Performarice Heritage: Creating An Alliance Bewteen Architectural Preservation and Cultural Advancement

The difference between an official heritage site, andan unofficial, but culturally significant site, is manytimes mediated by the community’s willingness toadopt regulated preservation standards, stipulatedmaintenance programs and a tourism based use. Atourism foundation can subvert a “living” culturalheritage through its emphasis on a static past andunique identity. An official heritage site has the potentialto gradually erode cultural authenticity becauseof the constant pressure to sustain tourisminterest. The other related consequence of preservingheritage for tourist visits is the architectural andstructural improvements needed to make the environmentssafe and comfortable. Many times theseimprovements compromise the authenticity of theenvironment by literally propping it up. However,shifting strategies from tourism based heritage to amore dynamic system focused on progressivelyinterpreting tradition, has the capacity to createan alliance between the preservation of a livingheritage, appropriate economic benefit and theadvancement of architectural design. Performativeheritage effectively recontextualizes the forces ofthe heritage tourist industry into a forward movingenvironment that builds on, and improves, thequality of social life, the safety and comfort of thebuilt environment, and the significant features ofculturally rich architecture.

Volume Editors
Ikhlas Sabouni & Jorge Vanegas