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SUMMARY
I am fortunate enough to spend my working life exploring many different buildings, from medieval manor houses to 20th century football stadia, as part of a development-led brief to record them for posterity. This provides the opportunity to access places that few members of the public (other than squatters and urban explorers) ever see. It also involves many hours picking round derelict hulks with the rain coursing down the walls. This work feeds into the undeniable research value that arises from the study of individual buildings and how they inform our understanding of past societies and social practices. Conversely, there is also the less classifiable output of our attempting to capture the ‘spirit’ of a building prior to its demolition or conversion. Whilst the former is prioritised in guidance literature and methodologies, the latter arguably comprises the majority of what we do. What follows is an attempt to reconcile these two mindsets, with what can be termed a ‘biographical’ approach to historic building recording.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Dominic Perring and Ron Humphrey of Archaeology South-East for their generosity in giving me leave to write this article, and my colleagues in the historic buildings team for their company in exploring some very singular buildings. Laura McAtackney has kindly discussed this article with me in detail, and supplied a number of valuable references, and Kate Giles is an abiding source of assistance and encouragement. Comments from the two anonymous reviewers were extremely helpful in sharpening my thinking, for which I owe my thanks.
SUMMARY IN FRENCH, SPANISH, GERMAN AND ITALIAN
RÉSUMÉ
Capturer l’esprit des places communes: une approche biographique du relevé des bâtiments historiques
J’ai la chance d’avoir passé ma vie professionnelle à explorer des bâtiments nombreux et variés : des manoirs médiévaux aux stades de football du XXe siècle, pour réaliser leurs relevés pour leur postérité, dans des mémos à finalité de développement urbain. Ce travail m’a permis d’accéder à des endroits que peu de personnes (autres que les squatters et les exploreurs urbains) ont pu voir. Mais cette tâche impliquait également de nombreuses heures à piqueter des mastodontes délabrés, avec la pluie coulant le long des murs. Ce travail participe à l’indéniable valeur de la recherche, recherche qui naît de l’étude de bâtiments individuels et qui contribue à améliorer notre compréhension des sociétés et pratiques sociales passées. Inversement, il arrive que certains résultats ne suffisent pas à capturer l’« esprit » d’un bâtiment avant sa démolition ou conversion. Alors que la littérature et la méthodologie scientifiques exigent cette contribution à l’amélioration de notre compréhension du passé, le plus souvent, l’étude exhaustive des bâtiments soulève davantage de questions. Cet article vise à réconcilier ces deux mentalités, grâce à ce qui pourrait être qualifié d’ approche ‘biographique’ du relevé de bâtiments historiques.
RESUMEN
Capturando el espíritu de lugares singulares: un enfoque biográfico para el estudio de edificios históricos
Mi vida laboral consiste en estudiar edificios diversos, desde casas señoriales medievales hasta estadios de fútbol del siglo XX, y estudiarlos para la posteridad. Así tengo la oportunidad de acceder a lugares que pocos miembros del público (aparte de los ocupantes ilegales y exploradores urbanos) ven. También implica muchas horas recorriendo ruinas bajo la lluvia. Este estudio de edificios tiene un valor académico que a su vez nos ayuda a entender las sociedades y prácticas sociales del pasado. Por otro lado existe además otro resultado, más difícil de calificar, de intentar captar el "espíritu" de un edificio antes de su demolición o conversión. Mientras que el primero se prioriza en la bibliografía, el segundo es lo que hacemos durante la mayor parte del tiempo. Lo que sigue es un intento de conciliar estas dos mentalidades con lo que se puede llamar un enfoque "biográfico" para abordar el estudio de edificios históricos.
ZUSAMMENFASSUNG
Den Geist einzelner Orte einfangen: ein biografischer Ansatz zur historischen Gebäudeaufzeichnung
Ich habe das Glück, mein Arbeitsleben damit zu verbringen, viele verschiedene Gebäude zu erkunden, von mittelalterlichen Herrenhäusern bis hin zu Fußballstadien des 20. Jahrhunderts, als Teil eines entwicklungsorientierten Briefes, um sie für die Nachwelt aufzuheben. Dies bietet die Möglichkeit, Orte zu erreichen, die nur wenige Mitglieder der Öffentlichkeit (außer Hausbesetzern und Stadtforscher) jemals sehen. Es beinhaltet auch viele Stunden Picking rund um verfallene Hulks im Regen, der die Wände hinunterläft. Und wie sie unser Verständnis vergangener Gesellschaften und sozialer Praktiken prägen. Umgekehrt gibt es auch die weniger klassifizierbare Leistung unseres Versuchs, den "Geist" eines Gebäudes vor seinem Abriss oder Umbau einzufangen. Während ersteres in der Literatur und den Methoden der Beratung Priorität hat, umfasst letzteres wohl den Größten Teil. Was folgt, ist der Versuch, diese beiden Denkweisen mit dem, was man als "biografischen" Ansatz für historische Gebäudeaufzeichnungen bezeichnen kann, in Einklang zu bringen.
RIASSUNTO
Cogliere lo spirito di luoghi unici: un approccio biografico alla documentazione degli edifici storici
Sono sufficientemente fortunato da poter passare la mia vita lavorativa esaminando molti edifici pubblici, che vanno da manieri medievali a stadi da football del XX secolo, per fare resoconti legati alle aree di sviluppo urbano, così da documentare tali edifici per i posteri. Ciò fornisce l’opportunità di avere accesso a luoghi che in pochi (con l’eccezione degli occupanti abusivi e degli esploratori urbani) possono vedere. Questo comporta anche passare molte ore rovistando fra lacerti fatiscenti con la pioggia che scorre lungo le pareti. Questo lavoro trae ispirazione dell’indiscutibile valore di ricerca che nasce dallo studio di singoli edifici e dal modo in cui questi contribuiscono alla nostra comprensione delle società del passato e delle sue abitudini. Viceversa, vi è anche una non meglio definibile elaborazione riguardo al nostro tentativo di cogliere lo ‘spirito’ di un edificio prima della sua demolizione o riqualificazione. Mentre il primo aspetto è considerato prioritario nella letteratura di riferimento e dal punto di vista metodologico, il secondo investe probabilmente la maggior parte del nostro lavoro. Tentiamo pertanto in questa sede di riconciliare questi due punti di vista, producendo ciò che potrebbe essere definito un approccio ‘biografico’ alla documentazione degli edifici storici.
Michael Shapland, Senior Historic Buildings Archaeologist, UCL/Archaeology South-East, 2 Chapel Pl, Portslade, East Sussex, BN41 1DR, UK [[email protected]]
Notes
1 According to the National Planning Policy Framework, paragraph 199 (Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, 2019).
2 Smiles 2007; Nurse 2007.
3 Society of Antiquaries of London, 1747.
4 Foote 1987.
5 Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act, 1990, and the accompanying Planning Policy Guidance Notes 15 'Planning and the Historic Environment' and 16, 'Archaeology and Planning', issued by the then Department of the Environment.
6 RCHME 1990; ALGAO 1997; English Heritage 2006; CIfA 2014; Historic England 2016.
7 e.g. ALGAO 1997, 8; Historic England 2016, 1.
8 Tringham 1995, 98.
9 Historic England 2016, 8-9.
10 Summarised in Trigger 1989, 379-86; see also Wylie 1992.
11 Ferris 1989; Ferris Citation1991.
12 Smith 1989.
13 Meeson 1989.
14 Bold 1990.
15 Historic England 2016, 27. On this debate, see Giles 2014a.
16 Historic England 2016, 27; my emphasis.
17 Dallas 2003, 112.
18 Isozaki 2006, 117-169; Stovel 2008
19 Only Fools and Horses, 'Heroes and Villains' (1996).
20 Jones 2010.
21 Powerful statements of this are Bille & Sørensen Citation2016 and the essays in Littlefield & Lewis 2007. See also Cairns & Jacobs 2014, 70-75.
22 Giles 2014b, 17.
23 Kopytoff 1986.
24 Hoskins 1998, esp. 1-9; Gosden & Marshall 1999; Swift 2012; Cooney 2015 is a recent summary of the literature.
25 e.g. Joy 2009; Burstrӧm 2015.
26 Blier 1995, 22-34; Brück 1999; Gerritsen 1999; Shapland Citation2013; Cairns & Jacobs 2014, 11-29; Eriksen 2016.
27 McNeill and McNamara 2012; Pétursdóttir 2016.
28 McAtackney 2019.
29 Mytum 2010.
30 Tatlioglu 2010.
31 Jenkins and Newman 2019; Avery-Quash and Retford 2019.
32 Harris 1999; Hicks and Horning 2006, 287-92; Rogasch 2014.
33 Wharton 2015, xxi-xxii.
34 E.g. King 2006; Tindall 2006.
35 Deetz 1998.
36 As advocated by Hicks and Horning (2006).
37 Hudson 1996, 3.
38 Mitchell and Fielder (2018) reflects on the experience of the recorder.
39 Jones 2010.
40 Historic England 2016, 22-3.
41 e.g. ICOMOS 1990, 45; Arnold Citation1998; Morriss 2000; Green & Dixon 2016, 123-126.
42 For what follows, see Shapland 2014.
43 Key texts are Taylor 1991; Markus 1993; Morrison 1999. Newman 2013 is an excellent case-study which seeks the likely experience of former inmates. See also Lucas 1999.
44 Markus 1993 96-7 & 141-5; Newman 2013, 364.
45 ‘Compulsion’, curated by Miranda Housden, which ran here 8-18 August 2013.
46 See Longhurst (2015) on this dislocation between how institutional buildings are designed, and how this can depart quite radically from how they are used in practice over time.
47 Smith & Campbell 2016.
48 Byrne 2013; McAtackney and Penrose 2016, 148-9.
49 Rogasch 2014; Mitchell and Fielder 2018.
50 Hayman 1997; Historic England 2016, 8.
51 Historic England 2016, 7.
52 Cole 2017, 77.
53 Shapland 2017.
54 Photographing historic buildings in this way has even been likened to the 19th century American practice of photographing the corpses of loved ones dressed up as if they had still been alive (Harris 1999, 136).
55 Historic England 2016, 8.
56 Hayman 1997; Malaws 1997.
57 Palmer and Orange 2016, 84.
58 Historic England 2016, 23.
59 This should, of course, be undertaken mindful of any ethical or data protection considerations (Hamilton 2008; Leavy 2011, 99-102, 140-143).
60 McAtackney forthcoming; see also McAtackney and Penrose 2016, 152. Dwyer 2011; Casella 2012; McAtackney 2014, esp. 195-206 likewise incorporate living testimony into studies of buildings and place.
61 Deetz 1998, 94
62 Historic England 2016, 23.
63 Dallas 2003, 71.
64 Praetzellis 1998; Deetz 1998.
65 Fagan 2006; Holtorf 2010.
66 Deetz 1998.
67 Harris 1999, 164.
68 Harris 1999; Cairns & Jacobs 2014, 193-219.
69 Thomas 2008; Hamerow 2012, 136-40.
70 Chapman 2000, 106.
71 Wright 2019, 284-90.
72 Blier 1995, 22-34.
73 Trigger 1989, 381.
74 Harris 1999, 163-4.