Giving voice to heritage: a virtual case study

Abstract

This essay focuses on changing discourses of heritage with reference to concepts of place broadly defined. Our virtual case study is Wim Wenders' series of documentaries entitled Cathedrals of Culture. In this series of 3D films, Wenders invited five other directors to give voice to their favourite buildings. The directors chose classic examples of Western heritage located primarily in European cities. Our contribution explores the human constructions assigned to these buildings and the implications of the anthropomorphisation of buildings for the concept of heritage. With reference to categories of tangible and intangible heritage, we ask whether giving voice to material artefacts challenges the material dominance of architecture for heritage, deepening our sense of place and constituting a step forward for a more dialogical approach to heritage generally. We query the extent to which this filmic anthology reinforces a hegemonic authorised heritage discourse or delivers a postmodern version of ‘spirit of place’. We ask whether this filmic adventure in 3D could effectively generate a new and (re)newed sense of place in other heritage contexts. Our hypothesis is set in the framework of various ICOMOS and UNESCO international charters.

Buildings as non‐human narrators: Between post‐phenomenological and object‐oriented architectural geographies

“…Moreover, existing readings of the Cathedrals of culture project have paid much attention to the role of the mobile, 3D framing technique (Jackman, 2015) in producing a human‐centred immersive effect and haptic engagement with the material buildings (Kiriby, 2016; Nic Craith et al., 2016). Drawing directly on architectural cultural geographies (and using a practice‐based approach), the concept of “building event,” and also ANT (Böser et al., 2017), these readings mainly endorse a more‐than‐symbolic, embodied, and phenomenological take on the buildings.…”

“…The choice for a female voice‐over could have been pushed a step forward to become a critical tool for discussing the dominant discourses about the building’s history. “Places typically have multiple, often conflicting histories that shape and define cultures and individual identities,” organising and constituting human, social, and more‐than‐human relations, power, and actions (Craith et al., 2016, p. 437), and the Berliner Philharmonie is one of them. Wenders seems to be more focused on the characterisation of the personality of the building, rather than on the critical discourse that could emerge from the practice of telling the building’s story and history.…”

“…Indeed, the winged figure of the phoenix at the top is symbolically rising from the ashes of the Nazi past. The Philharmonie was developed as a symbol of the culture of freedom in the West‐part of the city: with its multi‐focal spatial conception, the Philharmonie was conceived as a public space for a collective made up of individuals (Campbell, 2007; Jasper, 2020; Craith et al., 2016). By accessing its inner‐life perspective, we experience the feeling of pride that the building supposedly attributes to these symbolic meanings.…”