the reconstructed Skuldev ships. The museum was opened in 1969 and the Vikingeskibsmuseet in Roskilde is now a centre for the study of Nordic shipbuilding and boatbuilding culture. The significance of the building is such that in 1998 the museum was the first late modern building to be listed for protection in Denmark.

Familiar to other 20^th century buildings the Viking Ship Hall has been subject to a series of debates. These focus on (1) the values and significance of the structure – and issues of failure and success of 20^th century  buildings that have not undergone their own ‘natural selection’ (2) the physical issues of material conservation for concrete structures (and in this case in a marine environment) and (3) the difficulties of adapting the building to meet current expected standards for collection case and visitor management. Simon Thurley (former Chief Executive of English Heritage) makes these arguments clear in his 2016 Gresham Lecture “Saving the Twentieth Century” noting that post war modernist buildings are amongst the most threatened of buildings, as their architects were responding to specific functions and as such they may be less flexible and less adaptable. Listen to the lecture here:  https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/saving-the-twentieth-century

As a purpose-built building occupying a very specific coastal location (it is positioned semi-within the water, and the ships are displayed to look out to the sea) the Viking Ship museum poses specific issues relating to climate change adaptation and resilience.  On the 6^th and 7^th December 2013 the building was impacted by flooding when rising waters peaked at 206cm over normal levels, and the lower panes of glass were impacted by the pressure from the water. The museum website has this video showing the emergency response: https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/about-us/news-and-press/professional-filming-and-photo-shootings/photo-series/photos-and-film-from-the-storm/photos-and-film-from-the-storm/

So added to the arguments about 20^th century buildings is the museum’s coastal location and the specific vulnerability of the building (and its collection) to increased storminess and coastal sea-level rise.

The building is currently subject to an International Heritage Alert from ICOMOS as following on from the 2013 flooding and the escalation of structural decay issues discussion on what to do with the building has accelerated – so much so that in August 2018 the building was delisted.

As an example of the interconnected debates around 20^th century building conservation, the adaptability of purpose-built structures and climate change resilience what happens to the Viking Ship Museum will be interesting to watch. I know from my own visit to the museum in April 2018 that the collection is outstanding but the issues posed around the buildings significance (including its location, design and materials), its current condition, and the opportunities and risks it presents  provides a useful example to explore debates around sustainable heritage and conservation in the 21st century.

For more in the ICOMOS Alert: https://www.icomos.org/en/get-involved/inform-us/heritage-alert/current-alerts/53198-heritage-alert-the-viking-ship-hall-roskilde-denmark

For more on the identities expressed in this fascinating building read David Harvey’s blog post: https://geographiesofheritage.wordpress.com/category/viking-ship-museum/

Digital copy available – On Cob Balls, Adobe and Daubed Straw Plaits

To update the earlier post – a digital copy of the glossary ‘On Cob Balls, Adobe and Daubed Straw Plaits’ is now available to download from the Sachsen-Anhalt State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology 

https://www.lda-lsa.de/en/state_office_for_heritage_management_and_archaeology/overall_specialised_services/bibliothek/publications/glossary_on_earth_building_techniques/

The  glossary relies heavily on images to illustrate the subtle variations in the ways in which earth is used as a building material, for massive, load-bearing walls (eg cob, rammed earth, earth blocks and mudbricks), and for non-bearing, mixed building techniques (eg wattle-and-daub and half-timbering). Together we collated over 50 relevant terms. Many of these didn’t have an easy equivalent (as the uses of earth in building seem to adapt to very local materials and needs). For example the very wonderful term lehmwickel equated very roughly to straw and earth wound around a timber stake, rollos de barro, quenoilles. Other terms caused some significant debate as to what the equivalent would be (particularly as terms in English are sometimes more generic) – for example turf equated to bloque de turba, mottes ou blocs de tourbe, and torfsoden.

We know there will be other terms and methods of using earth as a building material that we can add to this list, but we hope this work starts to build up our knowledge and understanding, and starts to fill in our lost literacy of using earth as a building material. The wealth of language and terms collated shows  how important the connection is between physical, tangible heritage and its language, methods and practices – its intangible heritage.

More information: https://www.lda-lsa.de/en/state_office_for_heritage_management_and_archaeology/overall_specialised_services/bibliothek/publications/glossary_on_earth_building_techniques/

Knoll, F, Pastor Quiles, M, Chazelles, A and Cooke L. 2019. On cob balls, adobe and daubed straw plaits – a glossary on traditional  earth building techniques for walls in four languages. Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt.