History and Theory of Architectural Preservation

History & Theory of Preservation:

Since the beginning of history, architecture has become an art and knowledge, it requires engineering study and aesthetic attention, which appeared in the first buildings in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, architectural styles with a distinct identity emerged a special aesthetic.

With the passage of time and the development of people, emerging nations and civilizations sought to show this ancient architecture in a proper manner as a mirror of the civilization of these peoples. Hence, the purpose arose to restore and preserve these ancient buildings.

The beginnings of these acts of conservation and restoration were weak and rudimentary and lacked the correct scientific methodology, which exposed many artistic elements of destruction and theft over time.

The Renaissance marked a qualitative shift in the way people view, especially European view of ancient monuments. Perhaps the first establishment that was subjected to exploration and attempt to re manifest is the city of Pompeii in Italy, which started excavation and restoration work in 1738, but the application of restoration work was poor by the standards of our time, which explains the theft of many mural paintings In Pompeii palaces, important archaeological discoveries followed in various countries of the world, for example the discovery of Palmyra for the first time in 1751.

The Theatre of Palmyra

During the seventeenth century, the concept of restoration began to evolve dramatically with the emergence of brilliant theorists and renovators in this field in Europe, which prompted these contemporary methodologies to emerge, perhaps the most prominent of these names are Violet Le Duc and John Ruskin, who adopted two different theories.

John Ruskin wrote one of the most important books in the history of architecture called "7 lamps of Architecture", in which he talks about Gothic architecture and about 7 distinctive features of architecture in general, more than being a space or a place to house.

In one chapter, he talks about the idea of memory in architecture. Simply say that buildings or places in general are not just things that exist in a vacuum only, but they also exist in our sense of time. The feeling that you meet when an ancient building passes by is a feeling that you came back in time and this time says that this building had the ability that it calls your memory for some historical era and shows you the lives of people in it.

John Ruskin 1863

John Ruskin was one of the first people to notice that it is very important to preserve old buildings as part of the memory of human civilization and that restoration work must be kept in the least possible framework in order to keep the building's memory alive as it is. He used to say, for example, that if you see a historic building that might go down, do not fix it, but bring a piece of wood and support it. If this piece of wood is broken, bring another piece and support it. The important thing is to preserve the shape of the building as it is in order to preserve its memory, history, and the space it occupies in time and space.

On the other hand, a French writer and architect named Viollet le Duc appeared and took the opposite opinion of John Ruskin and began to speak that it was important to restore and reuse old buildings. And from the same principle that Ruskin started from, which says "buildings have space in time and not just in place", Le Duc began saying that the best way to preserve a building's memory is to restore buildings and reuse them.

If an old building is about to fall, I will not bring a piece of wood to support it, but I will fix it with the current era tools and reuse it.

The theoretical debate between the two is one of the most important literary debates in the history of architecture, and the issue of restoration goes beyond the concept of time in architecture. But over time, this debate developed and remained at the center of the United Nations' adoption, which is steps to interfere in the building in the restoration work.

Here we can summarize the history of the development of restoration during this century by mentioning the restoration activities and legislation taken during this century in France:

1. Henri Gregoire 1794, a French Catholic monk and revolutionary leader, publishes a report on the destruction of ancient monuments

Viollet le Duc

2. 1810 Beginning of an inventory of ancient monuments covering French lands

3. 1819 An amount of 80,000 gold coins is allocated annually from the budget of the Ministry of the Interior for the restoration of all churches in France

4. 1830 The Minister of Interior establishes the position of (Inspector General of Antiquities) and its function is to classify antiquities, make tours, meet with governors and mayors, and issue reports of required maintenance work in the countryside.

5. 1837 Establishment of a historical committee concerned with arts and civil and religious matters.

The establishment of a committee for antiquities, at the end of the year, will submit a report on its work, and since the committee’s report now includes fees and charges, from here on, documentation operations began to expand, and interest began to increase with the preservation of antiquities.

The bottom line is that, from ancient times to the eighteenth century, there were no uniform policies or laws regulating dealing with antique buildings, but rather personal efforts related to the concepts of time that were found in it.

We can see the difference between the school of Ruskin and the school of Lu Duc through the following photos :

chateau de pierrefond castel that was built in 1390 Beautiful ruins and monuments with a wonderful natural scenery In the picture below, we see preserved ruins, and this is precisely Raskin's idea towards the ancient buildings, that is, to preserve the building as it is, even if it was destroyed, then we adore it.

The picture below is the same castle after Lu Duc restored it in 1858 And we can see the great contradiction in ideas between Ruskin and Lu Duc

Charters and international conferences in the 20th century:

The first attempt to put forward a coherent and logical vision to defend and preserve historical buildings was through the Third Conference of Architects and Civil Engineers in Rome in 1883, which adopted the Boito Theory( an Italian architect who had distinctive restorative contributions), and the result was a statement that mainly consists of an appeal to put the principles of protection in place Restoration In a relatively short period, the statement was the starting point for many subsequent statements that relied on the main ideas presented in the Boito Charter that deal with an accurate description of the conditions to be observed during the restoration and preservation. such as the differentiation in building materials between old and new. and descriptive writing of the restoration work attached to the monument.

Athens Charter, 1931

After the end of the First World War, the Europeans agreed to a great loss that destroyed a large number of their historic buildings and dwellings, alerting those interested in heritage to the need to

preserve them, especially with insufficient awareness of the methods and methods of restoration that guarantee their safety and continuity. Therefore, an international conference was held in the Greek city of Athens, for architects and technicians of historical monuments, in 1931 and issued a famous charter that defined for the first time the basic principles for the maintenance and protection of historical buildings.

These principles contributed to the development of a broad international movement in the form of national documents, and the creation of international institutions such as UNESCO, the International Museum Center, and the ICOMOS.

This Charter was issued by the First International Conference in Athens 1931, one of the most important results of which was:

1 Respecting the artistic and historical value of the buildings without neglecting the style of any era.

2 Preserving the antique buildings and caring for them in a way that leads to the continuity of their life, or reuse them with jobs that respect their historical and artistic nature.

Venice Charter (Venice) 1964

This charter was issued by the second congress in 1964, when the two conferences saw that many of the problems encountered by the restorer were not covered by the Athens charter.

The second conference of architects and technicians specializing in archaeological sites was held in Venice, Under the auspices of UNESCO, it produced thirteen documents, the most famous of which is the first charter known as the "International Document for the Maintenance and Restoration of the Monument and Historic Sites". The Charter included definitions, including:

1 The concept of the historical landmark includes not only separate architectural buildings, but also the built and natural environment that is evidence of a civilization, or is evidence of a meaningful development of a historical event.

2 The valid contributions of all periods to the building of a monument must be respected, since unity of style is not the aim of a restoration

3 Restoration must stop at the point where conjecture begins.

Picture from Venice Charter 1964

The Venice Charter followed many official standards, agreements and recommendations related to the preservation of buildings, including:

1 The Charter of Florence Relating to Historic Gardens in 1981, which provided a definition of the term "historical park" and the architectural formations that make up the historical landscape () and stressed the need to define a list of historical parks, and it relies on the Charter of Venice in many of its principles

2 The Washington Charter Concerning Preserving Cities and Historic Areas 1987 is a useful document for general principles in planning and protecting historic urban areas

3 The Lausanne Charter (1990) for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage and one of the most important things in it is : The protection of the archaeological heritage should be integrated into planning policies at international, national, regional and local levels.

4 The Burra Charter 1981 : Australian Icomos Charter for the Preservation of Cultural Places This charter has developed the principles outlined in the Venice Charter to suit local Australian needs and may include a comprehensive list that identifies topics such as location, preservation and maintenance. It also evolves into cultural concepts such as aesthetic, historical, scientific, and social value for past, present and future generations.

5 Declaration of Tlaxcala 1982 : It is considered as initiatives to protect the communities living in small settlements and traditional environments.

There were also another important charters such as :

1 Decision on maintaining small sized cities 1975

2 Amsterdam Declaration 1975

3 Cultural Tourism Charter 1976

4 Charter Ableton ( Canada Icomos ) 1983

5 Charter to save the value of cultural heritage sites ( Icomos Newzilland) 1992

6- Charter preservation of historic cities and regions of the United States of America 1992

The scientific documentation and the building Archeology:

The steps of the restored engineer to preserve the monumental building:

One of the most important steps is to avoid danger and protection for the (public) origin and people. Then studying the reasons that led to the deterioration of the health condition. and monitoring the building and the topic of temporary reinforcement without leading to any additional stresses on the building.

Soil study, sport and investigation. and determine the degree of notification and determine the priorities for intervention on the origin. We may not remove or demolish any part of the monument. a part of the date of origin will be lost.

The restorer is the one who determines the modifications that must be made after adequate and adequate study, and they are modifications that must be minimal, and violent interventions should be avoided.

Full knowledge and comprehensive knowledge of the origin:

The work of the restorer is similar to the work of the surgeon: when any surgical work must be a set of proactive matters to interfere in the patient’s body knowing the patient’s condition of pressure diabetes blood analysis patient history the rate of success and severity of the operation and then take the appropriate decision as well as the restoration process must surround Restored a set of things and a database on the origin.

The topic requires the use of historical specialists to explain a specific phenomenon or archeology to clarify some points or create some calculations ...... or soil mechanical engineer. To know the strength of soil tolerance ... or to use laboratories for building materials to know the materials, their nature, properties and source ....

The role of the restored engineer will be the leader of this group, and he will collect, integrate, analyze and arrange the information, leading to the complete and integrated process of the restoration process in accordance with international principles and standards.

We should mention the chapters of building Archeology we have two kinds of documentations scientific and research documentations

The scientific documentations or the Historical Documentations:

1 Pictures, drawings or diagrams ....

2 Writings by a traveler or historians who described the building and referred to it...

3 The documents kept with the real estate departments, including plans, description and shifts that occurred in the facility and contracts of sale and lease....

4 In addition to the owners and occupants, their memories, and their holders, from copies and documents of the origin itself.

5 Archives of the governorate or municipality, antiquities or endowments.....

The restored engineer must clarify what he wants from the documents of the person assigned to bring them from real estate interests so that he does not bring useless information.......

However, we must know that the best document on the origin is the origin itself.

Research documentation:

Here we should mention that there are two main methods :

Non-destructive excavations that contains many steps:

1 Building Survey

Raumbuch

3 Inventory of values

Crono typological structural survey

Dectructive excavations that contains also many steps :

Stratigraphy survey

2 Wall excavation

3 Analysis of historical materials

I will speak in General about these steps : Architectural Survey:

Knowledge and knowledge of lifting mechanisms and techniques. The real architect raises in his hand a sense of origin and health status and cracks and approaches the problem and highlights it closely and uses technology to live the condition of eternity and selects the most important, what is important in a selective process in determining priorities.

And through the process of uploading and historical documents down to the process of archaeological analysis.

The process of lifting and documenting that we carry out should be responsible because it will become a document in which future generations can benefit and be clear identifying the damages, health status and restorative intervention. These documents should carry as much information as possible.

The work should be legible for specialists and ordinary people, the legend should be clear, and the chart should load all indications and cracks because it gives a clear picture of the origin and its health condition.

Each building has a special case that has its symbols. Drawing the cracks accurately gives us a clear picture of the structural condition. The condensation of cracks in a specific area has its significance. The presence of cracks in their specific area is directed to the inclination of each column in a specific direction, which gives us a clear perception of the movement of origin.

Also, the topic of evidence and its implications and placed on cracks will have significance.

External analysis:

Inspecting the building through the process of closely watching with the naked eye in order to diagnose and reach all points through the process of putting all the notes and getting to the right place and putting the eye in the right place and always photographs. It is an auxiliary process to look and make sketches within the site to give credibility and sense the problem because the camera You cannot provide us with all the information and give importance to the apparent cracks and monitor them (increase or decrease),

And put the evidence of glass or gypsum, and the devices for monitoring the cracks developed ,so that we can analyze these cracks and the curves can be deduced The apartments get bigger or smaller depending on the behavior of the material in summer or winter through the process of shrinking or stretching in summer or winter the stability of the crack or whether it is increasing and how dangerous it is and whether It is continuous from the other side and the continuity of the fissure to a level close to the ground has its implications in terms of the presence of a drop in the soil and the foundations bearing.

The internal analytical study:

Imaging within the body through a device that contains a camera, the wall is punctured by 4 cm, and the device is placed and the stresses that it is exposed to are measured ................ The cracks are monitored whether they are fixed or mobile and these devices help in Studying an incision that is difficult to reach by photographing it and also knowing the components of the wall. Through the stresses, we analyze the construction of the wall and the amount of load. A comparison can be made by studying the stresses from the other side of the wall, comparing them with the stresses at the other side, and giving indications regarding the loads and their equality on the wall or their difference.

Historical Period Plan:

It carries on it all the historical transformations that took place on the origin, from its construction to the current status.

The process of historical analysis is important in the process of identifying structural aspects and interpreting certain phenomena as collapses.

It is important in guiding the restoration process, as the difference in historical periods means a difference in the nature of building materials, and therefore it is not possible to generalize the restoration to all parts of the building.

Tests:

Create boards in parts of the building to know the durability of the soil, its layers, depth of foundation, humidity and level of groundwater.

It is possible, when there is a specific problem, a decrease in the base of the column, for example, a drop in the floor, for which we are forced to do sounding to know the soil condition, which turns out

to be an impermeable civil obtained historical information showing the original floor found at the bottom of the current floor .. .

Preservation & Presentation of the Archaeological Heritage :

Before starting any of the restoration projects, there should be a clear definition of the different concepts , Strategies for conservation and preservation of antiquities are determined in accordance with international standards established by UNESCO, either through the international conventions issued by the International Council of Antiquities (ICOMOS). Or through ICCROM publications and WHC agreements

Standard Definitions of Methods for Preserving Cultural Property:

1 Protection 2 Preservation 3 Conservation 4 Consolidation 5 Restoration 6 Reconstruction 7 Anastylosis 8 Rehabilitation 9 Restitution 10 Revitalization

Since it is a long list I will speak only about some of these methods

Protection : It is the process of setting special determinants with the aim of influencing the physical conditions of the historic building to defend it and protect from deterioration, loss, or infringement by establishing a protective method of protection. Or prevention of dangers, theft or looting

Also, placing buffer zones around buildings or sites on special conditions is one of the means within the protection methods. Also, protection includes the development of legal or planning regulations aimed at providing a valid environment around cultural property

Physical protection also includes placing a protecting roof, mounds, or transferring movable heritage to safe places, for example to museums.

Preservation : It is a process of taking actions that support and support the current status of the building, its integration, construction materials and this structural condition in addition to the location and the surrounding environment. They may include maintenance of building materials and environmental or construction balance works.

It also includes inspection visits and periodic maintenance. This will be followed by recording the damage, for example damages resulting from water, insects and plants, and removing them.

Preservation standards:

The preservation ensures the continuation of the current form of the building and its integration, building materials, construction structure, and general location.

Substantial rebuilding or restoration of missing elements is not the goal of the preservation process; The preservation process includes employing all technologies to stop or delay the deterioration of cultural property through the periodic maintenance program.

Conservation: It is the same as preservation, but more broadly, it is protection over time including cleaning, repair and strengthening, and its ultimate goal is to preserve the originality and the integrated image of cultural property.

Conservation standards:

The process of sustainable protection includes a method of protection such as registration in the public registry or the establishment of an agreement by the governmental organization and the owner, or protection of the site using the systems and conditions for the general scheme.

The protection process may include all or some of the maintenance, restoration, reconstruction and proper use.

The protection process includes preserving all contributions that have distinctive implications associated with the building or site and that have been made over the historical periods that passed through the building.

The changes that can occur during the protection process must be minimal and must be recoverable and without radical changes affecting the cultural connotations of the building or site.

Restoration:

The restoration has multiple concepts, but the overwhelming concept is to return the heritage building or archaeological element to its original image with its details and location in a specified time period, while removing any new works.

In another concept, the restoration must preserve all the historical periods that the building has gone through as long as the unity of the restoration is not the desired goal (Venice Convention of 1964 / Article 9 13).

Themain goal ofthe restorationshouldbeto preserve theintegratedimageas well as the cultural values and to show and improve the original design image within the materials on the site, and this is contrary to what it was in the past to rebuild the missing parts.

Restoration standards:

Every effort will be made to enable the building to be used in its original job or suitable job which requires changes in the narrowest possible range of the building and the surrounding environment.

The stiffening works required for structural balance or the introduction of mechanical systems must be withheld in the event that they cause a decrease in aesthetic and historical values, unless this blocking will change or demolish the distinctive historical values of materials or space.

If the restoration work leads to an imbalance of the archaeological sources, then the recovery of the archaeological materials must be carried out in accordance with the current professional experience.

Reconstruction:

The process of reconstruction of a part or all of the heritage building can be accomplished in the event that this work will lead to a re highlight of an important element in the history of the region and when a modern design solution work is not acceptable in that location.

The process of returning part or all of the buildings becomes appropriate when the reconstruction of this work will lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the historical value of the site or if there is no analogy at all, whether in terms of construction or architectural elements or urban organization and that there are sources and documents that can be relied upon in the restoration The original picture.

The re establishment of the lost parts using new materials must be done so that it is homogeneous in design, color, texture and all other visual aspects, and that this must be done according to images or confirmed historical elements and not on the inspiration of architectural and artistic features from other buildings

Reconstruction on an authentic site must be preceded by archaeological studies and investigations on the site with precision to identify and identify any invisible monuments.

The rebuilding process must be accompanied by placing all controls to preserve any foundations or underground elements.

The re creation of missing parts must be done in some way or manner so as not to harm the integrity and general appearance of the original existing elements.

The presentation of world heritage :

After I explained the differences between the interventions on the monuments & heritage sites , I will present the methods of displaying these buildings after the interpositions:

1. The presentation of world Heritage site:

In many cases the purpose of the intervention is the Preservation of this site so experts don’t make a reconstruction but here theytry to present the monument in a way that can be understandable from other archeologists and also from the public and this method is common when the monument is in good situation or can not be constructed in a perfect way.

We have manyexamples for such interventions for example the Kingdom ofEbla in in Tall Mardikh / Syria . it dates back to the second millennium after the excavations the experts decided to preserve it and the excavations were continuous until March 2011 when the conflict started in Syria, I had the chance to see the heritage site when I was young and it was not so understandable for me in that time.

the site of Ebla

The visir Palace ruins

The Royal Palace ruins

In somecases experts and restorerstryto modifytheshapeofthesitebybuildingsomepartsor reducing the height in other parts to make it more understandable or sometimes they can show the elevations as a ruins on the ground

2. Anastylosis:

It is the process of re establishing the scattered columns and became, in the current concept, the regrouping of scattered parts in the archaeological sites. They refer to the assemblyof elements of stone orwoodanddonotimplyarebuildingofthewalls. It isarestorationprocess withaspecialcharacteristic of the use of original materials on site and according to careful archaeological studies.

In general, the least possible intervention in the restoration process is one of the best ways in the restoration process to preserve the true originality of the historic buildings.

Article 15 of the International Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Archaeological Sites (Venice Charter 1964 AD) must be applied in relation to the ruins as they have a special status.

The exhausted facade wall preserved its original height Pesch (Germany) Gallo Roman sanctuary

Article 15: Excavations should be carried out in accordance with international standards and a recommendation that defines international principles that apply in the case of archaeological excavations adopted by UNESCO in 1956.

The ruins must be preserved and measures taken to preserve and preserve the architectural aspects and monuments discovered permanently. Moreover, every possible means should be taken to facilitate the understanding of the historical landmark and its disclosure without any distortion in its meaning. However, all reconstruction works should be excluded at first sight.

Only collection operations, that is, operations to dismantle existing and dismantled parts, can be permitted.

It should be possible to identifythe materials used in the merging process, and that their use be the least, which will ensure the preservation of the historical landmark and the re establishment of its shape.

One of the most important examples for me are the ruins of the columns of my origin city Old Palmyra that was conducted duringthe 1980th bymy grandfather’s cousin the martyr Dr. Khaled Al Asaad with many experts from all around the world

Another example is the colosseum in Rome we can see the difference between the old and new materials directly taking into consideration the heritage image

The Great Arc 1799 Gabreile Berthaut

The Great Arc after reconstruction

It is important to show different time layers in the building However, sometimes we can focus on the most important time period and show it clearly. Sometimes if we are making the construction and thepieces are not completeandwecan calculatethemissingpartsofthebuilding we reconstruct it with similar materials but we should show the old and the new pieces

3. The protecting Roof :

In some cases it is important to protect the building with a roof and usually we use materials that can help the imagination of the original building , some experts said that you shouldn’t build the roof with the original building height in order not to let public think that this is a restored roof

Good example

4. The protecting Building :

Bad example

In some cases providing only a roof is not enough so it is better to add a protecting building and usually in these cases the buildings became museums. Again one of the most important things is to let people imagine what was the volume of the original building and building the protection with materials that can be readable for everybody but in a good image for the heritage site, we can build with old or new materials if we can differentiate between the original and the added elements

A protecting building with a modern materials , and with air circulation ability to make the environmental conditions better in summer for visitors

5. The reconstruction with showing the materials :

One of the most important examples is the Dresden Frauenkirche that was destroyed in the second world war , the experts where able to reconstruct it with new stones but they kept the original safe parts too and show it in a different color

Before reconstruction

Readable huge building with clear bridges and good exhibiting methods

After reconstruction

6. The Historic ruins in a modern building :

In some cases we can add the ruins into a new buildings but the golden idea always is to show the old and new and put these ruins to be readable for people .

The new Museum of Christian Art

The Elevation of Al Her Palace ( 7th century) into the wall of Damascus National Museum

7. The importance of an emblem

In some cases there are buildings that are very important for a period of time like the buildings of Germany that built during Adof Hetler era , these are huge buildings and most of these buildings destroyeded during the second world war ,or the Royal palaces of Eurobean empires . these huge building cant be used now and needs a huge budget to reconstruct but it is important for comuunities to show there history through these buildings . so here the most important thing is to know what is the new function of these bildings . some of them can be museums for instance.

Warsow kings Palace

Potsdam, Stadtschloss, demolished in 1962,

Preservation of Historic Settlements:

Historical cities characteristics :

well maintained historical cultural center has many advantages for its citizens .This center is characterized by privacy and humanity in terms of size and is often rich in various activities and it can also, in comparison with some cities, be very suitable for use as housing areas and events in general, especially and with appropriate sizes for shopping and entertainment. Cities are usually centered around major buildings such as a cathedral, mosque, castle, or city hall, including the Market Square

All these urban elements combine to give a kind of visual drama through a sense of pressure, expansion and amazement. These cities are a mixture of colors, shapes, elements and smells that take the feeling of passers through within them to another time and gives the inhabitants a sense of identity and cultural continuity.

In historical cities, the material and the archaeological possibilities that embody historical values and the originality of the material lie in the structures of all buildings and in the basic installations, and a large part of the urban fabric often consists of simple buildings without special artistic features and unknown local architectural features linked by open fields, alleys, streets, parks and these structures and places It is the urban areas in which urban life has developed that distinguishes the concept of the historical city from a set of historical monuments, and given that destroying these monuments, neglecting them will deprive the city of its core, a policy must be developed to address it.

The value of the historical city is embodied in the physical testimony of its stones and structures, often found beneath the visible surface, these historical layers the witness and signs that changes in use revived over time, as well as the relationships and continuity that make a single building part of an urban context form the basis for setting conservation standards And restoration

In Rome, the remains of ancient Roman structures can be seen in structures that appear to be normal without this. On the other hand, the historical cities of the Middle East and North Africa show how single buildings constitute the continuity of a civilized style that gets from residential areas equipped with services and floating areas and major commercial areas equipped with facilities such as markets or bazaars. And jobs are closely related and mixed with each other

Dangers surrounding historical cities:

The traditional and functional integration of historical cities is often exposed in today's world to dangers, especially in developing countries. Among the many reasons for the collapse

the following:

demographic growth and the transformation of people around the world from rural areas towards urban centers, which leads to social changes and the historic center has fallen where Places turn into commercial areas where housing often crowds and becomes unhealthy;

Increased use of automated transport taking place with penetration in areas that are no longer at all for use with such vehicles, leading to air pollution and destructive

The construction of tall buildings that stifle historical urban centers by changing their local

Changes in the methods and volume of industrial and commercial operations, which affect the economic functions of urban areas.

A shift from artisan production to mass production that requires larger buildings and the consequent accumulation of traffic that historical areas cannot accommodate;

Introduce modern jobs and services to replace traditional infrastructure and cause redundancy.

Lack of maintenance of old buildings and failure to perceive their cultural and functional value, which increases the dangers of fading and collapse.

Cars Problems in the old City of Damascus

Modern planning men have failed to recognize the cultural value of historical centers, and the acceptance of automated traffic without controversy has often led to the establishment of broad straight streets that pass sensitive historical centers This led to the destruction of its human level, the delicate traditional structure, its civilized fabric and its narrow winding streets, as well as the relationship between its public and private places, as well as the introduction of modern buildings without feeling and lacking both cultural roots and good environmental performance to cause tragic damage in historical centers

The decreasing historical areas can be transformed into attractive living points for all social groups through the re establishment of a combination of residential, commercial, and small industrial and recreational activities. The urban administration should aim to provide homogeneity, avoid unwanted uses and maintain the current size of buildings, as well as their functional size and Cultural methodology is called the method to maintain the full site

Valuable character of historic towns and villages:

There are many values that we can take into consideration to classify historical urban settlements:

• Aesthetic value

• Functional value

• Historic value

• Antiquity value

• Architectural and/or urbanistic value

Urban history analysis:

There also many good examples about the analysis of urban History such as the examples that Professor. Tamas Mezos in his lectures for example the magnificent city of Budapest and the Hungarian Historical towns and I am going to mention another example about Damascus the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world

Damascus dates back to the 8th millennium BC . However it became very famous city when it became the capital of the Aramic state in 940 BC The streets and water canals were built.

In the seventh century BC, it was subjected to the Chaldeans, then to Persians in 538 BC and became the capital of the Syrian state and the headquarters of the Persian military command.

In 333 BC Alexander the Macedonian occupied it after his victory over the Persians at the Battle of Issus.

After his death, his leaders shared the country, and Damascus became a time for the Seleucids and another time for the Ptolemies.

Hellenistic influence was evident in its culture and engineering, as the city flourished urbanly and new neighborhoods were constructed from the former Aramaic neighborhoods.

It became in the year 85 BC under the rule of the Arab Nabateans, then the Romans invaded it in 64 BC under the leadership of Pompeii.

It became a major city during the reign of Emperor Hadrian and was given the name of a Roman province and then the title of a Roman colony during the reign of the Phoenician Emperor Septimius Severus.

The city was surrounded by a defensive wall with gates, and the gates are still standing today, along with a section of the wall. And the chess plan was adopted in its construction which is still visible in the straight street that penetrates the city from Bab al Jabiyah in the west to the eastern door in the east

Roman Damascus Plan

Reinagination of Damascus Plan in the Roman Era

The definsive walls of Damascus

Muslim Arabs entered Damascus in 635 AD, but Damascus did not occupy its place in the Islamic era until the era of Caliph Muawiyah, who chose Damascus as his capital in 656 AD.

In the Umayyad era, Damascus returned to a prominent political and economic center, and this led to the growth and expansion of the city, and new neighborhoods began to emerge on the outskirts of the city, as did the palaces of princes and dignitaries.

New changes began to occur in the city beginning in the tenth century AD, as it abandoned straight and vertically intersected roads, and was replaced by residential neighborhoods linking corridors and narrow alleys and closed by gates between the main streets, With this the city began to take on the character of the Islamic city, and this structure printed the features of the new neighborhoods that arose outside the walls of the old city.

In the next picture below we can see the deformation of the Hellenistic plan to the Islamic city plan

The great Mousque

The Castle

The greatest Roman street turned into an Arab market

Turning the road network to spontaneous network

The Great Umayyad Mosque and the Urban texture in the Old city

Old Damascus Nowadays

After many successive Islamic ages, many of the city's ancient monuments have vanished, and there are now many Mamluk, Ayyubid, Seljuk and Ottoman buildings.

1979, ancient Damascus was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the buildings were preserved without modification or alteration according to international conventions.

can see on the picture below the different elements of the different eras for example:

great Roman Street is kept with many gates on the

ruins of the Temple of Jupiter

the using some of the Temple stones.

Hellenistic

Great mosque was built above parts of it

city

The Great Roman Street

Old Damascus Nowadays

Palmanova :

Another example of Important Urban Settlements were the Renascence cities in Italy

The Italian architects were interested in forming buildings and city spaces by regular and simple geometry. Furthermore, the Renaissance was an age of urbanisation and villages were replaced by cities and many new cities were formed in Italy. This context caused to birth of ‘ideal cities’ in Architectural term.

Several attempts to develop ideal city plans are known from the Renaissance, and appear from the second half of the fifteenth century. We can mention two important Architects who put the milestone in this concept, Leon Battista Alberti ( 1404 1472 ) who was Renaissance era humanist author known for his work in painting, architecture, poetry, philosophy and cryptography and Filarete ( 1400 1469 ) was a renaissance architect and sculptor who wrote a treatise on architecture to challenge that of Alberti.

Both of them based basically on the Philosophy of Plato and his Ideal city book, and Vitruvius and his Architectural buildings and city planning concepts.

The nobility of the Renaissance, seek to imitate the qualities of Classical civilization, sometimes sought to construct such ideal cities either in reality or notionally through a reformation of manners and culture.

Examples of the ideal cities include Palmanova fortress town and Pienza city

CHARACTERSTICS:

• The preoccupation with symmetry, and the creation of balanced axial compositions were central motifs.

• Also of great importance was the placement of monumental buildings, obelisks, and statues at the ends of long, straight streets.

• On the basis of their traffic functions Renaissance urban spaces can be grouped under three broad headings:

• first, traffic space, forming part of the main urban route system and used by both pedestrians and horse drawn vehicles

• Second, residential space, intended for local access traffic only and with a predominantly pedestrian recreational purpose • third, pedestrian space, from which wheeled traffic was normally excluded.

• The monument at the end is recompense, as it were, for walking along a straight road (devoid of the surprises and romantic charm of the twisting streets) and economies are met by keeping the fronting buildings plain so as to enhance the climax private simplicity and public magnificence

Description

The fortress town of Palmanova, among the more important and better preserved examples of late Renaissance military architecture, was built by order of the Serenissima Repubblica di Venezia in 1593. A better understanding of the reasons that induced the Venetians to erect Palma and to choose the site can be obtained by going back to the policy and culture of the previous century, both in Friuli and in Venice, and by taking into account the situation in Europe in relation to aspects concerning diplomacy, military technique and strategy as well as philosophic culture and catholic doctrine after the Council of Trent.

The city surrounded by these three defense circles, presents an orderly, perfectly geometrical structure around a large hexagonal piazza with, at the center, a three curbed well bearing the city banner.. All the city's main buildings overlook the piazza, in particular the Palazzo del Provveditore Generale, built in 1598 for the Serenissima's delegate, highest civilian and military authority, that later housed a succession of generals, commandants and podestà. Six roads branch out from the piazza; three of them (Borgo Udine, Cividale e Aquileia), lead to the city gates, the other three lead to the defense ramparts. These radial roads are intersected by four ring roads; the outermost one, Strada delle Milizie, runs along the city walls. The structure is conceived so as to allow the garrison to move rapidly from the hexagonal drill ground to any point along the city walls, wherever the need for additional defense may arise.

The cityscape analysis:

Due to the European agreements of cityscape analysis in the 50th we have to take into consideration many steps during the evaluation :

1. the history of the settlement

2. Listing and documentation of the values;

3. Proposition for the cityscape;

Value Analysis

City scape analysis

When the experts are doing the survey of a city or an area they should follow many steps in the process of investigation

Firstly they have to list the protecting building stock after that they mark the local protection buildings . then they mark proposed values for protection .

After that through the trained eye of the expert he can do the stylistic analysis and then the analysis of building history and it is easy for the experts they can decide the era of the building through the shape of the architectural elements such as windows.

The Value analysis :

It is a practical action done by experts to classify the buildings in urban areas starting with descriptions and the most important facts about the building , taking pictures or drawing plans and elevations .

At the end they can decide what should be kept or transformed in the urban site to make the harmony and to preserve the urban heritage

In some places new buildings are built into the heritage areas especially after wars . here we can decide if the building keeping the harmony of the urban area we can keep it and if it needs deformation we have to do it for example reducing the height of it or changing the elevations .

References:

Books & articles :

1. University College London/ Faculty of The Built Environment/ Bartlett School of Planning

The Urban Development of Damascus A study of its past, present and future /By Zara Lababedi 2008

2. The historical sequence of the development of Damascus / Mohammad omar Shora 1986 ( in Arabic )

3. Dr.Yassar Abdin Dr. Emad Almasri /Study the effect of violating the urbanization systems on understanding the planning aspects of Damascus / Damascus University / 2008 ( in Arabic )

4. VIOLLET LE DUC (1814 1979), ARCHITECTE, RESTAURATEUR,CREATEUR ET THEORICIEN DE L’ARCHITECTURE /Damascus University / Faculty of Architecture / Department of Building History/ B. Khayat Architecte 2006

5. General plan for the preservation of cultural heritage / Dr. Saleh Lami Mustafa

6. Damascus University / College of Architecture / Master of Restoration of Historic Buildings and Preservation of Archeological and Urban Areas / An Introduction Lecture to the Science of Restoration and Reading of Archeology: M. Ahmed Hassan Qweider / Academic Year 2015 2016 Center Baroudi

7. Palmyra: Mirage in the Desert (Arabic Edition)/ By Joan Aruz, Waleed Khaled al Asa‘ad, Eleonora Cussini, Lucinda Dirven, Michał Gawlikowski, Maura K. Heyn, Ted Kaizer, Michel Al Maqdissi, Eva Ishaq, Jørgen Christian Meyer, Rubina Raja, Andreas Schmidt Colinet, Judith Weingarten/ 2018

8. Fortress Town of Palmanova / Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities / 2006

9. Guidelines for the management of World Cultural Heritage sites / m. Bardenard Velden and Yuka Uckelito/ ICCROM / 1998

10. Strategies for Site Documentation /Dr. Mario Santana Quintero / 2005

Websites:

11. https://whc.unesco.org/en/

12. http://www.syr res.com/article/10955.html

13. http://www.dgam.gov.sy/index.php?d=307&id=677

14. https://www.icomos.org/charters/venice_e.pdf

15. https://www.icomos.org/en/167 the athens charter for the restoration of historic monuments

16. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=icomos syria%20initiative