Abstract
An insight into the shared history of built heritage and urban development along the 20th century reveals different attempts to solve the dialectic conflict between conservation and modernisation from the discipline of architecture. This paper makes a review of the nature, aims and results of these attempts, highlighting the contributions to the discussion that originated from Italy between the 1950s and 1980s. It points to the challenges brought by the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the extent of social, economic and urban changes that have contributed to raise awareness about urban heritage in the present time. The article departs from a value-centred framework in order to describe current architectural, cultural, economic and social issues concerning the contribution of architecture and urban planning to heritage conservation in the age of globalization. This insight will delineate new conservation practices, strategies and methodologies, especially relating to the 2011 Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation and its declared goal for sustainable urban development.
Highlights
The conflict between conservation and modernisation is deeply rooted in the history of urban development
Aesthetics, morphology and typology occupied a central role in the Tendenza’s ‘operative history’, which still can be recognised through international charters and documents up to the Vienna Memorandum (UNESCO 1976; ICOMOS 1987; UNESCO 2005)
Heritage has occupied a central role in the discussion about urban development from the 1972 World Heritage Convention
Summary
The conflict between conservation and modernisation is deeply rooted in the history of urban development. In a situation where this past was disappearing from the urban landscape, the culture of modernity used the pre-existing city in a remorseless way, in the spheres of science, morality and art defined by Weber (Harrington 2000) Both in a visible and in a hidden dimension, modernisation took hold: Haussmann’s interventions in the city of Paris offer clear examples of the extent of these two dimensions, comprising avenues and metro tunnels; street lights and sewer infrastructures. It developed as an erudite discussion conducted by experts clearly adhering to an orthodox, object–centred approach to heritage Topics in this discussion included the moral implications of modernistic or academic composition, contrast and analogy, or the consequences of the irruption of the signs of modernity in historic city centres (Athens Charter 1931). The conclusions will generate further questions about the extent and lasting influence of these initiatives, which call for a renewed political view towards the heritage city as a project concerning the role of society in its production
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