GENERAL HERiTAGE

LECTURE 1 - DEFINITIONS - KEY CONCEPTS - CLASSIFICATIONS

Course: General Building Heritage – ARCH 4302 Lecture By: Alemea G.

General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

TABLE OF CONTENTS - Contents / Outline

Defining “Heritage”

Classification of Heritage

Values of Heritage

Significance of Heritage
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

BRAiN STORMiNG
• What do you know about
heritage?
• Do you think, heritage is inherited
or produced?
• Argue with specific examples.
• What are the criteria that a
Heritages had?
 Defining HERiTAGE
• According to UNESCO: heritage is our legacy from the past,
what we live with today, and what we pass on to future
generations. Our Cultural and Natural Heritage are both
irreplaceable sources of life and inspiration.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Defining HERiTAGE
• The word ‘Heritage’ is“…something that comes or belongs to … received in
will of deceased ancestor or bequeathed… inherited from the past by
birth…legal descent or succession …”
• The conventions of international organizations, like UNESCO’s Convention
Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage (1972,
Article 4), also contains such definitions like,
• “…the duty of ensuring the identification, protection, conservation,
presentation and transmission to future generations of cultural and natural
heritage…”
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Defining HERiTAGE
• Nature (Vol.35. No.4, October-December, 1999: 34-36) also define heritage
resources as they are consisting of natural resources, works of art,
architecture, traditions and spiritual wealth which have permanent values.
• Thus, until recently, the word heritage has been commonly used only to
describe as an inheritance received in the will of deceased ancestors or
bequeathed when dead to descendants.
• Generally Speaking, Our heritage is our inheritance - what the past has
conceded to us, what we value in the present and what we choose to
preserve for future generations.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Defining HERiTAGE
• On the other hand, on the basis of a variety of contexts how the ideas, notions and
meanings of heritage can be managed or sustained, used, interpreted and
manipulated by the contemporary society, these days these definitions are
questioned.
• Some argue that while defining we should consider the ever-changing ideas, notions
and meanings of heritage in different societies at different times and spaces so that it
is possible to understand the ways in which heritage can be re-interpreted,
manipulated for different purposes rather than inherited.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Defining HERiTAGE
• According to these arguments, heritage includes any sort of intergenerational
exchange or relationship between societies as well as individuals.
• It is important, however, that some times, what is considered cultural heritage
by one generation may be rejected by the next generation, only to be
reviewed by a succeeding generation.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Classification of Heritage

TYPES OF HERITAGE . . .
Attempt to classify heritage resources in to cultural &
natural; tangible and intangible; and movable &
immovable, with specific examples in Ethiopia.

CLASSIFICATION of HERITAGE
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERITAGE
Tangible
and
Intangible

Cultural
Heritage
and
Natural
Heritage

Movable
and
Immovable
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
• The World Heritage Conventions adopted by the General Conference of
UNESCO in 1972 classifies heritage resources into two major categories;
• Cultural Heritage and Natural Heritage.
• Accordingly, Cultural Heritage Properties are results of human past
activities. They are:
• The legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of the society,
• They are believed to have been inherited from past generation,
• They are safeguarded and preserved in the present and bestowed for
the benefit of the future generations.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
• While the term cultural heritage is generally used in Europe, in the USA
the term cultural resources is in more general use specifically referring
to cultural heritage resources.
• A country's cultural heritage includes all traces of human activity in the
physical environment. These are irreplaceable sources of information
on people's lives and activities, and on the historical development of
crafts, techniques and art.
• The working definition of cultural heritage refers to heritage properties
which are the products of human activities.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
• Cultural heritage potentials of Ethiopia are consisting of several
productions of architectural and artistic manifestations.
• Proclamation No. 209/2000 categorizes architectural and artistic products
and other man made religious and secular objects and traditions as
cultural heritage possessions.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
Natural Heritage: refers to LANDSCAPES in which pristine wildness (unlogged
forests, undammed rivers, and unframed mountains). They are Results of nature
itself, Peculiar sceneries, such as:
• the outstanding physical, biological, geographical features,
• Habitats of threatened areas of value on scientific or aesthetic grounds.
• Vegetations, landscapes, water bodies, gorges and so on
• The values associated with landscapes are cultural because, natural heritage
is also an important part of culture, encompassing the cultural and natural
env’t in the tourist industry of a country.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE

• Konso Cultural Landscape © Yonas Beyene

General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Classification of Heritage
Tangible and Intangible Heritages
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
Heritage properties can be classified into tangible and intangible.
• According to proclamation 209/2000 (of ARCCH), tangible or physical
heritage properties are cultural remains or antiquities that can be "seen
or felt”.
• Tangible Cultural Heritage: include buildings, monuments, historic
places, artifacts and other remains of the same kind that are considered
worthy of preservation for the future.
• These include objects significant to the Archaeology, Architecture,
Science or Technology of a specific culture.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
Intangible Heritage (Living Heritage)
• A broad definition of cultural heritage includes intangible aspects of a
particular culture, safeguarded by the social customs during a specific
period in history.
• Intangible Heritage Resources, also known as Living Heritage Resources
are indispensable component of cultural heritage, and consists of the
Spiritual Wealth, Social Customs, Practices, Representations, Expressions,
Knowledge, Skills, Oral Traditions and Other Traditional Performances that are not
physical (“can not be touched”).
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
Intangible Heritage (Living Heritage)
• It consists of the ways and means of behavior in a society and the
often formal rule for operating in a particular cultural environment.
• These include Social Values, Customs, Traditions, Practices and
Aesthetic and Spiritual Beliefs, Artistic Expression, Language and
other aspects of Human Activity.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
• Proclamation No 209/2000 defines intangible heritage resources as
spiritual wealth, social customs, practices, representations, expressions,
knowledge, skills, oral traditions and other traditional performances that
“Can Not Be Seen or Felt.”
• Intangible Heritage: include Ceremonies of Holidays, Folk Art, Tales,
Proverbs, Popular Poetry, Songs and other cultural values and traditions of
the same kind.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

Classification of Heritage
Movable and Immovable Heritages
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
Heritage resources can be sub-divided into Immovable and Movable.
• The Immovable Heritages: are those, which are attached to the ground with a
foundation that can be moved from place to place only by dismantling them.
• Buildings, monuments, memorial and burial places, historical or pre-
historical archaeological sites are examples of Immovable Heritage
Resources.

Therefore, the historical palaces and castles, stales, church and mosque buildings, or
any other places of worship, tombs, old and historic treasuries and other buildings can
be categorized as immovable assets of Ethiopia.
 General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

CLASSIFICATION of HERiTAGE
• Movable Heritage Resources: comprise the material cultures that can be
moved from place to place without losing their individual character or with
out being substantially damaged.
• The Movable Cultural Materials can also be sub-divided into several classes
on the bases of the material they are made from, their age (manufacturing
period) and their functions.
General Building Heritage Lecture By: Alemea G.

• NEXT CLASS:
VALUES OF HERITAGE
SIGNIFICANCE OF HERITAGE

END !!!