URBAN CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

MH4005| SEMESTER –III | M.ARCH., MIDAS

AR.VIGNESWARAN A, (Landscape Architect)
Assitant Professor
MIDAS

06.01.2023
 OBJECTIVES
• To give understanding of social and
cultural diversity as design generators.
• To introduce tools for documentation
and analysis of urban cultural
landscapes.
• To introduce the various theories and
discourses on urban cultural
landscape.
• To give understanding of the complex
challenges involved in the practice of
conservation of urban cultural
landscapes through national and
international case studies.

URBAN CULTURAL LANDSCAPES

MH4005

UNIT I - Defining Urban Cultural Landscapes 9

Introduction to the concept of Urban Cultural Landscape

as the result of interplay between natural and built
environment and as the generator of Spirit of place -
uniqueness of place, peoples and traditions.

Definition of Urban Cultural Landscapes and Historic

Urban Landscape as understood in the international
REFERENCES framework (Vienna Memorandum, World Heritage Cities
1. Rana P.B. Singh, ‘Heritagescapes and Cultural Landscapes’, Shubhi Publications, 2011. Programme, ICOMOS)
2. Mauro Agnoletti, ‘Conservation of Cultural Landscapes’, CABI, 2006.
Introduction to Urban Cultural Landscapes & the Spirit of Place

“As a city traditionally developed, the landscape chosen for the

site was incorporated into urban design and planning. This
urban place, shaped over decades and centuries, expresses its
altered heritage landscape, the interaction of nature and
culture. The urban cultural landscape shapes the character of
the city, town or village, a combined work of people, place and
time, defining it as unique.”

ICOMOS QUEBEC 2008

Author/Presenter: Patricia M. O’Donnell, FASLA, AICP
Title: Urban Cultural Landscapes & the Spirit of Place
Topic: Preservation of the Spirit of Place
 The historic urban landscape and the urban cultural landscape
are interchangeable terms.

Premises that serve as a conservation agenda for the urban historic

landscapes of heritage cities are:

• The urban landscape has heritage values, comparable to urban architecture

• Urban historic landscapes are worthy of conservation as expressions of spirit of place
• Unique landscape identity and character of place expresses heritage and spirit
• Shaped through time, the spirit of the historic urban landscape is the combined work
of humanity and nature
• Processes of continuity and change are present in the historic urban landscape, as
they are in urban architecture
• Multiple tangible and intangible values are imbedded in historic urban landscapes
• Recognition, documentation and analysis of the complexity of the urban cultural
landscape is a doorway to retention of values and spirit of place
Urban cultural landscapes are multi-sensory vessels for spirit
of place that combine tangible and intangible heritage values.

The values of the cultural landscape as a vessel of spirit of place

can be understood thoroughly through research,
documentation, inventory, and analysis. This process of
developing a thorough understanding is a method for
recognizing and cataloguing the unique spirit of place and, then
translating this understanding to management strategies.
 Tangible Values of the Urban Cultural Landscape

The tangible elements of the urban cultural landscape embody spirit

of place. These physical aspects can be observed and documented.
The historic character of the urban landscape, and the degree to
which that character is evident today, guides the research and This list directs attention to each
documentation of the inventory, and contributes to assessment and aspect of the physical landscape
planning for the future. serving as a topical guide for a study
of the tangible heritage:
Natural Systems
Land Uses, Patterns, Clusters
Spatial Organization
Visual Relationships
Topography, Surface Drainage
Vegetation
Circulation Systems
Water Features, Natural and
Constructed
Non-Habitable Landscape Structures
and Buildings
Spatial Character, Form and Scale of
Habitable Structures
Vocabulary of Site Furnishings and
Objects
 Intangible Values in the Urban Cultural Landscape

The public and private urban landscape expresses traditions, values and a record
of ongoing interactions between people and place. The intangible values and
meanings of a cultural landscape should also be documented and understood.
Within the tangible landscape intangible expressions of lifeways, as seen in
ceremonial and common uses can be observed in action or noted through
features and traces of those actions.

These landscape-rooted intangible

values are expressed in places that
are used for:
Festivals
Traditional music, dance, performance
Pilgrimage
Worship
Ritual
Commemoration of past events
Traditional practices
Gathering place for native plants
Gathering place for craft materials
Iconic shared community place of
memory and present use
Thank you