Evaluation of Authenticity in Adaptive Reuse of Heritage Buildings based on the Nara Grid
Topics: Heritage Conservation / Design
Length: 1 hour | What's Included: Video, quiz, and certificate of completion.
This webinar session has three sections. The first section is a 20-minute review of heritage buildings’ conservation and adaptation. It mentions the reasons for adaptive reuse, related challenges, and the significance of preserving their authenticity and its evaluation by the Nara Grid based on the Nara Document on Authenticity. The second section is a 30-minute analysis of an award-winner adaptive reuse project, a historic house reused as a tourism accommodation, its completed Nara Grid, and the factors that impact the authenticity of this building. The 10-minute third section draws concluding remarks for maintaining and enhancing the authenticity of heritage buildings in their adaptive reuse.
Preserving the authenticity of heritage buildings in their adaptive reuse processes is one of the significant challenges as it resumes a central role in their conservation, and its loss decreases the value and the quality of architectural works and their contexts. The relationship between authenticity and sustainability in heritage buildings is discussed in the webinar; this is a big topic in the reuse of heritage properties for new purposes. The main architectural features of the selected case study, the influential environmental factors on their formation and evolution and the potential for sustainable conservation and adaptation are discussed. A careful study of the history and architecture of heritage buildings helps to regard their authenticity and sustainability in the conservation and post-conservation phases.
Authenticity can be seen as a complex and layered concept. The Nara Grid, a checklist tool published in 2008 based on the Nara Document on Authenticity by International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), helps deal with this concept by documenting authenticity through different dimensions and aspects. The authenticity aspects highlighted in the Nara Grid are ‘Form and Design’, ‘Material and Substance’, ‘Use and Functions’, ‘Traditions and Techniques’, ‘Location and Settings’, and ‘Spirit and Feeling’. The authenticity dimensions are ‘Artistic’, ‘Historic’, ‘Social’ and ‘Scientific’. Unsustainable practices negatively impact these aspects and dimensions in adaptive reuse processes; preventing such approaches is crucial for a successful heritage building reuse project.
Learning Outcomes:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will be able to:
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Distinguish the values of heritage buildings which need to be preserved. |
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Specify the potential of heritage buildings for compatible new functions. |
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Develop heritage buildings’ conservation and adaptation plans regarding their authenticity. |
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Evaluate the authenticity of heritage buildings in their adaptive reuse. |
Subject Matter Expert
Sahba Tavakoli, PhD Candidate in Architecture
Eastern Mediterranean University
Sahba Tavakoli is a PhD Candidate in architecture at the Eastern Mediterranean University. Studying architecture from undergraduate to doctorate and being trained by educated and experienced architects have given her competence in design and academic research. However, she is planning to push the boundaries of her research to a broader perspective of sustainability in new architectural designs and reuse/redesign projects since the socio-cultural, economic and environmental issues are becoming more serious. Participating in design projects and workshops, presentations at international conferences and sharing her art and architecture knowledge with others advanced her awareness of contemporary challenges in the built and natural environments. Sahba Tavakoli is enthusiastic about following architectural design and research at the high international levels to grow personally and professionally.
Pricing A-La-Carte
Member: $50 / Non-Member: $75
Intern Member: $35 / Intern Non-Member: $50
Student: $25 (must be an RAIC student associate member)