Theme:
Historic Urban Landscapes. A
new concept? A new category of World Heritage Sites?
The thematic areas:
1. Physical Integrity of Historic
Urban Landscapes
2. Functional Integrity of Historic Urban Landscapes
3. Visual Integrity of Historic Urban Landscapes
The theme of the 12th International Seminar of Forum UNESCO –
University and Heritage (FUUH) is both ambitious and crucial to
the future of heritage conservation as well as to the development
of communities, cities and civil society at large.
The Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) Concept includes the broader
territorial and landscape context and therefore goes far beyond
historic centres or ensembles. It both reflects and has helped to
shape modern society and consequently proves to be of great value
for the understanding of our current way of life. Composed of character-defining
elements including land uses and patterns, spatial organization,
visual relationships, topography and soils, vegetation, and all
elements of the technical infrastructure, including small scale
objects and details of construction (curbs, paving, drain gutters,
lights, etc.) it is crucial to understand the historic urban landscape
before undertaking any contemporary architectural project. The drive
for modernization is legitimate but it is critical to reflect first
on its impact(s) on the city’s identity and on the communities’
ways of life.
Currently, some 50 % of world citizens live in cities or urban
contexts. This figure will continue to rise in coming years. Thus
cities are witnessing a unique period of growth that leads to a
number of questions: Where will the urban centre be in the future?
Where are the historic city’s borders or limits? What is a
historic centre? Which history does it refer to?
Similarly, the World Heritage Committee has witnessed over recent
years a growing number of problematic situations such as high-rise
buildings in or around historic centres inscribed on the World Heritage
List or ruptures in the urban fabric due to the construction of
ambitious contemporary architecture. Thus, this issue raises other
questions, such as:
• What is a Historic Urban Landscape (HUL)?
• How can contemporary architecture be integrated harmoniously
in a Historic Urban Landscape?
• What is the history of a Historic Urban Landscape?
• Are there limits to contemporary architecture in a Historic
Urban Landscape?
• If so, what are they?
• Where are the limits of a Historic Urban Centre?
• What is a meaningful or significant contemporary architecture
in a Historic Urban Landscape?
• What is meaningless or not significant/insignificant?
• How does old and new architecture relate to the cultural
identity of a city, a people, a nation?
• What is the cultural sustainability of historic centres?
• How is conservation related to sustainable development?
• What is the impact of contemporary architecture to historic
urban landscapes’ authenticity?
Papers dealing with these issues are invited for this 12th international
Forum UNESCO seminar. In addition, historic centres and their relations
with new urban centres at the periphery need to be investigated.
In particular, new centres which local communities recognize as
significant in terms of identity should be studied, as well as the
rural fringes of urban centres, where the urban meets the agricultural
territory and rural cultures. Studies on the impacts of these changes
on vernacular architecture are welcome.
IMPORTANT DATES
Call for Papers 30 September 2008
Deadline for submission of abstracts 30 October 2008 15
November
Notification of Scientific Committee’s evaluation 20 December
2008
Deadline for submission of revised abstracts 20 January 2009
Deadline for sending full papers 27 February 2009
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