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Published By Springer Science And Business Media LLC

2096-3041, 2662-6802

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Camilla Mileto ◽  
Fernando Vegas López-Manzanares ◽  
Valentina Cristini ◽  
Lidía García Soriano

AbstractFor more than a decade, a wide range of Spanish case studies, relating especially to rural inner or abandoned sites and areas, have been analysed by the authors as part of different research projects linked with traditional and monumental architecture, conservation strategies and earthen buildings. On one hand the studies have been undertaken in the framework of a project concerning the conservation of rammed earth in the Iberian Peninsula, including criteria, techniques, results and perspectives and, on the other, by a project about the conservation and rehabilitation of traditional earthen architecture in the Iberian Peninsula, providing guidelines and tools for its sustainable intervention. In all cases the researchers’ efforts focused on enhancing new perspectives and opportunities for rural earthen buildings, analysing landscapes, contexts, constructive features, decay and problems. The final common aim of this research is to stress these crucial topics to improve tangible or intangible opportunities for conservation strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Shu ◽  
Ying He

AbstractChinese watchtower houses are part of the unique human cultural heritage of the world’s vernacular architectures. Many earthen manor watchtower houses in Chongqing, China, have absorbed the characteristics of other tower houses across the country and have brought together various types of watchtower construction techniques. They are important connection points for the integrity of the Chinese watchtower house as a comprehensive architectural cultural heritage system. They can be a typical sample of Chinese Han classical towers. These buildings are indispensable parts of the Chinese residential watchtower system and have important cultural protection value. However, due to the general lack of excavation and attention to their historical and cultural value, these buildings are on the verge of disappearing. Although they have lost their original architectural functions, they have important value in terms of their building materials, technical composition and artistic modelling. They can stimulate special emotional resonance and become an important bridge that maintains the cultural connection between ancient and modern humans. Therefore, discussing the historical and cultural value of Chongqing rammed earth watchtower houses, the strategy for heritage protection and utilisation is of far-reaching significance for Chinese watchtower dwellings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benkari Naima

AbstractOnce abandoned for more than three decades, vernacular settlements in Oman are now being progressively reinvested in to foster the country’s heritage tourism sector. The present research focuses on the emerging phenomenon of community-led initiatives for vernacular heritage rehabilitation and adaptive reuse in Oman. Through an examination of three case studies, its aim is to describe this process and its modes of action and discuss its effects on vernacular settlement transformations. A mixed research methodology was designed to include (A) analyses of relevant primary and secondary data, (B) documented onsite observations, (C) interviews with local community representatives and key players in the operations of rehabilitation, and (D) extractions and analyses of quantitative data from a hotel booking website.The research sheds light on unsuspected interrelations within and between the projects being implemented in these settlements and their operating modes. It reveals the focal role of a local community in a kind of ‘bottom-up’ management of its built heritage, coupled with a ‘horizontal cooperation’ between the three initiatives studied in this research. Moreover, it shows that a heavily centralised and top-down policy for the field of heritage conservation and management is among the main obstacles that hinder such initiatives. Furthermore, community-led operations of vernacular heritage rehabilitation are being undertaken under insufficient regulations in terms of land use, building restoration and adaptive reuse. In this context, the paper discusses some of the serious threats and concerns faced by such initiatives and proposes actionable solutions to mitigate these hindrances.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Leiermann

AbstractConditions in Yemen involving armed conflict and all kinds of structural challenges have also their impact on the fate of its built heritage. Yemen’s three World Heritage Sites have their particular significance, all of them representing a region with its own cultural background: Sanaa in the highlands, Zabid in the coastal Tihama, and Shibam in the remote desert valley of Hadramaut. Unlike the Old City of Sanaa, the two smaller sites struggle with the limited resources of low-developed hinterland. Both preserve a unique urban culture: Zabid with its many elements of elaborate artistry and a vernacular architecture highly adapted to tropical conditions, and Shibam as a dense structure of unique mud-built tower houses.Preservation in a background of poverty, weak capacities of official structures, and even war destruction risks can only succeed in connection with active engagement and commitment of the community, which however is heterogeneous and heritage preservation is not always their priority. Efficient strategies must therefore link local livelihood interests to preservation concerns. Market quarter and housing rehabilitation in both cities in last years had wide backing, supported income and resulted in visible upgrading of the very heart of these cities—showing locals recovery of historic structures has its potentials—even in the extreme conditions of Yemen.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oussouby Sacko

AbstractRecently, many cultural aspects of some African countries have been in danger of being lost due to cultural disruptions, nonadaptive construction techniques and a lack of adequate conservation systems and strategies. These include the well-known manuscripts of Timbuktu (Tombouctou) as well as architecture, languages, beads, textiles, costumes and other cultural objects. Immaterial heritage, such as oral history, traditional music, instruments and dance, is also affected.In the northwestern part of Africa, the so-called Sahel-Sahara region, earthen architecture has played an important role in cultural identity and has been a key means of community establishment. This architectural heritage includes a wide variety of creations ranging from simple houses, granaries, and palaces to religious buildings, urban centres, cultural landscapes and archaeological sites. By studying northwestern African cultural heritage and cultural exchanges during trans-Saharan trade, we can benefit from traditional knowledge and use these teachings to build a sustainable knowledge system for earthen architecture conservation. This work is urgent since these structures are in danger of being lost, destroyed, badly conserved, or not documented.The aim of this research is to point out, through an anthropological approach, the importance of local community involvement in the conservation process. This research is based on a comparative study of different earthen architecture conservation spaces within the abovementioned region that have been important and were influenced by cultural exchanges during trans-Saharan trade. In these historical towns, some architectural heritage sites have been abandoned and are in ruins, while others have been preserved solely as tourist attractions. In this paper, I introduce the case of Djenné to share our research approach. This paper provides insight into earthen architecture conservation issues and how local communities have used tangible and intangible methods to preserve cultural heritage.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sander Münster ◽  
Ronja Utescher ◽  
Selda Ulutas Aydogan

AbstractIn research and policies, the identification of trends as well as emerging topics and topics in decline is an important source of information for both academic and innovation management. Since at present policy analysis mostly employs qualitative research methods, the following article presents and assesses different approaches – trend analysis based on questionnaires, quantitative bibliometric surveys, the use of computer-linguistic approaches and machine learning and qualitative investigations. Against this backdrop, this article examines digital applications in cultural heritage and, in particular, built heritage via various investigative frameworks to identify topics of relevance and trendlines, mainly for European Union (EU)-based research and policies. Furthermore, this article exemplifies and assesses the specific opportunities and limitations of the different methodical approaches against the backdrop of data-driven vs. data-guided analytical frameworks. As its major findings, our study shows that both research and policies related to digital applications for cultural heritage are mainly driven by the availability of new technologies. Since policies focus on meta-topics such as digitisation, openness or automation, the research descriptors are more granular. In general, data-driven approaches are promising for identifying topics and trendlines and even predicting the development of near future trends. Conversely, qualitative approaches are able to answer “why” questions with regard to whether topics are emerging due to disruptive innovations or due to new terminologies or whether topics are becoming obsolete because they are common knowledge, as is the case for the term “internet”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Correia ◽  
Gilberto Duarte Carlos
Keyword(s):  

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien Moriset ◽  
Bakonirina Rakotomamonjy ◽  
David Gandreau

AbstractContemporary architecture seems to turn its back on the past in terms of the raw materials taken from the environment, their transformation into building components and the way they are assembled to create buildings. The global challenge of preserving the environment forces us to rethink the way we produce architecture today. Within this challenge, the past shows us possible ways to fill the gap between tradition and modernity. However, we need to understand what motivates people to abandon ancestral materials and knowledge for materials that they cannot manufacture or use themselves. Is this transformation to industrial materials and forms irreversible? Is there nothing we can learn from our rich past? How can we revive endogenous knowledge to produce environmentally wise architecture? These are the questions that the authors, who have been working on the revival of earthen heritage for over 20 years, wish to answer.


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