The Historic Urban Landscape of European Cathedral Cities: a transnational approach towards an understanding of a shared European heritage

Descripción del proyecto

Comprender el paisaje histórico de las ciudades catedralicias europeas

Las ciudades catedralicias europeas se caracterizan por la presencia de una catedral medieval dentro de una trama urbana compuesto por edificios cívicos, religiosos y residenciales. Pueden ser pequeñas poblaciones o grandes urbes, pero todas las ciudades catedralicias presentan patrones similares en su paisaje histórico, consecuencia de una historia y cultura comunes. Conforme a la declaración de la UNESCO de 2011 relativa al paisaje urbano histórico, URBS examinará cómo las personas perciben, experimentan y valoran el paisaje histórico de las ciudades catedralicias. El primer objetivo es desarrollar un conjunto de narrativas y cartografías que aborde la experiencia de las ciudades catedralicias desde varias perspectivas, aplicando metodologías de paisaje histórico junto con métodos de investigación cualitativa a cuatro estudios de caso: Girona (España), la City de Londres (el Reino Unido), Palermo (Italia) y Poitiers (Francia). El segundo objetivo es demostrar cómo las ciudades catedralicias en Europa, a pesar de su carácter individual, mantienen similitudes elocuentes en su topografía y estratos históricos.

Objetivo

Many European cities are characterised by the presence of a medieval cathedral within a settlement comprising of civic, religious and domestic buildings, enclosed by vestiges of urban walls and gates of antique or medieval origin. They can be small settlements as well as capital cities, with variable degrees of conservation of the historic built environment, but they all have similar patterns in their historic landscape created by a common history and culture. There are many challenges in the curation, including conservation and presentation to the public, of cathedral cities: inspired by the UNESCO (2011) declaration on managing change in the Historic Urban Landscape, which promotes a comprehensive survey of tangible and intangible heritage and includes the ways in which people absorb and react to their surroundings, URBS will focus on how inhabitants and visitors perceive, experience and value the historic landscape of cathedral cities. The first aim of the project is to develop a set of narratives and mapping that addresses the experience of cathedral cities from several perspectives simultaneously, applying historic landscape methodologies together with qualitative research methods to four case studies: Girona (Spain), City of London (UK), Palermo (Italy) and Poitiers (France). The second aim of URBS is to investigate and demonstrate how cathedral cities in Europe, despite having their individual character and spirit of place, have similarities in their topography and historical layers. The third aim of URBS is to train the fellow in qualitative research methodology and in the emerging technology of cultural mapping, giving her experience of leadership of collaborative groups; she will thus develop a full range of skills and experience which will allow her to design and direct future research in participatory approaches to the historic urban landscape.