Industrial Heritage Sites in Transformation

Clash of Discourses

Harald A. Mieg, Heike Oevermann, Harald A. Mieg, Heike Oevermann

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781317755203
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Ciencias sociales
• Subtopic: Sociología urbana

The management of industrial heritage sites requires rethinking in the context of urban change, and the issue of how to balance protection, preservation/conservation, and development becomes all the more crucial as industrial heritage sites grow in number. This brings into play new challenges—not only through the known conflicts between monument preservation and contemporary architecture, but also with the increasing demand for economic urban development by reusing the built heritage of former industrial sites.

This book explores the conservation and change of industrial heritage sites in transformation, presenting and examining ten European and Asian case studies. The interdisciplinary approach of the book connects a diversity of rationales and discourses, including monument protection, World Heritage conventions, urban regeneration, urban planning and design, architecture, and politics. This is the first book to deepen the understanding of industrial heritage site management as a networked, multi-dimensional task involving diverse social agents and societal discourses.

Part I

1
Transformations of Industrial Heritage Sites

Heritage and Planning

Heike Oevermann and Harald A. Mieg

The book discusses industrial heritage and conservation concerns in the context of urban development. Industrial heritage is not only about identity and memory, traditions, and labor movements; it belongs to cities, sites, and their transformations. Beyond being cultural heritage, industrial heritage is an issue in planning. Recognition and management of industrial heritage sites—as protection, re-uses, or partial demolition—go hand in hand with conflicts in planning practices.

The core messages of the book are:

1. Industrial heritage sites are part of urban transformation and its planning practices.
2. There is not only a variety of planning traditions in Europe with implications for industrial heritage sites but also different understandings of conservation and development.

Planning comprises spatial planning, protection regulations, formal procedures for listing sites and buildings, and processes of planning consent for new architecture. In the book, this field of planning is displayed in European case studies from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Beyond Central Europe, case studies from New York (U.S.), Kiev (Ukraine), St. Petersburg (Russia), and Mumbai (India) illustrate the wide range of planning considerations for urban transformation and heritage conservation. Traditions of planning are constituted. They regulate urban transformations with resulting implications for industrial heritage sites.

However, there is a variety of national-based, sometimes even regional-or federal-based planning approaches; their understandings and concepts as well as regulations and practices differ. The case studies presented here introduce diverse planning approaches and their specific implications for industrial heritage sites. These implications are profoundly related to values in heritage conservation and two other perspectives of planning: urban development and architectural production. We refer to the three perspectives as discourses (cf. Ch. 2 in this volume).

There is an expanding literature on issues of cultural heritage, just as there are numerous publications in the field of planning. Furthermore, the reader will find books that introduce cases of conservation and conversion of industrial sites. What we do differently is to introduce an interdisciplinary approach that brings together heritage and planning.

The book aims to link a diversity of rationales and discourses, such as monument protection, World Heritage conventions, urban regeneration, urban planning and design, new architecture, and local politics. The overall aim is to deepen the understanding of industrial heritage-site recognition and management as a networked, multidimensional task involving diverse social agents and societal discourses.

1.1 Main Lines of Conflict

The case studies show conflicts between different actors in planning practices. The central conflicts refer to preservation versus change of industrial heritage sites. In heritage conservation, the traditional concern is the protection and preservation of the historic fabric; conversely, development is—first and foremost— concerned with economic premises and values, as well as general environmental qualities. Change and transformation are a matter of course for urban development often comprising protection and preservation. However, there are also consensus-orientated concepts, such as cultural- or heritage-led development. Additionally, there is a clash between the discourses on heritage conservation and architectural production. Here again, the question arises of how material heritage can be protected and preserved while at the same time permitting change and development.

Our book introduces specific variations of this field of conflicts. In doing so, we can generalize two main lines of conflict that challenge industrial heritage sites. One relates to culture as a driving factor in urban development, the other to architecture and its current production.

1.1.1 Culture in Urban Development

Culture is increasingly recognized as a driving force for urban development. Today, cultural institutions such as museums, or events such as the European Capital of Culture are used as tools for improving a city’s image, upgrading urban spaces, and providing a lively urban environment. The concept of culture-led development refers to these approaches. Heritage and heritage sites have become assets for urban development, often described as heritage-led development. On the one hand, we can recognize this as an opportunity to legitimize and promote heritage concerns and requirements. On the other hand, this superficial understanding triggers conflicts by failing to acknowledge that heritage values are deeply interwoven with the historical fabric of the sites and city.

1.1.2 Demands on the Production of Architecture

Additionally, conflicts emerge out of the different demands on architectural production. Heritage conservation is based on the intrinsic values of material heritage—be they objects, buildings, or sites, their authenticity and integrity have to be maintained. Conservation therefore demands careful and minimal architectural intervention. However, urban development often uses architecture as an icon of and for structural change, a new image, and urban brands. Cities use iconic architecture to promote themselves, attracting both talent and investment. Lastly, architectural design often follows new requirements for re-use, e.g., the upgrading of façades to improve thermal comfort. Architects understand architectural production as a tool to redesign the historical fabric and site. The competition for professional recognition is better served by singular, iconic projects than by modest and sympathetic treatment of existing sites.

1.2 Different Understandings of Conservation

Our assumption is that transformations of industrial heritage sites are guided by different understandings of conservation. They are not in the same way appropriate for conservation, nor for urban development or architectural production. These are:

Conservation of Industrial Heritage Sites as a Testimony to the Past

Industrial sites, with their buildings, machinery, etc., give testimony to a specific past. The authenticity and integrity of these sites document the past, e.g., technical innovation, production and trade, social conflicts, or achievements as well as reflecting working conditions, labor organization, or ways of living. This approach corresponds to the traditional understanding of heritage conservation. Research shows that actors in urban development and architectural production may learn or benefit from this knowledge. Cramer and Breitling (2007) demonstrate this for the field of design and construction of architecture.

Conservation of Industrial Heritage Sites as Urban Landmarks or Cultural Landscape

In this understanding, the focus is on the conservation of industrial architecture as a distinctive spatial landmark or specific industrial landscape structure. Here, the historical fabric—respectively the industrial landscape that developed through time, with its specific spatial structure and spatial structure relationships—is highly valued. In previous research, the historic urban landscape has mainly been discussed for historic city centers rather than in terms of industrial heritage sites, even though the challenges and conservation strategies of both fields show interesting similarities. Initial approaches have been developed to adapt the concept of cultural landscapes to industrial–cultural landscapes (cf. Ringbeck, 2002).

Conservation of Industrial Heritage Sites as Built Infrastructure and a Spatial Resource

By conserving built infrastructure, a certain identity or character of a site is maintained, although obviously changed to fulfill new requirements. On the one hand, this understanding strengthens the value of sustainability, which, as Mieg and Töpfer (2013) pointed out, is important from the perspectives of both innovation-oriented urban development and also heritage conservation (cf. Petzet & Hassler, 1996). On the other hand, identity is a significant factor for (urban) innovation and is of particular importance for urban development in relation to attracting culture and creative industries (Landry, 2000). The central concerns of heritage conservation—the protection and conservation of the building fabric—are less prescriptive than in approaches (1) and (2); the more important consideration is ensuring long-term re-use.

Conservation of Industrial Architecture as Architectural and Atmospheric Space

The character of architecture manifests itself in space, materiality, and atmosphere. These categories are of value for new production of architecture and urban development. As architectural production shows, there is wide scope for the interpretation and transformation of the building fabric. Urban development uses this often impressive industrial architecture and new iconic architectures as a unique feature of places. Cities employ vivid communication and marketing strategies to attract attention. This approach is critically discussed from the perspective of heritage conservation, in terms of whether such staging destroys the legibility and fabric of the historic building through the incorporation of new architecture.

1.3 Book Outline and Case Studies

Our analytical starting point is to look at the interaction between discourses in planning practice, from which three discourses can be recognized for industrial heritage sites:

• (i) Heritage conservation
• (ii) Urban development
• (iii) Architectural production

We understand the conflicts in planning practices as clashes between these three different discourses. Each discourse comprises specific concepts, objectives, and values. The interplay of such discourses with planning policies and practices leads to conflicts in dealing with built heritage. The question investigated in this volume is: Do these diverse discourses share common ground on which conservation and carefully managed change can be established?

We approach this question through three related but slightly different parts of the book. Part I provides a theoretical introduction to discourse, discourse-constellation in planning practice, and the role of values. We present synchronous discourse analysis as an instrument to study urban transformations. Part II presents ten case studies that are introduced in more detail in the following section and also provides an overview of the relevance of industrial and technical museums as a traditional way of conserving industrial heritage. Part III consists of an expert discussion on the issues of industrial heritage conservation: Key themes include authenticity, advocacy, architecture, urban planning, and cities’ development. The discussion concludes with professional arguments on the different approaches to dealing with industrial heritage sites.

1.3.1 Case Studies

Table 1.1 gives an overview of the ten case studies along with the three sections that comprise Part II of the book: (-) Heritage and Planning Practice, (-) Agents and Processes of Transformation, and (-) Shifts in Re-Using Heritage Sites.

In the first section, Heritage and Planning Practice, the case studies show the interplay of discourses and their implications for the industrial heritage site. It becomes obvious that heritage and planning are deeply interrelated.

The chapter on Liverpool (Ch. 3) is an example not only of the British planning tradition regarding cities but also provides lessons for appropriate UNESCO intervention. Alongside the conflict between heritage and development, the chapter analyzes how UNESCO has positioned itself in the discussion. The author reflects critically on new large-scale projects and their impacts on the waterfront heritage site and the wider city.

In Oslo (Ch. 4), urban development is guided by the values of a greener and higher density city. This collides with concerns for conservation of the historic character and buildings of the Kabelgaten industrial site.

The comparison of two industrial heritage sites in Milano and Sesto San Giovanni (Ch. 5) illustrates the importance of creative industries and their actors in re-using industrial heritage sites. The d...