Nineteenth-century housing preventive conservation in Edinburgh and its Western European context
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2044-1266
Article publication date: 18 December 2017
Issue publication date: 5 June 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how comprehensive the management of common repairs in the nineteenth-century urban housing in Edinburgh is in the European context. The city experienced a variety of approaches since the 1970s to repairs of exposed decorative elements and the envelope, whose condition is exacerbated by inappropriate interventions and climate change.
Design/methodology/approach
The debate is framed in practice in Western Europe where economy, administration and conservation cultures have been similar since the 1970s: property manager (Glasgow), role of housing agency (Venice), Monumentenwacht’s periodical inspections for subscribers (Flanders), tax incentives (France, Italy, Spain), linking management and procurement (Libretto Casa, Rome) and the emerging concept of preventive conservation.
Findings
Edinburgh has a holistic and technically rich management experience, with a strong educational focus, which shows the immense volume of work required, hampered by the fragmentation of ownership and the small size of the repair industry. Practice can improve in Edinburgh and Europe through increased awareness, tax incentives, regular inspections, legal recognition of the need for maintenance and stepping-up the debate at national, European and political level, towards preventive conservation approaches.
Research limitations/implications
The study profited from direct knowledge of the approach in Edinburgh and other areas, but little has been published on each area outside the local level, so appraisal depended on language knowledge.
Originality/value
This first reading of practice at the European level may be of value to the national agencies referred to, for policy development or European initiatives.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The following colleagues and friends are warmly thanked for their insight to cases and practices from their own areas: Fiona Macdonald and Krzysztof Chukra (Conservation Architects at EWHT), Jo Parry (Architect at Hypostyle Architects), the Tenement Action Group, Georgina Allison (Architect in Edinburgh), Euan Leitch (Director, Built Environment Forum Scotland), Jocelyn Cunliffe (Architect with Gray Marshall & Associates), Luc Verpoest (Chair of Monumentenwacht Vlaanders), Dr Aziliz Vandesande (KU Leuven), Dr Simona Salvo and Chiara Andreotti (Sapienza University), Richard Groom (Traditional Buildings Health Check), Dr Alberto Viskovic (University of Chieti-Pescara), Pierpaolo Campostrini and Chiara Dall’Angelo (CORILA, Venice), Dr Claudia Bolgia (University of Edinburgh), Bertrand Nicolle (Ordre des architectes d’Île-de-France) and Rossella Moioli (Conservation Architect, Monza).
Citation
Theodossopoulos, D. (2018), "Nineteenth-century housing preventive conservation in Edinburgh and its Western European context", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. 8 No. 2, pp. 95-110. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-06-2017-0041
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited