Ontwerpanalyse bij restauratie. De Zuiderkerkstoren te Amsterdam

In 2017, the restoration of the Zuiderkerk (1603-1614) was completed with the renovation of its tower. This striking tower, designed by Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621), dominates the silhouette of the eastern part of Amsterdam’s city centre. It consists of a brick base, a sandstone octagon with columns and a wooden spire clad in lead and slate. The tower, which was last restored in 1978, was in need of a complete restoration due to salt efflorescence in the brickwork and rust damage to the natural stone. In addition, the lead of the spire needed renovation. The lead had been painted in a Bentheimer stone colour in 1978, as was the sandstone part of the tower. This change in the colour composition was a result of the ‘white tower plan’ of  the Public Works Department, which had started in 1966, when the Montelbaanstoren was painted white. The aim was to paint all lead claddings of seventeenthcentury towers white, based on the idea that the white layer found on the lead cladding of the towers was a remnant of an original finish. When laboratory analysis showed that in the case of the Zuiderkerk this layer was the product of a chemical reaction in the lead and not a finishing coat, painting nevertheless continued,  on the grounds that this would show that the city was looking after its heritage. When the most recent restoration of 2015-2017 showed that most of the lead needed to be renewed, the verquestion arose as to whether the 1978 colour composition should be maintained. Subsequent painting had caused the crown of the tower to turn a strange pale pink, which did nothing to improve the appearance of the tower architecture. Initially, the Archivolt firm of architects proposed leaving the lead unpainted and painting the sandstone octagon of the tower in a matching blue-grey colour. This proposal was based on historical colour analysis, the available iconographic material and comparisons with other Amsterdam towers. However, an analysis of the tower and the tower design was lacking. Finally, in consultation with the architect, the current colour scheme was chosen, in which the sandstone was painted in sandstone colour and the lead retained its natural dark colour, resulting in a tower with a clear colour contrast. The justification for this was provided by studying the history of construction and alterations found in literature, archival sources, iconographic material, building and historical colour research. This was supplemented by an analysis of the architecture of the tower, which ultimately  played a decisive role. This article is a reworking of and addition to the analysis carried out in 2016. The example of the Zuiderkerkstoren shows how this classical method of architecture and design analysis, which is rarely used in restorations, can be helpful in deciding on the correct type and degree of restoration

THE SHAKY LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE GLOBAL HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION PROJECT

School students should be taught about the law and this includes rights education. The global human rights education (HRE) project focuses on universal human rights and has a strongly utopian orientation, drawing as it does on international declarations and principles of human rights law. International human rights law is, however, at best a fragile edifice, characterised by legally non-binding declarations, treaties that are subject to the vagaries of jus voluntarium, and mostly impotent international tribunals. HRE appears to rely more on its own interpretations of international human rights law, which may include reading (and writing) into texts what is simply not there. Far from being a form of law education, HRE is a form of social-transformative activism. Same-sex marriage advocacy is used as an example of the excesses to which HRE is prone. School-based rights education should be within the context of a comprehensive curricular package of law education using students’ domestic legal frameworks as the principal point of reference

School Social Studies as a Vehicle for Human Rights Education: Caveats

The social studies curriculum is the obvious “home” of school-level human rights education. As such, social studies as a school subject has the potential to contribute significantly to the empowering function of formal education. A right to human rights education is, however, dependent on the right to education as such. With Universal Primary Education (UPE) yet to be achieved, social science educators seeking to use the subject as a means of extending human rights education to children in the most underdeveloped countries need to focus their attention on the primary school curriculum

Teachers' and administrators' perceptions of the bullying problem in Lebanon

This paper presents data arising from a study (see Rabah, 2006) on the bullying problem in a sample of nine Lebanese private schools from the perspective of school personnel. The sample comprised 151 teachers, including nine senior administrators as key informants. The data collected included copies of written school policies. The study suggests that Lebanese teachers, on the whole, exhibit a high level of understanding of the phenomenon of bullying. However, they concede that many Lebanese teachers may not recognise the behaviour in all its forms. Most of the schools in the sample moreover did not have written anti-bullying policies. Most teachers believed that they needed professional development workshops on the bullying issue.peer-reviewe

Science textbook readability in Lebanon : a comparison between anglophone and francophone learning milieux

Science subjects are taught in either English or French in the Lebanese high school system. In a strongly examination-driven system exhibiting parallel English and French science courses and textbooks, the issue arises as to whether the second language in which learning occurs has any determining effect on outcomes. This paper outlines an exploratory study involving the readability of the national Year 12 biology textbook using both Flesch and Cloze tests, and the reading strategies that students employ when reading science texts. On the whole, there did not appear to be any major differences between anglophone-medium and francophone-medium students with regard to the readability of the book, but the study raises questions which cast some doubt on the simplistic assumption that the choice of the second language makes no difference, particularly with regard to students’ reading strategies.peer-reviewe

Student transition to vocational education from middle secondary school in Australia and Lebanon : an exploratory study

This paper arises from an exploratory comparative study of student transition to vocational education (voced) from middle secondary school in Australia and Lebanon. Following an elucidation of the educational contexts in which this transfer may occur, data arising from surveys of first-year voced students who made this transition are presented and discussed. Converging themes were the link between vocational education and the acquisition of employment-related skills, and the perceived inadequacy of mainstream secondary schooling to meet these students’ needs. Issues which brought about a divergence between the two groups highlight major differences between the two education systems. The paper ends with a series of recommendations for the beleaguered Lebanese voced system.peer-reviewe

Inessential Colors: Architecture on Paper in Early Modern Europe

Review of a book written by Basile BaudezBespreking van een boek van Basile Baude

Tussen concept en geschiedenis. Een analyse van de restauratie van het Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam (2005-2011)

The Royal Palace in Amsterdam (originally the town hall) was restored during 2005-2011. The restoration work was qualified as a state secret, which means that many architectural historical data are still not publicly available and that the local Department of Monuments of the city of Amsterdam does not have access to them either. The restoration consisted of several elements. 1. The renovation of the palace and its technical systems. In 2006, one third of the Imperial staircase was removed to make room for a lift. This had a severe impact on the monumental value of the staircase and it received a lot of attention in the national media, with many arguing that the staircase should be saved. 2. Initially, no funds were available for restoring the monumental interiors on the first floor of the palace. After demolishing the staircase, additional funds were finally made available to work on the interior. The aim of the restoration architect was to recreate a palace atmosphere within the context of the 17th-century town hall. This was achieved by bringing back the interior atmosphere as it had been until the previous restoration of the twentieth century. This was done mainly through soft furnishings. Also, research was done into the paintwork of the rooms, especially with regard to the 17th-century colours. The assumption here was that all wooden elements in all of the rooms (coverts, doors, coffered ceilings) had been painted in the same colour, which meant that the colour of a cupboard in the Secretary was applied to the coffered ceiling of the Thesaurie Ordinaris. This ignored the accepted principle, which was also applied in the town hall, that distinctions in venerability between the different city boards had distinctive expressions in the architecture. This principle is evident from the mantelpieces: the most important board rooms had Corinthian mantelpieces, with the exception of the Burgomaster (the most important position) whose room had a mantelpiece of all white marble, whereas the Schepenen (the aldermen) had a mantelpiece in white and red marble. During the last restoration the doors that were reconstructed in the 20th century were kept in their redbrown colour, while the ceilings were painted in a colour that was well-intended, but most likely not original. As a result, the original architectural elements and the reconstructed ones no longer have the same colour, while this was the case in the 17th-century. The architectural concept of the 1960-1968 restoration was architecturally more coherent. 3. The natural stone on the façades of the palace was most expertly repaired. In collaboration between the restoration architect and various government departments dealing with monuments it was decided to restore the tympanum on the front to its previous glory. The architect’s aim was to take the original concept by Jacob van Campen as a starting point: light façades with windows manifesting themselves as dark recesses. However, in carrying out the work it was decided to respect the ageing of the façades, while on the other hand the historical colour of the windows was ignored. These 20th-century windows had always been white, but were now painted brown, like the 17th-century windows that were removed in 1808. This begs the question of whether the desired contrast between façades and windows was achieved. In the end, both the exterior and the interior have become the result of opinions that were based on the personal views of those involved rather than on a historical evaluation of the palace as it stood until 2005. Another important conclusion that may be drawn from this restoration is one that concerns process. The Rgd’s (Government’s Buildings Agency) principle to declare a restoration to be confidential in order to control the process, is wrong. A top monument such as the Royal Palace requires a careful, transparent process in which citizens are informed and restoration architects, those involved in the preservation of monuments and architectural historians can freely debate various plans. That such a debate can lead to positive results is evident from the façades.Het Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam (oorspronkelijk stadhuis) is in 2005-2011 gerestaureerd. De restauratiewerken waren gekwalificeerd als staatsgeheim. Hierdoor zijn vele bouwhistorische gegevens tot op de dag van vandaag niet openbaar en niet toegankelijk voor de plaatselijke monumentendienst van Amsterdam. De restauratie bestond uit een aantal onderdelen. 1. het renoveren van het paleis en zijn installaties. Hierbij is in 2006 een derde deel van een keizerlijke trap gesloopt ten behoeve van een lift. De monumentale waarde van de trap werd sterk aangetast. De sloop van de trap kreeg landelijke media-aandacht, waarin werd opgeroepen de trap te sparen. 2. In eerste instantie was er geen geld beschikbaar gesteld voor het herstel van de monumentale interieurs van het paleis, die zich op de eerste verdieping bevinden. In 2007, één jaar na de sloop van de trap, werd alsnog geld beschikbaar gesteld voor de werken aan het interieur. Het doel van de restauratiearchitect was het recreëren van een paleisatmosfeer binnen de context van het zeventiende-eeuwse stadhuis. Dit gebeurde door het de sfeer van het interieur zoals dat tot aan de vorige restauratie van 1960-1968 bestond, terug te brengen. Dit is met name gerealiseerd door middel van stoffering. Daarnaast werd onderzoek gedaan naar de geschilderde afwerking van de vertrekken en met name naar de zeventiende-eeuwse kleuren. Hierbij werd de stelling gehanteerd dat alle houten onderdelen in alle kamers (kasten, deuren, cassettenplafond) in dezelfde kleur waren geschilderd, wat ertoe leidde dat de kleur van een kast in de Secretarie werd overgenomen voor een cassettenplafond in de Thesaurie Ordinaris. Er werd geen rekening gehouden met het gangbare en in het stadhuis toegepaste principe, dat het onderscheid in eerbiedwaardigheid tussen de verschillende stedelijke colleges, verschillende uitwerkingen in de architectuur tot gevolg had. Dit principe is zichtbaar in de schouwen, waar de belangrijkste colleges schouwen in de Korinthische orde kregen, maar waarbij de Burgemeesters (het belangrijkste ambt) een geheel witmarmeren schouw kreeg, terwijl de Schepenen een schouw in wit en rood marmer kregen. Bij de laatste restauratie werden de in de twintigste eeuw gereconstrueerde deuren gehandhaafd in hun roodbruine kleur, terwijl de plafonds een goed bedoelde, maar waarschijnlijk niet oorspronkelijke kleur kregen. Het gevolg hiervan is dat de oorspronkelijke en gereconstrueerde architectuuronderdelen niet meer dezelfde kleur hebben, terwijl dit in de zeventiende eeuw wel het geval was. Het architectuurconcept van de restauratie van 1960-1968 getuigde van meer architectonische samenhang. 3. Het natuursteenwerk van de buitengevels van het paleis werden op buitengewoon kundige wijze hersteld. In onderlinge samenwerking tussen restauratiearchitect en monumentendiensten is ervoor gekozen om het timpaan aan de voorzijde in oude glorie te herstellen. Het streven van de architect was het oorspronkelijke concept van Jacob van Campen tot uitgangspunt te nemen: lichte gevels met vensters die zich als donkere gaten manifesteren. Bij de uitvoering is er echter voor gekozen de veroudering van de gevels te respecteren; aan de andere kant werd de historische kleur van de vensters genegeerd. Deze twintigste-eeuwse vensters waren altijd wit geweest, maar kregen een bruine kleur, overeenkomstig de in 1808 verwijderde vensters uit de zeventiende eeuw. De vraag kan worden gesteld of het gewenste contrast tussen gevels en vensters hierdoor bereikt is. Het exterieur en het interieur zijn uiteindelijk het resultaat van opvattingen geworden, die meer gebaseerd op de persoonlijke visie van de verantwoordelijken dan op een historische waardering van het paleis zoals het er tot 2005 stond. Een andere belangrijke conclusie die naar aanleiding van deze restauratie kan worden getrokken, is een procesmatige. Het uitgangspunt van de RGD om een restauratie confidentieel te verklaren om een proces beheersbaar te maken, is een verkeerde. Een topmonument als het Paleis op de Dam vraagt om een zorgvuldig en transparant proces, waarbij burgers geïnformeerd worden en restauratiearchitecten, monumentenzorgers en architectuurhistorici openlijk over voorstellen kunnen discussiëren. Het positieve resultaat van een dergelijke discussie is afleesbaar aan de buitengevels