ADAPTING MERITED AND AWARD-WINNING BUILDINGDSPERMITTED LEVELS AND NON-NEGOTIABLE VALUES: THE CASE OF THE LIBRARY OF ALEXANDRIA, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

The practice of launching international architectural design competitions to key and important buildings in Egypt is not a new trend. Once built, those award-winning buildings usually undergo a modification process either by their owners or occupants. Owners or occupants always modify these buildings so that their performance would be adapted to certain local parameters. These modifications, however, may touch upon some of the original qualities that had donated those designs merits and recognitions at the time of their selection as prize winners. Many of these significant award-winning buildings might be considered as modern heritage resources, thus developing another layer of significance that might also influence the appropriateness of any modifications undertaken to them. This paper presents an overview on how some buildings have been altered. The aim was to infer the architectural qualities which were affected by the modification processes, and attempt to define some non-negotiable parameters that should be preserved in such buildings in order to keep their architectural merits. The research tried to answer the following questions: - Is it ethical, professional or legal to modify an award winning architectural project? - Are there regulations or codes of practice that control and/or prohibit modifications of certain architectural qualities in award-winning buildings? The paper also tried to examine the various heritage values that might be satisfied by the case study, which is the Library of Alexandria, and to examine the influences of these values on the adaptability of the modern alterations to the Library. The findings of the study, in relation to the new addition to the Library of Alexandria as a modern heritage resource, indicated that the addition was found to contribute positively towards some heritage values, such as the use value, and was also found to contribute negatively towards other values, such as the townscape value. The study recommends that the regulations of the international and local architectural competitions should explicitly involve guidelines that help in guiding architects while designing modern additions to such award-winning buildings, so as to guarantee the survival of the qualities that allowed these buildings the chance to win these awards

The World Heritage Centr

New Gourna Village, which is located inside one of the World Heritage Sites in Egypt, has never been recognized as an element contributing to the site’s Outstanding Universal Value. The recognition of the village as a contributing element is reliant on the successful assessment of its authenticity and integrity. Responding to the dramatically declining integrity of the village, the World Heritage Centre has carried out an architectural study to guide the potential conservation works in the property. The study has recommended that a group of objectives and two approaches to the conservation of the village should be adopted. One of these two approaches has been concerned with the conservation of the village according to the architect’s original intentions and principles. The previous approach can be called the principles-based approach. The main aim of this study was to examine the agreement of the World Heritage Centre’s objectives and their proposed principles-based approach to the conservation of the village with the aim to improve its chance in meeting the conditions of authenticity and integrity. The study approached the previous aim by assessing, by means of a proposed methodology; the level of significance, authenticity and integrity of the property. Based on the previous assessment, a list of conservation interventions was proposed to improve the property’s chance in meeting the conditions of authenticity and integrity. Finally, the World Heritage Centre’s recommended approaches and objectives were examined against the previous proposed conservation interventions. The findings indicated the possibility to adopt the principles-based approach to the conservation of New Gourna Village, as well as the other World Heritage Centre’s objectives, without limiting the property’s chance in meeting the conditions of authenticity and integrity. The study recommends to carry out further studies that are concerned with the identification of the architect’s philosophy and architectural principles that should be the key reference of all the potential conservation interventions in the village

Area-based conservation: The strengths and weaknesses of the Egyptian emerging experience in area-based conservation

The interest in securing and sustaining the townscape and urban values of the historic environment has escalated as a response to the writings of intellectuals, such as Kevin Lynch and Gordon Cullen. Such interest has been construed by the governments’ introduction of statutory tools allowing them the right to designate urban areas within the boundaries of which the historic environment can be provided a statutory protection. The earliest European attempt to introduce such tools has been the Dutch establishment of the model of conservation areas known as “Protected Town and Village Views” in 1961. In 1962, the renowned Malraux Act has officially established the French similar model of protected areas known as “Secteurs Sauvegardés”. The introduction of such tools has marked the emergence of what has been later called area-based conservation. In Egypt, the enactment of the Act No. 119, in 2008, and the establishment of the model of protected areas known as “Areas Enjoying a Distinctive Value”, seem to have marked the emergence of the Egyptian official experience in area-based conservation. The main aim of this study was to preview the key features of the Egyptian emerging experience in area-based conservation and to unveil its strengths and weaknesses. The study approached the issue by means of a comparative analysis conducted among a group of adopted case studies. The adopted case studies included the British, the Dutch, the Egyptian, the French, the Irish and the Maltese experiences in area-based conservation, in addition to the international institutions’ experiences. The findings indicated that adopting the centralized approach to designate the Egyptian “Areas Enjoying a Distinctive Value” seems to be the major weakness of the Egyptian experience. The findings suggest the further boosting of the role of the Egyptian local authorities in the management of such designated areas

Evaluating the authenticity of earthen heritage: The case of Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre in Egypt

The authenticity of earthen heritage has long been a challenge to the trials of the under-represented States Parties, to the World Heritage Convention, to identify properties for listing on their Tentative Lists, of potential World Heritage Sites. Many under-represented States Parties and regions, such as Africa and the Arab States, retain a large number of properties representing earthen heritage, yet none of them has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. For such a pattern of cultural heritage to qualify for the World Heritage Site status, nominated properties should enjoy an Outstanding Universal Value and should also meet the conditions of authenticity and integrity. Due to the fragility of its building material, earthen heritage has always been the subject of continuous maintenance works to its material. Consequently, an impression that the material authenticity of such cultural heritage is questionable has evolved. The main purpose of this study was to discuss such perceptions in further depth. The study also aimed at evaluating the contribution of the “materials and substance” attribute versus the contribution of the other attributes of authenticity, toward the evaluation of the authenticity of earthen heritage. The study approached these objectives by evaluating by means of a proposed methodology the authenticity of one case study, which is Ramses Wissa Wassef Art Centre, in Egypt. The adopted evaluation methodology was developed based on the Nara Document’s notion of authenticity. The findings indicated the significant contribution of the non-material attributes, vis-à-vis the contribution of the “materials and substance” attribute, toward the authenticity of the examined property. The results suggest the need to broaden the narrow perception that reduces the authenticity of earthen heritage to its material aspects, so as to embrace all the other non-material attributes of authenticity