Historic Urban Landscape & the Contemporary Addition

Ref.: 46
Área temática: 01 Integridad física de los paisajes urbanos históricos
Fecha de recepción: 29/10/2008

AUTORES (* Autor principal)

MUBASHIR, Malik * (Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte) -

ABSTRACT

Historic Urban landscape is a very broad term which not only forms the background to the principal forms of social life but is also a part of a dynamic living heritage having evolved over a substantial period of time. It not only incorporates a general history of an `architectural thought' of the period but also is a comprehensive assessment of its constituents. These constituents though in independent possessions had been pieced together over a period of time into a behavioural pattern giving use & pleasure to those who live in them. It reflects the spirit of their age living in consonance not only with each other but also with the outside environment facing all the mundane social customs of occasional quarrels & serene backbiting but nevertheless a constant compromise with respect for each other. Apropos the regionalised approaches developed over a period of time & based on commonly understood codes helped to bind this whole urban scape, visually as well as socially. It is this accidental assembly of clusters which imparts a visual richness with the masses of buildings arising having a sense of corporeal honesty & religious enlistment.
This historic urban landscape thus acts as a great source of inspiration often dictating the present. But at the same time our needs & requirements change making it often difficult to maintain this urban asset continuously. So any new addition or a use has to follow a judicious & a comprehensive channel. For accession to this historic environment we ought to always maintain the fact that we are a part of this environment & whatever we do is going to have an effect on ourselves. We are a part of this urban mass & it is a part of us. So it demands going back to the past, thinking what our predecessors thought & then implementing it in the form of a contemporary addition. Further demanding a workable design approach, building friendly materials, and with an equal onus on contemporary techniques. To start with the intervention ought to be minimum but then it should very well balance the already existing intriguingly shaped urbanscape. The development should genuinely find an economic solution not only to help the structure in survival but also addressing the issues of sustainability. At times our thinking had to be `out of box' & not to restrict ourselves to a `museum philosophy'. Well certainly this is not wrong but we need to put use to the historic building. Further due to modern technological innovation the impact of any new intervention can be realised thus minimizing a potential social disaster to the Historic Urban landscape. This can be done by means of 3-dimensional computer modelling & using satellite images put together which can give a realistic idea of a futuristic impact of the intervention to the historic Urbanscape.
This paper thus tries to explore the Historic Urban scape & the effect of contemporary addition & its impact on the existing historic environment.

BIBLIOGRAFÍA

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