The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre
Since the 1960s, post-war modernist heritage has been largely criticised and victimised by the public opinion because of its material failures and elitist social projects. Despite these critiques, post-war modernist heritage is being reassessed, revalued and in some places successfully rehabilitated...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Heritage |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/2/37 |
| _version_ | 1827695098791460864 |
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| author | Patricia Aelbrecht |
| author_facet | Patricia Aelbrecht |
| author_sort | Patricia Aelbrecht |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the 1960s, post-war modernist heritage has been largely criticised and victimised by the public opinion because of its material failures and elitist social projects. Despite these critiques, post-war modernist heritage is being reassessed, revalued and in some places successfully rehabilitated. There is a growing recognition that most of the critiques have often been the result of subjective and biased value and taste judgments or incomplete assessments that neither considered the urban design nor the users’ experiences. This paper aims to contribute to these reassessments of post-war modernist urban heritage legacies. To do so, it places the user’s social experiences and uses, and the urban design at the centre of the analysis, by using a combination of ethnographic methods and urban design analysis and focusing on the public spaces of Southbank Centre in London, the UK’s largest and most iconic and contested post-war modernist ensemble with a long history of conservation and regeneration projects. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the importance of including the users’ social experiences and uses in the conservation and regeneration agendas if we want to achieve more objective and inclusive assessments. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:51Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef7fa0c04b4649d882055f2b3d12424c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2571-9408 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:18:51Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef7fa0c04b4649d882055f2b3d12424c2023-11-21T15:43:29ZengMDPI AGHeritage2571-94082021-04-014264166310.3390/heritage4020037The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank CentrePatricia Aelbrecht0Geography and Planning School, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3WA, UKSince the 1960s, post-war modernist heritage has been largely criticised and victimised by the public opinion because of its material failures and elitist social projects. Despite these critiques, post-war modernist heritage is being reassessed, revalued and in some places successfully rehabilitated. There is a growing recognition that most of the critiques have often been the result of subjective and biased value and taste judgments or incomplete assessments that neither considered the urban design nor the users’ experiences. This paper aims to contribute to these reassessments of post-war modernist urban heritage legacies. To do so, it places the user’s social experiences and uses, and the urban design at the centre of the analysis, by using a combination of ethnographic methods and urban design analysis and focusing on the public spaces of Southbank Centre in London, the UK’s largest and most iconic and contested post-war modernist ensemble with a long history of conservation and regeneration projects. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the importance of including the users’ social experiences and uses in the conservation and regeneration agendas if we want to achieve more objective and inclusive assessments.https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/2/37post-war modernismurban heritageconservationregenerationurban designethnography |
| spellingShingle | Patricia Aelbrecht The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre Heritage post-war modernism urban heritage conservation regeneration urban design ethnography |
| title | The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre |
| title_full | The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre |
| title_fullStr | The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre |
| title_short | The Social Experiences and Uses of Post-War Modernist Urban Heritage Conservation and Regeneration: London’s Southbank Centre |
| title_sort | social experiences and uses of post war modernist urban heritage conservation and regeneration london s southbank centre |
| topic | post-war modernism urban heritage conservation regeneration urban design ethnography |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2571-9408/4/2/37 |
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