RCAHMS Centenary Workshops

(Morning Papers)

1. Miles Glendinning (morning chair)
Introduction

2. Emilie d’Orgeix
Docomomo Registers: from Canonical Modernism to Post-war Recording

Since 1992, Docomomo chapters working under the guidance of the International Specialist Committee on Registers (ISC/R) have been engaged on documenting modern buildings and sites. The third Docomomo International conference held in Barcelona, in September 1994, was the first milestone in the collective register work. At that time fifteen chapters submitted fiches recording a total of more than 500 buildings, illustrated with photos and graphic material. In December of the same year the ISC/R held a meeting aimed to evaluate the results of Barcelona register and to establish a common pattern for the inventory. The committee distinguished three levels for selecting significant buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of modern architecture. At the fifth Docomomo international conference organized in Stockholm in 1998, the specialist committee agreed that the next phase of data collection would extend the scope of the registers to include significant examples of modern urbanism and landscapes after WWII.
The works selected could comprise individual buildings, sites and neighbourhoods, urban developments, gardens and landscapes and can include infrastructures, civil engineering works, alterations and changes to existing buildings, interiors and their furniture, and architectural industrialized elements.

Although this new step in recording 20th century heritage revealed a clear change in the definition and the appraisal of post-war heritage, it also raised many questions in the context of an organization present on five continents. Besides addressing the question: how to document? – For instance, whether or not with digital image techniques – comes the question: What to document, and according to which criterias?

This presentation will first focus on the history and missions of Docomomo Registers before discussing, through several examples of Docomomo national registers, the diversity and the complexity of adjusting the recording of “post-war heritage” at the international scale.

3. Ebru Omay Polat (with Nilüfer Baturayoglu Yöney)
Docomomo International Student Workshop : Analysing and Preserving a Housing Utopia, Ataköy, Istanbul : Proceses and Findings 

The first international student workshop, organized in connection with the IX. DOCOMOMO International Conference, was held in Istanbul on September 18-26, 2006 prior to the conference. The study area was one of Istanbul’s first suburban mass housing zones, Ataköy. This was selected for its urban and architectural features and because of the need for re-evaluating these features as part of the Modern Movement heritage. The initial steps of this project, Phases I and II are today iconic examples of urban planning and architecture of the late 1950s and 1960 s. The construction process of Ataköy over a period of 40 years discloses changes in living standards. The needs and ideals of a comfortable life-style are different today, which leads to the re-fitting of apartments and the renovation of buildings. However, the execution of such work by laymen results in the transformation of the symbols of the former project. This is especially true for Phases I-II, which reflects the modernist planning and architectural approach of the late 1950s and 1960s, and there is urgent need for the development of a sustainable conservation strategy. In a country where there are problems with the definition of 20th century works as a part of the architectural heritage, Ataköy is not even considered as an example of “modern architectural heritage”. The settlement still preserves its function as a housing area but alteration proposals threaten the modernist unity of the settlement characteristics.

The main theme and problem presented with the Ataköy  Workshop, is the “Documentation and Conservation of the Modern Movement”, keywords defined by DOCOMOMO and intended to be presented to a younger public formed of graduate students. This problem was discussed with a focus on defining ideas and clues in different scales and with an interdisciplinary approach for Ataköy Phases I and II. This paper aims to discuss the workshop experience in its process and results. 

4. Mart Kalm
The Built Legacy of Soviet Collective Farms: Challenges of Analysis and
Recording

Construction of housing immediately after the second world war in the Soviet Union under Stalin was unwieldy and slow because the buildings were mostly built by hand and a lot of energy was expended on copious classical decoration. It was not until the so called 'thaw' period under Khrushchev in the mid 1950s that the rapid transition to industrial construction methods and the free planning of new residential areas began. Architecture as an art of urban construction which encouraged the generous spending of resources to create imposing ensembles and to apply a profusion of decoration to each building, ignoring functional and economic considerations, was condemned as excessive". The new age emphasised learning from the Western experience about how to use modern building materials and technologies, and how to adopt the rational principles of Modernist architecture, without which it would be impossible to "overtake the USA"; this official slogan served as an imperative in the Cold War era. In Estonia the housing by collective farms (kolkhozes), i.e. prefabricated apartment blocks in countryside form a specific kind on uneasy heritage. Thanks to the limitless market in Russia the Estonian
agricultural industry was like an oasis. Whole system collapsed after Estonia regained its independence in 1991 and resentful of that Russia closed its borders to Estonian products. After labour has moved to cities the idle housing has become the symbol of post-communist landscape.

5. Stefan Muthesius
Recording in the Modern Age: a Century of English Initiatives

Can one judge the development of the recording of architectural and historical monuments in England during the last 100 years as a straight linear progress? More and more buildings more and more thoroughly researched?  Can one state that at some point the country could be considered to be 'covered'?  Hardly, as far as the Royal Commission and the Survey of London volumes are concerned (which began to appear in 1910 and 1900 respectively). Definitely, as far as Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England Series is concerned (today called Pevsner Guides). But this still leaves the question of objectivity, especially when we enter the realm of the mass of 19th and 20th century buildings; who and what determines their selection? We can trace here an early, a 'Pevsner period' of high selectivity and a subsequent broadening of the choice. This talk
investigates the evolution of some of the issues of' 'covering' and selectivity.

6. Peter Guillery 
The South Acton Survey: the Recording of ‘Vernacular’ Modernity

The suburban district of South Acton has one of the largest post-war housing estates in west London, high- and low-rise flats in a mature landscape. What is special about South Acton is its typicality, its disposition of familiar and widespread forms, representing most major approaches to public housing from 1945 to 1979. Also typically, social problems, real and perceived, and the costs of maintenance and repair all mounted, and redevelopment came into view. A masterplan proposing much demolition has generated opposition, residents fearing the loss of good buildings and open spaces, and the destabilisation of communities. South Acton lacks the distinction that would warrant listing or conservation-area designation. Yet there is a strong local view that the place as it is should be taken into account before the latest fresh start is too advanced. New approaches to the historical investigation of post-war housing that extend beyond assessments of architectural significance are badly needed.

Following a local approach, English Heritage undertook to characterise the area’s historical and architectural development, to provide a model for the assessment of comparable ordinary places. By characterising mix rather than highlights public housing can be understood in local or vernacular terms as well as in relation to national programmes. The degree to which use as opposed to design has affected (or failed to affect) what was initially provided is also significant. Alterations can be as revealing as original form.

A research report followed established practice for historic area assessments, combining rapid-survey fieldwork with documentary research, photography and phase mapping for a narrative history that blends social and economic contexts with details of topographical change and building development. Architectural motivation, contexts and comparability were assessed in passing. One aim, of course, was to inform and influence those involved with the regeneration of South Acton, a substantial challenge. A wider purpose was simply to raise the historical profile of ordinary post-war housing.

The report was part of a dual approach, the other half of which was community engagement. A parallel study was commissioned from Fluid, architects with a track record in community consultation. They produced an oral-history based synthesis of local residents’ thoughts, memories and feelings. The two arms of the project developed in close collaboration, integrating material and interpretations, the different approaches combining to provide complementary explorations, of convergence and divergence between architectural intentions and lived experience, as well as between academic and popular histories. All the work is available through a website, .

7. Tim Townshend (with John Pendlebury)
Documentation and conservation: The Listing of Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne

This presentation will be focused around a case study of the Byker Estate in Newcastle upon Tyne. Constructed under the direction of a team headed by Ralph Erskine, Byker was constructed between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. Following the possibility of the demolition of a small but architecturally significant part of the estate in the late-1990s, English Heritage recommended listing to the government – something finally undertaken in January 2007. In the meantime a conservation plan was produced for the estate in 2002-2003.  The presentation will consider the mechanics of documentation and conservation such as listing and the use of conservation plan methodology. It will also consider other understandings of Byker, as told to colleagues, and myself by residents, housing managers and heritage professionals. It will then briefly consider how listing is perceived locally and the positives and negatives it might bring to Byker. It will finish with some reflections on what it is we might seek to record in Byker.

 

(Afternoon Papers)

8.  Diane M Watters (afternoon chair)
Introduction

9.  Jessica Taylor
Cumbernauld Fiches and Figures: Appreciation of a Post-War New Town

Cumbernauld New Town, designated in 1955, is one of the most unique examples of post-war architecture and planning in Scotland and the United Kingdom. However in the past few years the town has been victim to a series of media led “public” awards:  Prospect Magazine’s Carbuncle Award, and Channel 4’s Demolition programme. Little has been done in the past decade to thoroughly consider the town as a whole, or even other aspects of the town such as the housing. Cumbernauld is home to several wonderful examples of post-war Scottish housing, though the condition of the housing is in some areas failing.  For such places, where a patina of failure and ugliness has degraded the recognition of architectural interest, survey does not seem relevant.  Survey, however, leads to analysis, which can in turn lead to the re-evaluation and better understanding of towns and places in similar situations to Cumbernauld.  What, at Cumbernauld, actually exists to date?

This presentation will examine this question, using the to date results of a comprehensive surveying project of the town, picking up the differences between the reality of Cumbernauld and what is widely understood of the new town that won the  ‘plook on the plinth’ award.  Also, the surveying process will be looked at, the problems involved with surveying such a large area, and other difficulties and matters.  This inventory, in addition to hopefully bringing a new light to, and new appreciation of, Cumbernauld, serves as a DOCOMOMO ISC U + L pilot project for urban inventorisation, and the paper will review progress.

10. Stephen Cairns and Jane Jacobs
Red Road: ‘Gleaning’ of the Everyday

This paper offers a detailed consideration of how to record and think about a modernist residential multi-storey block that is coming to its end, and has not been retrieved back into a system of 'value' by way of regeneration or heritage designation. Red Road, Glasgow, has been earmarked for redevelopment, one component of which is the proposed demolition of one of the original highrise blocks. This paper explores the ways in which quasi-archaeological, art-inspired techniques can be applied to recording a building coming to the end of its days. Along the way the paper reflects on architecture and waste, and on the way value attaches to, and detaches from, architecture.

 

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Two parallel discussion groups were formed.

A. ‘People’ discussion group
Leader: Diane Watters
Note-taker: Simon Green, RCAHMS

The first group was charged with exploring whether the ever-widening scope of recording demanded a social broadening of its subject matter and its organization. In contrast to the continuing traditional emphasis, even in the Modern Movement era, of the elite designer of buildings, many different agents and organizations are involved in shaping entire areas. Two main questions were posed:

• Can we devise a sufficiently sophisticated yet not unwieldy recording technique to properly reflect this much greater diversity and conflict among ‘creators’?
• Can we get an element of user-input from the present-day communities into recording, or do participation efforts, as opposed to traditional gathering of ‘facts’, necessarily end up being appropriated by the powers that be?

 

Discussion

Jane Jacobs highlighted her experiences with the public participation element of the Red Road Project. Hours and hours of film were taken of interviews with the residents and other people involved with the buildings including caretakers, concierge and service providers. This process was very heavy on resources and the resulting material has no obvious home. She stressed that ‘objective’ organizations, such as RCAHMS, should be the ideal home for this archive material. She asked ‘How does the research help the community?’  Jacobs argued that the key role should be in the mediation of change – all opinions should be canvassed from as many different sources as possible (for and against), and an attempt should be made to try to discover why and when people’s attitudes change, and why and when ‘the rot set in’. There are real benefits, she argued, of understanding how the buildings work on all levels.

The entire group agreed that to record and interview the whole gamut of the professional involved in a project including the designers, builders, politicians, planners, commentators, historians as well as the user/residents, was of great value. The architect’s and perhaps the users have perhaps been given too much prominence in past studies? They remain an important element but should not drive the research.

B. ‘Landscape’ discussion group

Leader: Miles Glendinning

Note-taker: Neil Gregory, RCAHMS

The second group focused on the challenges posed by the vast expansions of scope and significance to geographical, site and map-based recording – the foundation of  RCAHMS’s tradition of archaeological analysis and survey.  In a subject area ridden with complexities, this session asked:

• Is it possible to envisage, in principle, and kind of coherent, site based ‘inventory’ of these postwar mass environments?
• If so, how could it be structured? And could RCAHMS’s traditional expertise in site-based, generalist survey specially assist this?

 

Discussion

What landscapes to record? 

The discussion began by acknowledging that many buildings featured in the day’s papers might not be in existence in the near future.  It was noted that recording individual buildings within a housing scheme is problematic when the buildings were conceived as a whole: the consistency of design across an area needs to be considered.  

It was agreed that not everything could be recorded due to time constraints and logistics, and so exemplary case studies were deemed a good source of documentation.  Some housing schemes may grow in importance as time passes because of the simple fact that they have survived: selection of which schemes to survey should come sooner rather than later so that there is a greater pool from which to sample. 

The question of what records (plans, aerial photographs, maps, film etc) architecture students (as one example of RCAHMS users) might like to see in the future was mooted.  One participant commented that how a mass-housing scheme ends up is just as important as the pristine, artistic view at its conception.  Many agreed with this, and the purpose of survey for future audiences to understand place, architecture and change was reiterated.    

How to record landscapes, who should do the recording?

The discussion moved to these questions, and the group recalled the paper presented by Ebru Omay Polat who told of a student project based in a Turkish mass-housing scheme.  In this case the students’ presence nurtured residents’ interest in their community.  It was noted that getting communities involved in recording their area using photography and any archive that they might have gathered over the years (newspaper cuttings, photographs from previous decades etc) was beneficial both to archive and residents alike. 

It was asked whether RCAHMS should get as many people together as possible (i.e. students, local archive support groups, locals, and academic research clusters from different organisations) to go in and rapidly survey an area.  Getting communities involved not only has the possibility of raising local pride, but also offers the opportunity to analyse how lifestyles have changed in an area, and to assess the current needs of people living somewhere 50 years after it has been created.  

 

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The two discussion groups identified four main areas of potential research. There is often an overlap between these four areas, and in some cases current RCAHMS, AHRC, and non-Scottish research projects (most notably: the ongoing work of DOCOMOMO International, the proposed English Heritage supported Tower Block project; the AHRC/RCAHMS PhD Cumbernauld New Town project; and the Historic Scotland supported Dictionary of Scottish Architects project) could be dovetailed into these in some way.

1. Comparative international map-based inventory project of housing areas (which could potentially attract AHRC funding), contrasting geographical settings: e.g. New Towns, city extensions, and old town interventions.
2. Scottish ‘area’ inventory pilot project to develop a sufficiently sophisticated technique which properly reflects the diverse ‘creators’ (architects, planners, politicians etc.) of C20 environments. Potential RCAHMS-led pilot scheme based upon the C20 re-invention of Scottish historic burghs.
3. Community/user recording project based on the current RCAHMS HLF-funded Scotland’s Rural Past project (this could potentially be developed from the above ‘area’ inventory pilot project.), applied to postwar built environment.

Scottish Modern Movement ‘Creators’ interview project, which would attempt to record the reminiscences of surviving key individuals in Scotland’s postwar redevelopment.

 

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