As Found. At Hand.

This paper explores how intuition plays a role in navigating the complexities of projects dealing with heritage, drawing from the practical experience in the office of Marie-José Van Hee architecten. Van Hee has a dual relationship with heritage. On the one hand, the Flemish heritage inventory – set up around the time she started her architecture career in the 1970s, feels limiting in her creative work. On the other hand, her oeuvre is considered of value by the same heritage instances, exemplifi ed by the listing of two of her early projects dating from the 1980s, being House Lowie-Derks (1984-86) and the electricity transformer (1982-84), both located in the Ghent Prinsenhof. The work of Marie-José Van Hee starts from a given context, never from a white page. This paper examines how the first primer of observation of the place – the built environment as found – and the interpretation of the context, consisting of a wide variety of vectors, such as social, geographical, and morphological, are essential to understand design possibilities. The elements that the architect considers significant enough to create or not a project are then confided to paper in a series of design exercises and discussed with co-workers, and only later with clients. Marie-José Van Hee often works subliminally with heritage, referencing architectural precedents and her travel experiences. She subtly cuts through layers of history, like peeling an onion and defi ning the depth of the cut with each design decision. Van Hee borrows shapes and lines but also developed her own language. Detailing is based on the logic of old construction techniques and experimenting with new materials. The research is thorough, takes the time it needs and happens in dialogue with makers, craftsman, and material producers, inspired by and contributing to traditional construction methods. This paper considers the role of creativity in the translation of the “as found” and in making heritage-related decisions that are at the same time technical and intuitive, inspired by past experiences, travels, or the drawing process. It aims at contributing to a deeper understanding of what intuition could mean for the design process and how it can be used to broaden up the meaning and value of heritage for the creation of contemporary architectural experiences that respect or highlight local values and narratives. It focuses on two projects of Marie-José Van Hee architecten: her own house in Ghent and House HdF in Zuidzande, The Netherlands.The organization of this international colloquium was made possible through the generous fi nancial support of the DIOS Incentive Fund (UHasselt), the Doctoral School of Behavioral Sciences and Humanities (UHasselt), and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), as well as the invaluable practical assistance provided by the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of UHasselt and the Flanders Architecture Institute. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all our esteemed colleagues whose dedicated efforts contributed to the seamless execution of this event. This colloquium is organized as an extension of the exhibition As Found: Experiments in Preservation by the Flanders Architecture Institute. Curated by Sofie De Caigny, Hulya Ertas and Bie Plevoets, the exhibition is on show at De Singel, Antwerp, from 6 September 2023 to 17 March 2024. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, available in English (ISBN: 9789492567321) and Dutch (ISBN: 9789492567338).Situated Architectur

Zero Waste Church: Education for Circular Reuse of Religious Buildings

While heritage conservation is usually associated with the action of “keeping”, circular approaches are often seen as focusing on flexibility, and disassembly. Both share the common goal of using existing resources efficiently and avoiding waste. The conservation of cultural heritage is a complex issue that requires a cautious balance between maintaining heritage values associated with tangible and intangible attributes and managing change to answer the challenges of future use. On the one hand, mining the urban environment for material resources, risks irreparable damage to the historic urban fabric. On the other hand, salvaging components from heritage buildings and re-purposing them can be a sustainable strategy to extend a buildings’ lifetime and minimize construction waste. In the case of buildings threatened by demolition, as several churches in the Netherlands, salvaging components might even be the only way to keep (some) of this heritage alive. In these cases, circular design approaches need to go beyond inventorying materials and components: the traceability of values and meanings to the involved communities become key factors driving reuse strategies. The Zero Waste Church graduation studio at TU Delft provides architecture students with the opportunity to discuss how heritage values might shift to integrate sustainability as a value to preserve. The students selected cases based on three key circularity principles: refuse, reduce, and value retention. By choosing vacant buildings, the students were prompted to refuse the notion of building new and to value space as a limited resource. Some of the selected buildings faced demolition, resulting in projects that have the potential to reduce material waste. Through a heritage value assessment, the students demonstrated that despite being under threat, these heritage buildings still add value to local communities. Students explored creative approaches to redesign from values related to tangible and intangible attributes. This approach aims at instigating awareness and transformative attitudes towards the built environment. Individual students approach the challenge from different perspectives, contributing to a multitude of readings and strategies to deal with the complexity of bridging heritage and circularity. The implementation of the first edition of the Zero Waste studio faced challenges when conflicts arose in determining what to keep, add or transform. A key learning from this experience is that circularity needs to be an integrated part of a design project from the earliest stages. While a fully zero waste heritage may be an unachievable ambition, the aim is to trigger reflection and adopt an explorative approach towards a project.The organization of this international colloquium was made possible through the generous fi nancial support of the DIOS Incentive Fund (UHasselt), the Doctoral School of Behavioral Sciences and Humanities (UHasselt), and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO), as well as the invaluable practical assistance provided by the Faculty of Architecture and Arts of UHasselt and the Flanders Architecture Institute. Our heartfelt appreciation goes out to all our esteemed colleagues whose dedicated efforts contributed to the seamless execution of this event. This colloquium is organized as an extension of the exhibition As Found: Experiments in Preservation by the Flanders Architecture Institute. Curated by Sofie De Caigny, Hulya Ertas and Bie Plevoets, the exhibition is on show at De Singel, Antwerp, from 6 September 2023 to 17 March 2024. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue, available in English (ISBN: 9789492567321) and Dutch (ISBN: 9789492567338).Heritage & ArchitectureArchitectural Technolog

Roundtable VIII: Changing Religious Built Heritage

Heritage & DesignHeritage & Technolog

Contributions to a Revised Definition of Sustainable Conservation

The inclusion of Heritage in the global agenda for sustainable development has contributed to a broader discussion around the interconnection between heritage and sustainability. However, the definitions of both concepts lack consensus. In the last decade, hundreds of definitions of sustainability can be identified in the scientific literature. Often these definitions focus on different dimensions of sustainable development and do not cover the overlapping of social, economic and environmental aspects. The indicators vary according to the main goal and/or specific building under assessment. Moreover, the concept/notion of heritage is understood as a social process based upon definitions and values, which are dynamic and evolve. During the last decades, there is growing attention for the integration of such comprehensive concepts and several frameworks have been developed. However, a systematic definition of the relation between the two concepts is lacking. Some authors even pointed out that the multiple approaches, too specific for each context, lack objectivity and reduce credibility. The main goal of this paper is to contribute to a revised definition of sustainable conservation at the intersection of these two concepts, based on a narrative review of the recent literature and international reference documents, developed by different organisations, such as ICOMOS, the United Nations, and the International Organization for Standardization and the European Committee for Standardization.Architectural Engineering +Technolog

Building passport for the sustainable conservation of built heritage

Purpose: This research presents the development of a Building Passport for Sustainable Conservation (BPSC) as a questionnaire with a set of 23 core indicators, for a baseline assessment of heritage buildings. The aim of this tool is to identify priorities for future interventions, by recognising the contributions of heritage buildings to sustainability that should be preserved and the fragilities that need to be improved. Design/methodology/approach: The BPSC uses a selection of core indicators for sustainability observable on heritage buildings. It was applied to four different case studies of modern heritage in the Netherlands, to verify its applicability and limitations. Findings: The results suggest that this tool has the potential to contribute to an expedite assessment, reaching consensual evaluations of priorities for sustainable conservation, while reducing the time and cost of the process, contributing to support informed redesign decisions. Originality/value: Recently, existing building sustainability assessment (BSA) tools have been adapted and new BSA tools developed for heritage buildings. Some tools target existing buildings, but seldom cover cultural significance and heritage values. Others target the after-redesign situations – aiming at assessing how sustainable the redesign is. Often BSA tools are complex and time-consuming, with extensive indicators and data requirements. The BPSC developed in this research covers the main aspects of sustainability and related heritage values, in a simpler tool for a baseline assessment.Heritage & TechnologyHeritage & Value