Should heritage management be democratized? The Denkmalpflegediskussion in Germany.

This paper is about the recent discussions (known as Denkmalpflegediskussion) on the general organization of heritage management in Germany. The main issue discussed was whether heritage management should be further denationalized (’entstaatlicht’) and made the responsibility of individual citizens in order to serve better both the monuments and the people. A number of fundamental criticisms were made concerning existing practices of heritage management, some of which were said to alienate and patronize people despite opposite intentions. In the course of the public exchange of views various alternatives were suggested and discussed. In particular, more influence should be given to the owners. The overriding criterion for scheduling should be a site’s ability to move people, in other words its ’beauty’ rather than some complex academic reasoning about historical significance. This paper will review the polarized debate that ensued, summarize the main arguments that were made, and discuss emerging key issues in the light of the existing discussion in Sweden, for example in the context of the Agenda Kulturarv project. Should heritage management in a democratic society be liberalized to the extent that it becomes a matter for local communities and individual citizens rather than for the state

What does not move any hearts – why should it be saved? The Denkmalpflegediskussion in Germany.

This paper is about the recent discussions (known as Denkmalpflegediskussion) on the principles and practices of state heritage management in Germany. In an expert report commissioned by the prominent German politician Antje Vollmer from Dieter Hoffmann-Axthelm, a number of fundamental criticisms were made. They concern existing practices of state heritage management, some of which are said to alienate and patronize people. One of the main issues discussed is therefore whether the management of the cultural heritage should be further decentralized (’entstaatlicht’) and made the responsibility of individual citizens and other stake-holders. The overriding criterion for scheduling should be a site’s ability to move people aesthetically and emotionally, rather than some complex academic reasoning about historical significance. The significance of beauty and feelings to heritage is illustrated by discussing a citizens’ initiative promoting comprehensive reconstructions in the Dresden Neumarkt area, around the recently restored Frauenkirche. This paper seeks to review some of the key issues of the German debate and begin a discussion of how it might relate to states heritage management in other countries for which Sweden serves as an example. The question asked is to what extent heritage management elsewhere too can, and should, be further democratized

Freeform Bioprinting of Liver Encapsulated in Alginate Hydrogels Tissue Constructs for Pharmacokinetic Study

An in vitro model that can be realistically and inexpensively used to predict human response to various drug administration and toxic chemical exposure is needed. By fabricating a microscale 3D physiological tissue construct consisting of an array of channels and tissue-embedded chambers, one can selectively develop various biomimicking mammalian tissues for a number of pharmaceutical applications, for example, experimental pharmaceutical screening for drug efficacy and toxicity along with apprehending the disposition and metabolic profile of a candidate drug. This paper addresses issues relating to the development and implementation of a bioprinting process for freeform fabrication of a 3D cell-encapsulated hydrogel-based tissue construct, the direct integration onto a microfluidic device for pharmacokinetic study, and the underlying engineering science for the fabrication of a 3D microscale tissue chamber as well as its application in pharmacokinetic study. To this end, a prototype 3D microfluidic tissue chamber embedded with liver cells encapsulated within a hydrogel matrix construct is bioprinted as a physiological in vitro model for pharmacokinetic study. The developed fabrication processes are further validated and parameters optimized by assessing cell viability and liver cell phenotype, in which metabolic and synthetic liver functions are quantitated.Mechanical Engineerin

Monument and material reuse at the National Memorial Arboretum

This is the author's manuscript of an article published in Archaeological Dialogues.Exploring the relocation and reuse of fragments and whole artefacts, materials and monuments in contemporary commemorative memorials in the United Kingdom (UK), this paper focuses on the National Memorial Arboretum (Alrewas, Staffordshire, hereafter NMA). Within this unique assemblage of memorial gardens, reuse constitutes a distinctive range of material commemoration. Through a detailed investigation of the NMA’s gardens, this paper shows how monument and material reuse, while used in very different memorial forms, tends to be reserved to commemorate specific historical subjects and themes. Monument and material reuse is identified as a form of commemorative rehabilitation for displaced memorials and provides powerful and direct mnemonic and emotional connections between past and present in the commemoration through peace memorials, of military disasters and defensive actions, the sufferings of prisoners of war, and atrocities inflicted upon civilian populations. In exploring monument and material reuse to create specific emotive and mnemonic fields and triggers, this paper engages with a hitherto neglected aspect of late 20th- and early 21st-century commemorative culture

Antiquity at the National Memorial Arboretum

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Heritage Studies on 16/1/2013 available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13527258.2012.757556The paper explores the use of ancient and historic material cultures and architectures within the recent resurgence in public commemoration in the UK. Using the case study of the National Memorial Arboretum (Staffordshire), the study focuses on how ancient designs (including prehistoric, classical and medieval styles and forms) interleave with the arboreal, geological and celestial themes of the memorial gardens. Together these designs serve to create a multitude of temporal poises by which auras of commemorative perpetuity and regeneration are projected and sustained. The paper proposes that archaeologists can bring their expertise to bear on the investigation of the complex, varied allusions to the past within contemporary landscapes of memory.This book chapter was submitted to the RAE2014 for the University of Chester - Geography, Environmental Studies and Archaeology