Identity Change Before and After the Regeneration Project of the Waterfront Area Based on Industrial Heritage-A Case Study of Yangpu Waterfront (China)

This paper takes Yangpu Waterfront,a famous industrial heritage belt in Shanghai(China),as the research object,with the purpose of sorting out the identity transformation that this waterfront industrial area has experienced in the past century.Taking the comprehensive development on both sides of the Huangpu River carried out in Shanghai in the early 21st century as the dividing line,Yangpu Waterfront has also been reborn after the waterfront regeneration projects that have been in full swing in recent years.This identity change is reflected in physical settings,observable activities,and meanings.The article is based on historical research and current situation analysis,including a part of user satisfaction evaluations.

Identity, Traditions and Lack of Environmental Behaviour

Place memories （traditions）, transmitted through art and the stories of a community, are key elements for the construction of individual and collective identity, connected to specific places. In this regard the authors examined how the representation of traditions affects place identity and in what ways the cultural heritage of the town might influence environmental forms of behaviour such as plans and projects. To this end the authors investigated the small town of Pagani in southern Italy, which has many ancient cultural traditions linked to specific locations and their rituals such as the festival of Our Lady of the Hens. Our contribution favours a qualitative approach in examining the data gathered and a participative methodology. The statistical analysis of the vocabulary distribution within 83 texts concerning town and its traditions, written by local citizens （52% male and 48% female） of different ages （range： 18-78） revealed a strong place identity. Narrative interviews （14） with key people were then analysed by means of grounded theory. In the perspective of conservation psychology the authors finally focussed on how feelings of impotence and social distrust influence relations between citizens and their local environment.

Social transformations of cultural heritage: from benefaction to sponsoring: Evidence from mountain regions in Greece

The concept of benefaction,as shaped in the pre-industrial society,has been altered and replaced by the modern term of sponsoring.The verbal transformation emerges from a deep cultural shift.Focusing on the dipole of benefactionsponsoring,we examine the cultural transition from the traditional communities of long duration to the modern societies of consumption,taking the Greek mountainous regions as an example.We investigate the cultural shift that generates the metastasis from the communities of benefaction to the modern brandplaces that consume their own cultural heritage,mainly,at the altar of the tourism industry.Modern society has adopted the concept of sponsoring,for the grace of which,culture has to prove evidence of economic value,in order to survive.In the extremely competitive frame of the free-market economy,mountain regions appear vulnerable.The selling and buying of their culture are tempting and attractive under a constantly shrinking welfare-state and narrowing development opportunities.It depends on local and national society to rediscover and regenerate those social mechanisms able to create culture or let the modern consumption-oriented forces prevail.However,authentic principles of benefaction may form an alternative perspective for social reorganization.

A Critical Regionalism in the Golf Architecture:A Masdar’s‘Eco-city Project’

This article echoes Kenneth Frampton’s critical regionalism to address maintaining the values of the past into the present.For Frampton,architecture design is regionally infused due to essentially dealing with“specificity and locality”,however,remains reluctant to adopt a“universal technology”.A Masdar City’s design represents a valuable case due to casting light on the complexity embedded in intertwining the modernist technologies and a regional architecture.The case study’s analyses cited here suggest that the design of the present evolves from this complexity witnessing a deviation from a“universal technology”and a local architecture.A vernacular style of architecture has been blamed because it stitches together the“globe”and the“local”.A universal technology has been also witnessed here which yields support for the vernacular approaches embedded in a traditional architecture.What Frampton’s critical regionalism appears to overlook are the vernacular approaches that in the analysis of this article embrace a model of the design principles for the“tectonics”to be realised.The key argument brought forward in this article concerns Frampton’s critical regionalism that yet lacks a realistic approach to produce a sense within a local context,thereby needing in its theory to neatly twist the vernacular approaches with a critical regionalism’s synthesis.

The layers of history: New architecture interventions in castle ruins

This paper aims to analyse new architectural works that were created within the ruins of castles and fortifications.The contribution addresses the question whether it is possible to indicate common features in these types of objects,by studying what changed and how it changed in the complexes of historic ruins by introducing a new layer:a new form in their space.The analysis covers eight complexes of castle ruins located in Europe,all being important elements of local historical heritage,all preserved in their historical forms as permanent ruins.Such places are characterised by high imageability,which is conducive to maintaining interest,despite political or ideological changes.The need to introduce new functions,which is connected with this interest,raises questions related to preserving the identity and authenticity of the place,while at the same time building relationships with modern architecture.The research concerned examples from Europe,mostly post-competition works.Research and analysis have shown that all the objects are characterised by well thought-out urban solutions and carefully selected locations of new buildings within the existing historic ruins,thereby helping maintain the structural order between the existing and the new spatial forms.Interventions within the castle ruins were carried out using modern architectural language,using modern techniques and solutions,with great attention to detail.They are characterised by the abstraction of new forms and the creative reinterpretation of existing architectural elements and material solutions of the monuments.The consciously applied contrast of forms and materials means that the historical heritage is being rediscovered,enriched with new,currently necessary functions.In all the described works,the introduction of new spatial experiences within existing objects constituted a significant value.The examples analysed show that the experience and analysis of the broadly understood historical,urban and architectural context are conducive to the creation of valuable architectural works.The characteristics of these examples may contribute to a broader debate on the dialogue between historical heritage and contemporary architecture.