Historic Urban Landscapes ­ Managing their evolution

Ref.: 34
Key theme: 01 Physical integrity of historic urban landscapes
Date of reception: 15/11/2008

AUTHORS (*Main author)

HAMILTON, Emily * (Germany) - Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus
HACK, Hans (Germany) - Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus

ABSTRACT

The paper will look at the ever evolving nature of the Historic Urban Landscape with a focus on post socialist cities (Moscow and Berlin). Socialist architecture and urban ensembles are in many cases the product and architectural legacy of oppressive regimes. These urban landscapes are located in some sense in a historical wasteland, they are no longer relevant to modern lifestyles, do not correspond to current aesthetic tastes and are too recent, too ubiquitous, to be regarded as a treasure of the past that should be conserved. What this paper aims to examine is the holistic nature of the historic urban landscape, how the city is comprised of many layers of history, inclusive of current modifications to the landscape. The development of the urban landscape should be regarded as an essentially positive endeavour, as urban culture and identity evolve so does the material space that contains them. Although new developments interfere with the completely planned urban landscape, without them they cannot be considered as `historic' as they refer only to a point in time, without relativity we cannot learn or be inspired by the past. Inevitably, the phenomenon of the historic city in a constant state of flux raises many questions of conservation and authenticity. Although it is desirable to move away from the concept of the static `museum' city, there exists a risk of tipping the scales to the other end and allowing a completely free rein to commercial development. With this paper we aim to explore questions of whether it is viable to acknowledge and retain the authenticity of socialist urban landscapes when undertaking new planning projects (such as Alexanderplatz, Berlin), and questions of how to deal with subtractions from the historic urban fabric (Stadtpalast Berlin, to be replaced with Stadtschloss, a symbol of absolute monarchy), taking into account the sensitive intangible heritage of post communist cities.

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