Heritage and accessibility : conflicting needs?
Developing integrity of project : reconciling heritage and cultural significance with usability for all
Access for all is a powerful and demanding ambition that requires adaptability, flexibility and the capacity to evolve in response to the diversity and richness of uses.
Protected built heritage is in its very nature constrained in its possibilities for change and transformation. Its role is to bear witness to history and culture for future generations.
We are thus facing a paradox of requiring flexibility and diversity of uses within a rather inflexible built environment of which a certain heritage integrity needs to be preserved.. How should we add flexibitity and evolutivity to a constraining built environment that appears little pliable to change?
Introduction
Heritage and accessibility : conflicting needs?
Developing integrity of project : reconciling heritage and cultural significance with usability for all
Access for all is a powerful and demanding ambition that requires adaptability, flexibility and the capacity to evolve in response to the diversity and richness of uses.
Protected built heritage is in its very nature constrained in its possibilities for change and transformation. Its role is to bear witness to history and culture for future generations.
We are thus facing a paradox of requiring flexibility and diversity of uses within a rather inflexible built environment of which a certain heritage integrity needs to be preserved.. How should we add flexibitity and evolutivity to a constraining built environment that appears little pliable to change?
The case-studies presented here show persuasively that it is not only possible to combine the need for heritage preservation with the flexibility of uses, but also that these needs can be complementary and mutually enriching. Making heritage sites accessible by implementing new standards and changes is an opportunity to re-think the meaning of heritage, the history of its built environment and its transformations over time, as well as its architectural and experiential qualities. Making heritage accessible is not about denying the intrinsic value of a site, but on the contrary, it is about revealing and enhancing it. This is a highly stimulating aim for heritage accessibility projects. It takes the involvement of many stakeholders, and particularly experts of built heritage, who can research, discover and design sustainable access solutions, which continue to reveal heritage qualities. Two of the case-studies presented here, Boston Architectural College and Versailles, illustrate the point well.
