Modern Heritage Research Articles

Questioning modernity and heritage: The case of the River Club development in Cape Town, South Africa

AbstractThe proposed construction of the controversial Amazon African headquarters at the River Club site in Cape Town encompasses several issues related to modern heritage, colonial practices, sustainable development, the nature‐culture divide, and the Anthropocene. Although approved by the City of Cape Town and the provincial government of the Western Cape, with plans for residential and business units, activists, researchers, environmental organizations, workers' unions, and social justice coalitions associated with indigenous Khoe and San groups oppose the development on the grounds of the symbolic and historical importance of the site earmarked for development. The paper aims to explore the significance of the site, analyze the ensuing confrontations and contestations and examine how the site represents spaces of public history, urban spatial construction, and memory. The focus of the paper will be the complex interplay between social, cultural, ethical, and political forces, and their intersection with legal and institutional policy processes at different levels of the state and the local. Ultimately, the paper challenges the claim of the City of Cape Town, the provincial government, and the developers that their version of historical progress is equitable and fair, and raises a broader question about Eurocentric ideas of emancipation, aesthetics and notions of history, heritage and development.

Understanding Heritage of Early Modernist Sanatorium Architecture: Salutogenic Design, Healing Effects of Nature, Memory, and Impact on the Spirit of Place

Patrimonialization of the 20th century modernist heritage has been gaining pace in recent decades. Modernist buildings of different typologies are being viewed and analyzed as heritage embodying the ideas and spirit of time of the modern movement. Healthcare facilities, including sanatorium buildings, are not an exception. However, understanding this recent heritage raises numerous complexities and contradictions, such as space vs/and particular place, international, universal vs/and local, personal memories vs/and collective memories, local place-related memories vs/and non-local memories. This article aims to contribute to the comprehensive understanding and interpretation of early modernist tuberculosis sanatoria buildings as cultural heritage by demonstrating valuable aspects of early modernist sanatoria architecture and their preservation and continuity pathways via memory and place and their interconnections.

Modernist heritage and memory politics in Spain: shifting values for the adaptive reuse of Seville’s former police headquarters

The political significance of modernist heritage architecture continues to be an unsolved question, particularly its identification and conservation. In Spain, the chronology of modernism stretches through the whole of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s dictatorship. The passing of legislation on memory politics in Spain (i.e. the 2007 Law of Historical Memory and the 2022 Law of Democratic Memory) offers a unique opportunity to address this unsolved question by discussing two uncharted heritage debates: namely, the motivations for the heritagisation of modernist architecture in Spain and the challenges in the adaptive reuse of modernist buildings with controversial histories. The former police headquarters in Seville exemplifies the complexities of both debates and to what extent conflicting views about heritage architecture may determine debates about its reuse. Through a documentary review of the heritagisation of Seville’s former police headquarters, a discourse analysis of intervention proposals and press articles and interviews with relevant stakeholders, this study explored how the rise of memory politics in Spain has changed the interpretation of the former police headquarters’ significance in the last two decades and influenced the choices for its adaptive reuse.

Heritage and waste in the Anthropocene: A museum perspective on environmental and social complexities

AbstractThe relationship between heritage and waste in the context of the Anthropocene has always been intricate. Historically, heritage and waste were viewed as opposing concepts, but in the Anthropocene, they are inextricably linked and interwoven, resulting in the creation of in situ and ex situ productions that leave deep imprints on their territories. How we deal with these landscapes of waste, or wastescapes, as a form of modern heritage is increasingly a concern for museums, which have a potentially pivotal role in addressing the phenomenon of global waste and educating the public about responsible consumption. The review of diverse exhibitions and artworks explores the cultural and social dimensions of waste, considering it as a form of modern heritage derived from and shaped by human activities that have become a planetary phenomenon in the twenty‐first century. It also unveils the connections between economic power, waste management, and environmental impact. In conclusion, current museum practice responds to a reevaluation of what is considered material culture, understanding it as testimonies of the present, with the aim of highlighting the role of museums as platforms for critically examining complex issues related to waste, enabling diverse ways of addressing the environmental and social injustices associated with waste management.

What is Shared about African Modernism? What is African about Modern Heritage?

The Shared Heritage Africa (SHA) project focused on the rediscovery of modern university campuses and seminal buildings in West and East Africa from the 1950s to the 1970s. The project involved nine research fellows from Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda, who conducted heritage research, local writing and photography workshops, exhibitions, and published content to document Africa’s built cultural heritage, eight of them are presented here. This initiative aimed to promote sustainable urban and social development, drawing on African and international efforts and targeting students and young professionals to foster social, cultural and political awareness.

Higher School of Agriculture of Mograne (1947-1952) in Tunisia

In order to document the architectural production of the Modern Movement in Tunisia1, we propose in this article to study a major project in the production of academic institutions, the “Ecole d’Agriculture de Mograne” at Zaghouan in northern Tunisia. The school was designed by architect Jean Pierre Ventre (1913-1979) and his collaborator Marcel Faure (1882-?) and built between 1947 and 1952. The commission for this institution of higher learning, located in a verdant natural setting, was programmed with the political aim of bringing a breath of modernity to the country, breaking with the local traditional heritage. The complex is a classic example of structural modernity, in which the building’s layout reflects both the functional nature of the complex and its coherent integration into the surrounding context. The overall aesthetic of the building is based on a rigorous geometric composition, with horizontal and vertical lines giving it a monumental character. The individual parts, meanwhile, are rationally designed, giving them a functional dimension in terms of sun shading, circulation, or structural maintenance. The mixed use of jointed ashlar masonry and bush-hammered concrete lends stylistic coherence to the whole and has contributed to the school’s longevity and durability for over 70 years. For all its students, the school represents an exemplary academic environment where the memory of the place has left its mark on past generations and continues to do so. Over the years, the School of Mograne has been subject to a number of modifications. What’s more, several of the annex buildings are now in a state of neglect. This calls for urgent action to rehabilitate and reconvert these abandoned spaces. And even more importantly, the Mograne School of Agriculture needs to be protected and classified as a modern heritage and national heritage monument for the values it offers in terms of history, architecture, and environmental integration.

Connecting the Dots

The Modern Movement encompasses a diverse collection of both iconic and ordinary treasures of architecture worldwide, among which some are safeguarded with respect to their values, while others were demolished, have undergone alterations, neglect, or lack of maintenance and preservation over time. Docomomo has been playing a pivotal role in documenting and safeguarding significant architectural works of the 20th century. Its National and Regional Working Parties (WPs), spread across the globe, have diligently compiled archives of photographs, drawings, historical records, and research materials related to Modern Movement architecture, town planning and landscape design. However, the decentralized nature of these archives poses challenges in terms of accessibility, coordination, and attaining a more comprehensive record of the Modern Movement with a global perspective. Therefore, this study undertakes the explorative task of compiling data from these separate online-available archives of the WPs to attain a broader overview of the documented objects of Modern Movement architecture on a global-scale. The collected data is analyzed to identify patterns, trends, and influential architects and to elaborate on the potential factors contributing to the current status. The study involves analysis of the predominant format of building use/function among documented architectural works, examination of the geographical and chronological coverage of available lists, and the distribution of intervention status within the inventory. These aspects provide valuable insights into the functional diversity, geographic spread, and preservation status of architectural works documented in the dispersed archives. This study also facilitates comparative studies between different regions and countries, shedding light on the shared characteristics and unique contributions of the Modern Movement across diverse cultural contexts. The results help identify trends, gaps, and areas of focus for future research and documentation efforts, ensuring the holistic appreciation of architectural works, and contributing to the scholarly understanding and preservation of this modern heritage.

The hyperbolic paraboloid roof of the Teatro Regio in Turin by Felice Bertone

The historical analysis of the structural features of Carlo Mollino’s Teatro Regio, built in Turin in the early 70s, gives evidence of peculiar technical and expressive solutions worth being studied. In addition to the well-known “special structures,” conceived by Sergio Musmeci, Teatro Regio includes a magnificent example of reinforced concrete doubly curved shell used for the lyric hall’s large-span roof. The roof was designed and built by Felice Bertone, an Italian engineer who devoted his activity to daring reinforced concrete design. In this study, the original theatre configuration is redrawn, modeled, and discussed based on archival documentation. This unique hypar thin shell concrete roof is thoroughly described focusing on its intertwined geometric and static features. Bertone’s roofing parametric modeling is eventually presented including a critical interpretation of its structural behavior carried out through qualitative and quantitative analysis. The Teatro Regio architecture with its innovative forms and structural solutions represents an outstanding example of Modern Heritage Architecture.

Documenting Riyadh City’s Significant Modern Heritage: A Methodological Approach

This paper’s primary goal is to propose a methodological strategy to document and protect modern heritage buildings in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is essential because these structures are part of the cultural heritage and identity of Saudi Arabia, considering the rapid urbanization and development taking place. Protecting modern heritage buildings is also essential to increase public appreciation and understanding of modernist architecture and valuable resources of the city’s culture and identity. This study’s objectives fall into two categories: it aims to provide a review of the relevant literature to develop a theoretical framework to examine and document Riyadh City’s significant modern heritage buildings, and it aims to provide an examination and documentation of these structures. To ensure systematic and structured project documentation, quantitative and qualitative methodologies, inductive and deductive approaches, a chronological approach, data management techniques, workshops, and fieldwork methods are utilized. Over 1300 potential modern heritage buildings were identified and categorized into typological groups and building types that historians, architects, planners, designers, and policymakers can use to document and present Saudi Arabia’s rich modern heritage effectively. Of the 1300 buildings, this study was able to identify more than 170 buildings, which were later recognized as the primary modern heritage buildings for Riyadh City in the study timeline (1950–2000).

What is wrong with osteopathy? A response to Thomson and MacMillan

Thomson and MacMillan's paper What's wrong with osteopathy? has understandably caused some consternation within the profession. In this commentary I want to support the intent of their argument, but also suggest they do not go far enough. Western healthcare is entering a post-professional era which will profoundly affect every profession's identity and social purpose. The effects of late capitalism on the atomisation of the body, the unbundling of goodness and expertise, and the transformative effects of digital technologies are not commonly discussed issues in osteopathy, but they are becoming central concerns for any profession looking to adapt to future healthcare. In this essay, I briefly outline the challenges of post-professionalism and explore some of the reactions we have already seen in other professions like physiotherapy. Four response archetypes are identified: watching and waiting, a modern heritage approach, professional renaissance, and hybrid professionalism that, I argue, lies behind Thomson and MacMillan's proposition. All four of these approaches are shown to have significant limitations, so the paper ends with some suggestions for a direction that might be a better way forward for osteopathy.

A modelling framework for modern heritage buildings energy simulation

The latest European polices highlight the urgent need to rehabilitate the existing building stock, responsible for 40 % of the EU's total energy consumption. In this process, a key role is played by thermal simulations, assessing the effective energy performances. However, significant discrepancies between real and simulated consumptions are frequently outlined. Inaccurate results are particularly dangerous for modern buildings, which, rarely protected, are often altered by invasive retrofitting solutions, with little regard for their heritage and cultural value. This paper introduces a comprehensive framework for the building energy simulation, ensuring the necessary model credibility. It consists of dynamic modelling, calibration and validation, enhancing the usefulness of the final results. A validated model is in fact the premise to propose a well-balanced retrofitting scenario, improving the current energy performances, reducing the operational costs, and preserving the historical values of existing buildings. As operative case-study, Chauderon administrative building in Lausanne (1969–1974), designed by the Atelier AAA in collaboration with Jean Prouvé, has been selected. Today, the complex is well-preserved in its original materiality and represents an iconic example of the modern aesthetics, with an expressed need for retrofitting. Following the proposed framework, a reliable model in WUFIplus has been created and validated according to ASHRAE 14, allowing to reliably test the efficacy of future retrofitting scenarios. The final aim of this process is to minimize the risk of inappropriate interventions. For high-quality or recognized post-World War II building stock, the use of a calibrated and validated model is justified and recommended over the static or simplified modelling approaches still commonly employed today.

Tessa Hadley and William Wordsworth: Literary Lineage and Patriarchal Legacy in The Past

ABSTRACT In Tessa Hadley’s The Past (2016), a ruined cottage evokes the dilapidated structure featured in William Wordsworth’s poem “The Ruined Cottage” (1797–98), a poem that privileges the male gaze and male Romantic imagination. I argue Hadley subverts the Romantic tropes bound up in these patriarchal structures by deploying the tropes in such a way as to transfer the powers of perception and imagination to female characters. Through this gynocentric redeployment, Hadley suggests how modern women might surpass Wordsworth’s Margaret in their potential to construct realities in which they have agency while simultaneously reminding us how women remain oppressed by male conceptions of reality. Reading “The Ruined Cottage” alongside The Past also reveals poetry as an under-recognized element of Hadley’s literary lineage and illuminates how this contemporary fiction writer approaches the modernist dual imperative of innovation and inheritance. Reading Hadley’s examination of Romanticism’s androcentric poetic legacy in the context of her modernist heritage positions her as a metamodernist writer. My reading of The Past suggests that a full consideration of modernist continuities and metamodernist practice in contemporary fiction should include poetry, as well as prose, and lineages that predate the twentieth century.

Utilitarian heritage

While modern heritage is often discussed as a critical resource for sustainable urban and social development, the future of such housing is often limited not by technical but rather by cultural, historical, or socio-economic constraints. In cities with a socialist past, mass housing provided individual apartments for a number of Soviet families and tended to create particular spatial qualities. However, with the collapse of the socialist system, attitudes towards such housing began to transform. This paper is a reflection on the range of perceptions of this heritage, attitudes towards it, and difficulties in shaping contextually informed renewal policy approaches. To what extent do traumatic experiences of the past and the rational use of resources in the present mutually influence each other? This article introduces the controversial debate based on the cases of three former socialist countries: Moldova, Armenia, and Uzbekistan. On the one hand, the ubiquity of mass housing in post-socialist countries fostered tolerance for such a typology. On the other hand, large housing estates are a constant reminder of the traumatic experience of the socialist experiment. This essay discusses the present and the future of large residential estates based on reports, policies, media, and collected expert interviews on approaches to working with mass housing areas. Together, the three contributions and joint reflections attempt to add to the debate about the past, present, and future of middle-class mass housing in various social, cultural, and political conditions.

The State Circus in Chisinau - the first socialist modernist architectural object included in the Register of state protected monuments of the Republic of Moldova

Modernism represents one of the most global styles in the history of world culture, dominating almost the entire 20th century. In this context, the Republic of Moldova is no exception having a significant modernist heritage. Numerous projects, materialized in imposing public buildings, are important landmarks in the perception of the identity of our country’s capital during the soviet period. Their research leads to the revelation of the spirit of modernism and of the whole impression of the architectural objects of that period, and last but not least, to the awareness of their real value. Thus, the State Circus attracts the public attention through its artistic qualities: the proportions, the rigorous rhythm of the pillars on the facade, the plastic decorations, as well as through the particularity of representing the historical era in which it was built. The authors of the project, architects S. Şoihet and A. Kiricenko, introduce an expressive volumetric composition into the urban structure, whereas the plastic artists V. Rotari, P. Obuh, L. Yantsen and E. Saakov are preoccupied with emphasizing the playful character of the edifice. Legally unprotected until recently, the architecture of the edifice was in danger of being seriously altered by inappropriate and irreversible interventions. The first step in saving the socialist modernist architectural object is made by the B.A.C.U. Association, which, arguing about the importance of the edifice in the urban context succeeds in including it in the Register of State-protected monuments.

EVALUATION OF MODERN HERITAGE ASSETS IN POZNAN USING MONOTONIC DECISION RULES

Abstract. The protection of cultural heritage is an important task of communities on various levels of social organization. The institutionalization of the processes of protection of modern heritage assets provides the necessary instruments (legislative, juridical, financial) enabling the actual realization of the assumed tasks. The criterion of age, which is still a dominating premise for monument protection, proved not to be sufficient, especially concerning protection of monuments of Modernism. A step that led to the determination of the value of individual architectural objects of the 20th century was the establishment of 10 evaluation criteria proposed by historians of architecture in Warsaw, and afterwards in Poznan.In this work, we focus on the architectural value of post-war buildings, which are most difficult to evaluate. Furthermore, we wanted to apply AI to objectify the process of decision making. The adequacy of the Dominance-based Rough Set Approach (DRSA) method has been established. This method takes into account preference orders on criteria and models patterns observed in data in terms of monotonic “if …, then …” decision rules.

METHODOLOGY FOR THE DIGITAL DOCUMENTATION OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE: APPLIED RESEARCH ON ÁLVARO SIZA’S WORKS FOR THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST

Abstract. Digital Revolution is strongly impacting the safeguarding and enhancement of Cultural Heritage through the techniques and tools available for its documentation and communication. Specifically, modern heritage is a potentially fertile laboratory of work in this field because of the availability of the documental, physical, and oral sources required for its critical study and interpretation. This article aims to present an integrated methodology supported by combined techniques for the comprehensive digital documentation of modern architecture implemented on 18 buildings of Álvaro Siza included in the World Heritage Tentative List since 2017 supported on combined techniques: i) photogrammetry; ii) virtual tours through 360° photos; iii) didactic models in BIM iv) other digital tools, such as virtual reality. This holistic and integrated multi-methods approach provides better documentation and communication of the attributes of the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), as well as of Alvaro Siza’s design principles as a guiding framework for the future management of change.

UTILISING GIS FOR DOCUMENTATION, CONSERVATION, AND SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN ANKARA AS A MODERN PERIOD LIVING HERITAGE PLACE

Abstract. The Middle East Technical University (METU) Ankara Campus is one of the earliest and most prominent modern-period university campuses that resulted from an architectural competition in the 1960s in Turkey. However, METU Campus, as a modern-era heritage place, faces various threats, including pressure for new urban development. In addition, the increasing number of students and contemporary educational needs require changes in the physical infrastructure and campus settings. Thus, all these threaten the tangible and intangible values of the Campus. In this regard, conserving the METU Campus requires a multidimensional approach that considers a wide range of values and problems; herein, the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) becomes a useful tool for dealing with this complex work. Accordingly, the METU Campus GIS Project [METU_GIS] was developed to document and understand the multidimensional characteristics of the METU Campus, assess its values, and propose solutions to current issues while considering its values and potentials. Accordingly, the METU_GIS defines conservation policies and strategies that ensure the conservation and sustainability of the Campus as a living modern heritage place. Furthermore, the METU_GIS is a GIS-based conservation management plan created for a modern period campus for the first time in Turkey. Hence, it became an essential basis and a tool for conserving and managing the METU Campus as a modern living heritage place. All in all, the METU_GIS proves that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are essential tools that can be used in the documentation, conservation, and monitoring of modern heritage places.

A Review of the Impact of Nigerian Tourism Development in the Preservation of Arts and Culture

This study investigates the responsibilities that museums play in conserving art and culture. It argues that museums should be responsible for making historic values accessible and understandable to all visitors, rather than depending simply on traditional item displays. Museums provide opportunities for global travelers to learn about different perspectives on the importance of history and how to preserve their heritage. The method used in this research is qualitative. Research was carried out by compiling and analyzing existing studies. The obstacles to the preservation of art and culture, and how can research help museums use their physical, intentional forms to produce visitor experiences that are meaningful, active, ethical, and continuous, as well as a visible representation of tourism in Nigeria served as the focal points of this paper’s research. The findings support the dual functions of museums, preserving our artistic heritage and acting as a significant source of revenue to support the travel and tourist industry. In addition to significantly increasing global income, tourism is now a key factor in the expansion of economies across the world. The primary rationale behind the growth of tourism in many nations worldwide is often its capacity to have a favorable economic impact through the lens of modern heritage values and ethics. The findings of this research reflect the intricate ways by which tourism and culture are tightly correlated.

More Than Urban Mining: Salvaging Modern Material Discards for Meaningful Reuse

Abstract: As redevelopment of already built-up sites expands in North American cities, tearing down large modern buildings is also accelerating. In pursuit of circular economy and sustainable building ideals, traditional practices like deconstruction for salvage and reuse are being revived. However, a shift toward valuing existing buildings as material banks, as implied in the rise of "urban mining," challenges established material heritage values. Attempts to salvage and reuse modern materials and assemblies raise specific issues, notably the perceived obsolescence of industrial materials and modern buildings and the complex and difficult values of hazardous or experimental elements. In some cases, reinventing modern materials with new uses in new places will expand or reframe heritage values while helping us learn how to address their challenges as objects of materials conservation. To evaluate current practices, this paper discusses selected examples from Ottawa's postwar urban landscape, each of which illustrates the range of issues for alternatives to demolition. Specific opportunities for modern heritage include reorienting salvage efforts to the scale of the component and redefining materials reuse as a critique of modernist models of obsolescence and materials waste.

Modern metal framed glazed façades refurbishment: conservation in the energy and ecological transition

Metal framed glazed façades and curtain walls can be considered one of the most important innovations of modern architecture but are certainly a critical point in the conservation of modern heritage. Next to the most important modern architecture masterpieces, which are under special conservation and safeguard regulations, are a lot of minor and less known architectures that are part of the diffuse modern heritage and risk to be compromised in refurbishment interventions. In most cases, modern metal framed glazed façades systems do not meet the current energy requirements, and it is difficult to preserve them in their original features, finding a compromise between conservation and energy and ecological transition. This contribution presents a critical overview of the problems relating to the conservation of metal framed glazed façades built in the second half of the twentieth century. Requirements and standards established by energy and environmental international protocols and Italian regulations are critically analysed. Through the description of case studies, different attitudes of intervention are presented and discussed: from conservation to total replacement, with a radical change of modern building envelope original features. The mere verification of the minimum performances required by the current regulations inevitably leads to the substitution of original curtain walls. Therefore - looking beyond but respecting the regulations - architects in charge of refurbishment interventions can find innovative envelope technologies and function distribution solutions to preserve curtain walls, limiting the intervention to the strictly needed.