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powerful, important and complex. Undoubtedly, any political regimes, including the
European Union are attracted by the language of architecture and select it to be a
representation of European culture.
However, not every architecture is selected to be the representation of
common European culture. In the selection process, the idea of heritage is concerned.
The term heritage is also similar to architecture in the sense that it associates with
powerwho defines what is heritage. Heritage as collective inheritance is a symbol
of a community civilization and culture. Political power, particularly nation state takes
a dominant role in defining what is national heritage. By the same token, a new
political power like the European Union has endeavored to build up the Community
by getting involved with architectural heritage. Nevertheless, the relation between
supra nation and architectural heritage in a contemporary period is characterized not
only by political powers vision but also by the on growing trend of the socioeconomic benefit of heritage industry which becomes a main actor in shaping the
perception of the past. More importantly, from the nineteenth century onwards,
architectural heritage has long functioned as a symbolic factor in defining the nationstate, but the European Union has endeavored to promote national architectural
heritage in order to celebrate the common European culture or the European unity.
Such a contradiction, thus, proves to be interesting in seeing why architectural
heritage is so important for the construction of the new Europe.
Herein, the significance of architectural heritage is the point of departure and
it will be analyzed into three main topics: the rise of the term heritage in the post war
period; the importance of architectural heritage for defining nation state, and the new
Europe. As heritage become a main actor in shaping the landscape of the past, the
rise of heritage and heritage industry needs to be clarified. My argument is that the
term heritage which has been widely used nowadays is a rather new concept, it only
emerged and has been formulated since the 1970s. Furthermore, the widespread use of
the term heritage was influenced by the international movement and the socioeconomic element of heritage. Subsequently, the significance of architectural heritage
shall be analyzed in the context of nation state and supra-nation. Why architectural
heritage is important to the construction of Europe is another principle question. The
hypothesis is that the European Union assumes the role of a nation state and imprints
its power over the reinterpretation of European history by defining what the
architectural heritage of Europe is. However, the involvement of the European Union
in the field of architectural heritage and the way of using this architectural heritage is
more complex than that of the nation state.
Heritage
The term heritage has gradually arrived in vogue since the 1970s. Originally,
it meant that which has been or may be inherited; any property, and esp. land which
develops by right of inheritance.1 Before the 1970s, the terms cultural property and
historical monument were more applied to historical and cultural assets. In `1954,
UNESCO adopted a convention2 to protect cultural assets from armed conflict by
selecting the term cultural property. In the convention, the term heritage is
mentioned as an alternative term of cultural property. Weber 3 proposes that the term
heritage substituted the concept of historical monument in the 1970s. This proposal is
somewhat reasonable since before the 1970s, the term historical monument was
widely used at the international level, applied to architecture as artistic and historical
value. At that time, the international movement to protect historical and cultural
property was more concerned with the endurance of the past by using the term
historical monument. The most important witness is the Venice Charter (1964)
which uses the term historical monuments and sites meaning that,
The concept of an historic monument embraces not only the single architectural work but
also the urban or rural setting in which is found the evidence of a particular civilization, a
significant development or an historic event. This applies not only to great works of art but
also to more modest works of the past which have acquired cultural significance with the
passing of time4
In this Charter, the term heritage was used as a collective term referring to human
being property without any significance.
1
2
The Oxford English Dictionary. Vol. 5 Oxford University Press, 1970, p.242.
The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (The Hague
Convention), with Regulations for the Execution of the Convention, as well as the Protocol to the Convention and
the Conference Resolutions, 14 May 1954
3
4
The term heritage began gaining its importance in the European Conference
of Ministers held in Brussels in 1969. In this conference, it was juxtaposed to the term
monument as seen in the recommendation namely, Recommendation of the
European Conference of Ministers Responsible for the Preservation and
Rehabilitation of the Cultural Heritage of Monuments and Sites. Nevertheless, it
became an international term in 1972 when UNESCO announced the Convention
Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972. Later,
the Council of Europe through the Committee of Ministers also used the term heritage
by heading its charter concerning architecture European Charter of the Architectural
Heritage (1975). Besides, in the European Unions documents concerning culture in
the 1970s, the term heritage was used as a representation of European culture.5
The outgrowth of the concept of heritage since the 1970s has had three new
characters. First of all, it includes natural resources to be natural heritage such as
landscape, natural sites, outstanding parks and etc. Secondly, for cultural heritage, the
meaning is very broad as the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage defines that cultural heritage means,
Monuments: architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and
painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave
dwellings and combinations of features, which are out standing universal value from
the point of view of history, art or science;
Groups of buildings: groups of separate or connected buildings which,
because of their architecture, their homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of
outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art and science.
Sites: works of man or the combined works of nature and man, and are
including archaeological sites which are of outstanding universal value from the
historical, aesthetic, ethnological or anthropological point of view. 6
Thirdly, the concept of heritage has been broadened to include recent cultural assets
and buildings such as industrial heritagebuildings in dock land, tools in old
factories, coal mine sites etc. This is a new phenomenon in the sense that artistic value
is not the only criteria in order to judge which artefact can be called a heritage. The
practical value of artefacts becomes another important concern.
5
6
Please see details in the European Parliaments reports and debates in the 1970s.
UNESCO. Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 16 November
1972. Conventions and Recommendations of UNESCO Concerning the Protection of the Cultural Heritage.
Geneva: UNESCO, 1983,p.80
10
Storm Havoc Causes 16 Deaths in Italy Floods Hit Florence and Venice as Countrys Links are Cut The Times.
November5, 1966.
huge international issue since it was far beyond the citys and the Italian governments
capacity to solve the problem alone. It started when the city of Florence appealed to
the worldto help save its flood-damaged art treasures. 11 Moreover, leading
newspapers in many countries continued reporting news about the flood and the art
treasure in danger.
The formulation of international solidarity to protect world properties is
represented in newspapers. For example, the Times published a full page article, the
Ruin of Florentine Art: What the Floods have Cost Civilization, by John Sherman 12
who wrote that,
the effects of this flood will continue, even for years; the weakening of foundations will go
on, rising damp in the wall will affect frescos, violent humidity changes will do further
damage to panel paintings or furniture A definitive assessment of the destruction will never
be made. Similarly, no assessment can be given of the cost of whatever restoration can be
done. One may only say that if it is to be done within a generation the cost is many times
greater than any one country can bear.13
Furthermore, this idea was transformed into concrete action to protect Florentine art-the international committee was then set up to hasten restoration measures. People
from everywhere came to save Florence by giving a helping hand in moving all of the
works of art from water and mud to safe places. UNESCO launched an international
campaign for raising funds to restore art and the architectural heritage in Florence and
Venice. All of these experiences aroused awareness of the erosion of world properties
and the creating of the sense that all national properties are also world properties. In
this way, the term property does not serve the new rising sense, but the term heritage
functions well as a neutral term for international inheritance.
11
12
Italian Petrol Tax for Flood Fund The Times November 9, 1966.
Sherman, John. The Ruins of Florentine Art: What the Floods have Cost Civilization The Times November23,
1966.
13
14
IBID
Counting the Cost. The Times November 17, !966.
The world solidarity was also shaped by the UNESCO initiatives, the World
Heritage. The World Heritage is a project set up since 1972 for the reason that the
cultural heritage and the natural heritage are increasingly threatened with destruction
not only by the traditional causes of decay, but also by changing Social and economic
conditions which aggravate the situation with even more formidable phenomena of
damage or destruction.15 UNESCO has operated the Word Heritage initiative by
setting up the World Heritage Fund and the World Heritage Committee. The
Committee annually announces the world heritage list by selecting from the cultural
and natural sites. It also makes a list of heritage in danger each year in order to create
the awareness of protection of heritage among people all over the world. The longterm plan of the World Heritage initiative increases the sense of protecting heritage in
a national and international context. More importantly, it makes the term heritage
popular for referring to natural and cultural assets.
2. The increasing socio-economic trend of heritage
The term heritage acquires its importance in the contemporary period, having
become an industry, a main witness is the increasing numbers of heritage registered
by states. For example, in Ireland, during the decade 1970 to 1980, the number of
monuments given state protection doubled, to 2,055 sites, with substantial increase
in listing and preservation order 16. The intervention of architectural heritage of
historical interest at that time is not limited only by the Irish government, but
expanded to local agencies which can be seen from the number of sites and buildings
in that decade, there were around 60, 000 buildings of historical interest, but one in
ten of which were considered to be of national or international significance. 17 It
means that the nine percent of architecture of historic interest in Ireland was invented
by local agencies in order to attract tourists which was a new approach to activate
local economies.
15
UNESCO. Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage 16 November
1972. Conventions and Recommendations of UNESCO Concerning the Protection of the Cultural Heritage.
Geneva: UNESCO, 1983,p.79.
16
17
Prentice, Richard. Tourism and Heritage Attraction. London: Routledge, 193, p.23.
Ibid.
Lowenthal, David. Our Past before Us. Why do We Save It?. London: Temple Smith, 1981, p. 216.
Prentice, Richard. Tourism and Heritage Attraction. London: Routledge, 1993, p. 23.
interests and it still continued until the early 20th century. At that time, investment in
heritage was mostly in the hands of state. The contention of heritage between private
sectors and state was not apparent.
However, during the post war period, in particular, from the 1970s onwards,
heritage has become a popular culture in two ways. Firstly, it represents various
stories of popular history and local history. The increasing demand of new heritage
attractions for the tourist industry opens up space for local memories to be represented
through heritage. Secondly, heritage in a broad sense has become a mass leisure. The
new forms of heritage invention and consumption expand the new meaning of
heritage to people. While state heritage is highly invented for political purpose,
heritage as a popular culture is created to respond the tastes of consumers, markets
and vision of investors. This trend dramatically increases. Consequently, private
sectors and even nation states take an active role in turning heritage into a popular
culture.
This phenomenon corresponds with the changing of leisure time in European
society, the rebirth of cultural consumption, the ongrowing of global tourism and the
European force. During the post war period, the rate of leisure time in many countries
was higher than previously, due to the fact that the launching of the full wellfare state
together with the decline of the fixing of load long working hours enabled workers
and housewives to have more free time for holidays. Furthermore, the rebirth of
cultural consumption from the 1970s onwards has brought about new habit and
invention of cultural goods. The growing of global tourism is another factor which
activates the tourist industry in Europe. One of the images of Europe is a big museum
which is the most attractive factor in drawing tourists from other parts of the world
such as Japan, Korea and Latin American countries to visit Europe. What they want to
experience is European heritage. For the European force, it means the European
Unions role in activating tourism in Europe which has a specific character-- the
European Union tries to promote intra-European tourism so as to promote intraEuropean understanding. All flexible measures concerning free movements of labor
and travelling set up by the European Union are potential since more Europeans are
choosing to visit their continental neighbors than ever before in history 20
Furthermore, the European Union supports the invention of new heritage such as in
20
Ashworth, Gregory J. Heritage, Tourism and Europe: a European Future for a European Past in Hurburt, David
10
agricultural areas and in the industrial decline areas through various budgetary
instruments. This activity is a contributor in making heritage a popular culture.
Forty, Adrain. Introduction Forty, Adrain and Kuchler, Susanne. The Art of Forgetting. Berg, 1999, p. 2.
11
powers idea of modernity and its vision of using the past for the sake of the present.
Put in another way, architecture is a significant medium for the political power to
express their self-interpretation. In turn, with time, the specific styles of architecture,
i.e., Renaissance, Gothic etc stand for memories of the period in which this
architecture was built. Therefore, political power has possibilities to apply or imitate
some previous architectural styles, which serve its vision of the world and power, to
be the architecture of its own time.
Furthermore, architecture by its own nature is symbolic in that it stands for
something else. More importantly, symbolic interpretations are imprecise since part of
their meaning is subjective, allowing for new reinterpretations. Thanks to its symbolic
function, architecture is a flexible medium in which political power can use its
language and at the same time contribute new meanings for a political purpose. A
good example of this explanation is the way in which the nation-state exploits
architecture and architectural heritage. In this heading, the discussion will be
furthered by arguing about reasons why analyzing the significance of architectural
heritage to the construction of the new Europe that can not be detached from looking
at its significance in defining a nation-state. Then, an aspect of nation-state, a political
imagery will be discussed as a foreground in order to better deduce an understanding
of why architecture becomes a representation of power. The last point in this heading
is concerned with the symbolic function of architecture and architectural heritage for
defining the nation-state.
Why is the model of architectural heritage as defined by the nation-state
significant for the construction of the new Europe?
First of all, the European Union has endeavored to represent itself as a new
kind of community, as it calls itself the European community. The concept of new
political community is unavoidably contestable with the concept of long-established
community, in particular, the nation-state. As a new Community, the European Union
has been analyzed from the point of view of political and economic development as
seen in much of the literature dealing with it. However, a community, as argued by
Anthony Cohen (1989), is not only a structural construction of a political constitution,
but rather a mental construction in the sense that the community needs to make itself
12
exist(ing) in the mind of its member. 22 In this process, symbolic factors such as
boundaries and collective memory of the past playing a role as a share identity or
imagery among members of community.
This assumption is not only the academics construction, but the European
Union itself is also aware of constructing the Community in its peoples minds and
tries to forge the sense of belonging among its citizens. This can be traced back to
1976 when the Tindemans Report23 discussion on this point is that,
No one wants to see a technocratic Europe. European union must be experienced by the
citizen in his daily life. It must make itself felt in education and culture, news and
communications, it must be manifest in the youth of our countries, and in leisure time
activities.24
Later, other political circumstances increased the European Unions efforts to create
the imagined community. For example, it tried to use symbolical tools to convey the
idea of the community as seen from the launching of a five-year programme of
architectural heritage in 1985; producing the Community flag and song; promoting
the community boundary by distributing the community maps in Info-point Europe
and setting the programme called A People Europe so as to make a European public
sphere by convincing its citizen how Europe serves their daily life. 25 Therefore, the
European Union has become a new kind of community parallel to the community of
the nation-state.
Secondly, by constructing an imagery of the new community, the European
Union has endeavored to use architectural heritage symbolizing the common culture
of the new Europe. It initially imitated
Cohen, Anthony. The Symbolic Construction of the Community. London: Routledge, 1989, p. 98.
The Tinedemans Report is a report written by the Prime minister of Belgium, Tindemans who was requested by
the European Council to revise the current stage of the European Union and to propose an idea how to further the
integration process. This report was later quoted and became one of the important guidelines of the European
Union in proceeding many policies, including cultural policy.
24
The European Commission. European Union Report by Mr. Leo Tinedemans, Prime Minister of Belgium, to
the European Council. Bulletin of the European Communities. Supplement 1/76, p. 12.
25
Please see an example of this effort in Fontain, Pascal. A Citizens Europe. The European Commission, 1993.
13
Kuper, Adam and Kuper, Jessica. State in The Social Science Encyclopedia. London: Routledge, 1996, p. 835.
Guibernau, Montserrat. Nationalism. The Nation-State and Nationalism in the Twentieth Century. Polity Press,
1996, p. 47.
28
14
various adherent impute their own meanings. 29 Therefore, a nation requires devices
to create its imagined community. The role of symbol; ritual and artifact intervenes at
this point. The process in which these devices operate upon the constructing of the
imagined community in peoples minds lies in the relation of power and invented
memories and tradition.
Architectural heritage and its symbolic function for defining nation-state
Architectural heritage becomes one of the symbolic device on which political
power projects its vision of the world and conveys political message concerning
images of the community and forms of the imagined community in two ways.
Firstly, it transmits the self-conscious of the political regime through its style and
function. This process can be considered as the political regimes way of expressing
the idea of modernity. Secondly, it is a representation of the idea of a political regime
which bases its legitimization on an identification with a past glory.
For the former, the case of the construction of the Opera House in Paris by
Napoleon III is a good example. Penelope Woolf (1988) analyses the belief which
was widespread among writers, architects and leaders in the nineteenth century that
architecture conveys the French civilizational spirit. The Opera House was, thus,
planed under this circumstance. Napoleon III, with the aspiration to build up the
image of the second empire and to enhance the reputation of Paris as a cultural
capital, wished to express the idea of modernity formulated in his empire through the
medium of architecture: location, style and function. As Woolf points out by
locating the Opera at the centre of a district that was itself the heart of Paris, just as
Paris was the artistic capital of France, Europe and even the world, the imaginative
power of the monument would rest on layer of symbolic meaning. 30 The Opera
House was designed by an architect, Garnier who was highly concerned with what he
was to design not only to create a style of his age but also characteristic of the whole
nineteenth century.31 Therefore, the style of the Opera House stands for modern art
29
30
Cohen, Anthony. The Symbolic Construction of the Community. London: Routledge, 1989, p.74.
Woolf, Penelope. Symbol of the Second Empire: Cultural Politics and Paris Opera House in Cosgrove, Denis
and Daniels, Stephen. The Iconography of Landscape. Essays on the Symbolic Representation, Design and Use of
Past Environment. Cambridge Universitry Press, 1988, p. 223.
31
IBID, p. 224.
15
IBID, p. 225.
Gentile, Emilo. The Sacralization of Politics in Fascist Italy. Harvard University Press, 1996, p. 122.
Falasca-Zamponi, Simonetta. Facism Spectacle. The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolinis Italy. University of
IBID, p. 93.
16
p. 15-16.
38
39
Please see details in Debates of the European Parliament, No. 176, May 1974.
The European Commission is sometimes referred to as the civil service of the European Union, (it)is a
unique amongst international bureaucracies by virtue of its combination of administrative, executive, legislative
and responsibilities. (Bainbridge, Timothy. The Penguin Companion to European Union. Penguin Book, 1997, p.
160.)
17
Europe at that time was mentioned as an expected unity which would arise
from the devastation of the war. Europe was waiting to be born and nurtured as
envisaged by Robert Schuman, Europe will not be made all at once, or according to the single
40
Monnet, Jean. Memorandum to Robert Schuman and Georges Bidault in Nicoll, William. Building European
18
plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first creat de facto solidarity .41
The
discourse of the new Europe spread all over the continent and functioned as a
collective belief and hope for the future, for a new kind of international cooperation
beyond nation state, bringing about a new era of prosperity, peace and solidarity back
to Europe.
As a discourse, the new Europe is a story in itself which needs more new
devices to achieve the greater Europe for two reasons. Firstly, by its very nature the
European Union is based on the way in which nation-states come closer to each other
under certain political and economic conditions. In order to be a part of new Europe,
Member States backgrounds and their commitment to being a part of Europe is an
important dynamic force of the European Unions growth. Therefore, searching for a
new dimension is seemingly a method to advance the uniting of Europe and maintain
the relationship between the European Union and Member States.
Secondly, the discourse of the new Europe is highly dependant upon the idea
of progress. For example, in the Declaration of the European Identity (1973), the idea
of progress is represented that, They have defined their European identity with the dynamic
nature of the Community in mindthe nine have their political will to succeed in the construction of a
United Europe.42
Union is a new phase in the history of the Unification of Europe which can be achieved by a
continuous processI am convinced that this Europe, a progressive Europe, will lack neither power
nor impetus.43
And then in the European Single Act, the idea of progress has been
stressed that, the European Communities and objective to contribute together to making concrete
progress towards European unity European Political Cooperation shall have as their.44
The new
Europe serves as a shared hope, seemingly far reaching , but it is supposedly capable
of becoming true in the future. In turn, when the new Europe reaches a certain
development, it needs a greater progress which correspond to the changing
circumstances so as to make and keep Europe alive.
41
Schuman, Robert. The Declaration in Nicoll, William. Building European Union . A Documentary History and
The European Communities. The Declaration on the European Identity Bulletin of the European Communities.
The European Commission. European Union Report by Mr. Leo Tinedemans, Prime Minister of Belgium, to
the European Council. Bulletin of the European Communities. Supplement 1/76, p. 12.
44
19
The European Commission. Investment in Culture: an Asset for all Regions. Luxembourg: Office for Official
20
concerned with the Communitys future. The European Union is only a remote
bureaucratic.
The problem of legitimacy lies in the problem between the Community and its
citizens. This problem is rather complex--as the European union estimates itself, there
is no European consciousness. Nation-states dominate their citizens royalties. Here
comes the concept of culture and architectural heritage to be political mediums in the
process of transferring citizens royalty to the Community. The European
consciousness is expected to be nurtured. However, what the European Union has
done in creating the European idea is that it supports and protects national
architectural heritage by naming it as a regional heritage. This contradiction leads to a
question what is the political reason behind these ambiguous activities? Certainly, the
European Unions efforts can be considered as a denationalization process, but it is
rather a complex one. This opens up another question: how and why does
architectural heritage function in the European Unions process of denationalization?