La Isla de Christina

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Jamie

Christina's Home Stay in the Uros Islands, Lake Titicaca, Peru - photo: Jason George

Lake Titicaca’s Uros Islands are home to a thriving traditional culture. The islands, and pretty much everything on and around them, are made of dried totora reeds using techniques dating back hundreds of years. One of the reasons the culture thriving is heritage tourism.

The people living on the islands receive a great number of visitors, the vast majority of whom come on day trips out from Puno. The families alternate days on which they host visitors on their island so that everyone benefits.

Perhaps more interesting than a relatively quick day trip to the islands is an overnight trip. We were fortunate enough to spend two nights this past summer with Christina. She and her extended family have created a homestay on their island. What we saw and learned there was fascinating, in more ways than one. Everything is made of totora reeds, houses, floor, benches, even a chess set. Our time there began with an explanation of how the island is built and maintained, how the houses are made, how the boats are made, how food is traditionally cooked, and so on.

Christina, left, singing with family after dinner - Photo: Jason George

During the evening, after a delicious dinner, Christina and a few members of her family came into the dining house. They sang a few songs for us, in Spanish, French, Japanese and Aymara, their local language which is slowly dying out. Then, very clearly and eloquently (fellow travelers translated for us), she thanked us for coming and told the story of how she got started in the hospitality business and what it has come to mean for her and her family. Several years before, two travellers from the Netherlands had suggested that Christina arrange for guests to stay overnight. She thought about this idea and decided, in the best entrepreneurial spirit, to give it a try.

She went on to say she has learned a lot over the years, from friends and visitors, such as how to prepare food safely, what visitors like in terms of comforts (hot water bottles in the bed at night!) and necessities (toilet and hand-washing facilities), and has thus created a thriving business. Unbeknownst to her, she was listed in Lonely Planet, which she discovered once visitors started flocking in.

With the money she has earned, she is putting her children through university: one is studying to be a chef, the other hospitality. She is also sponsoring the education of several other family members and island children and has become a leader in the community.

Student at Uros Torani Floating School with her new toothbrush - Photo: Jason George

While on Christina’s island, we met a woman volunteering with French charity Association La Runa who comes each year to distribute toothbrushes collected from school children back in in France. We went with her to the local school to help distribute them. Teeth brushing instructions were given via “assembly”, the children standing at attention in rows. Multiple references were made to “la isla de Christina” as the storage point for additional toothbrushes and instructions.

It became crystal clear that tourism has given Christina, her family, her neighbors, and her community a bright future.

Vernacular Favorites to Celebrate National Architecture Week

Posted on April 10, 2011 by admin

It’s National Architecture Week and that got me thinking about some of the most interesting buildings I’ve seen lately. Keeping in mind the fun my friends over at The Blue Line had with Top 10 lists recently, I didn’t want to come up with Ten Most Amazing Buildings or My Top Ten Historic Buildings. Instead I browsed through photos from trips over the past few years and selected a few particularly memorable vernacular building types.

Gassho house in Shirakawa-go, Japan

Shirakawa-go, in the Japanese alps, was a complete surprise to me. I was not expecting to see snow still on the ground and I certainly didn’t expect to feel like I was back in Switzerland! The way the houses are dotted on the hillside and in a small cluster in the center, not to mention the buildings’ size and shape, all reminded me of Swiss alpine villages. Those commonalities certainly make you think about how much our buildings are shaped by their environment and how similar solutions emerge in similar environments.

The Gassho houses are wood and have steeply pitched roofs. In Switzerland, in Zermatt for example, the oldest houses have stone roofs. In Shirakawa-go, they are thickly thatched. The largest of the houses have several stories, with the top used for silk worm cultivation and production. The interiors are darkened from the smoke from the fires inside, which acts as a preservative. The family member we chatted
with explained that houses that are “smoked” last significantly longer than those that our not. I didn’t ask about the effect of the smoke on their lungs!

The spring day we were there, one of the houses was being rethatched. The workers were using some modern equipment such as aluminum ladders (and hardhats!) but the materials and the method were the same as they been for hundreds of years.

My other selection for the day is the dialou, or tower houses, of Kaiping, China. These are fascinating because they are a response to the social and political environment of their time rather than the physical environment. The building type itself dates back over 500 years and was traditionally defensive towers that could shelter an entire village from storms or attacks.

One of the 1800 dialou in the Kaiping Dialou and Villages World Heritage Site

There are approximately 1800 early 20th century dialou in the The Four Counties region, which is the homeland of many Chinese who emigrated to America, Canada and Australia in the late 19^th century. In the 1930s the region was overrun with bandits during a lawless time. Upon their return to China with their fortunes, the overseas Chinese again built fortified houses, but incorporated fanciful architectural detailing that they had seen in places such as San Francisco and Vancouver. Functionally, they were very traditional, with brick stoves and separate kitchens for the different sons’ wives, and altars for ancestral workshop on the top floors.

Interior of one of the best-preserved dialou

Their decoration and ornament however were very different. The buildings had the typical painting over the door way but the Chinese motifs incorporate, or are even replaced by other elements. In one house, there is that most American of symbols: an eagle with arrows in its talons.

Learn more:

This doorway shows the journeys the builder took overseas to earn his fortune and then return to build his house

How to Spend a Summer Becoming a Preservationist

Posted on March 9, 2011 by admin

Summer is just around the corner and with it opportunities for students to gain some professional experience in their chosen field. If your field is historic preservation, heritage conservation or some other related aspect, there are plenty of organizations that could use your help - and help you kick-start your preservation career.

Preservation can be a particularly challenging field to enter. Given the small size and specialized nature of the field, it’s often difficult to get a job without experience and it’s hard to get experience without finding a job. For that reason, internships have been a mainstay of preservation training for years. Internships provide a boost to non-profit organizations that can use the staffing and energy young preservationists provide, and sometimes turn into permanent positions.

If you’re casting about for ways to gain some preservation experience, here are a few pointers. Of course, there’s plenty of opportunity for hands-on preservation work with Adventures in Preservation!

The National Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Program is the granddaddy of them all. Begun with the Historic American Building Survey (HABS) and Historic American Engineering Survey (HAER), it has expanded to include to include the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) and Cultural Resources Geographic Information Systems (CRGIS). Their mission is preservation through documentation, and each summer, they hire research and documentation teams. The programs last 12 weeks, beginning in May or June. The resulting documentation is placed in the Library of Congress. Employment is limited to US citizens; the application deadline is generally early February.

International opportunities are available via the US/ICOMOS international exchange program, which provides opportunities for young preservationists to work with international organizations. The program has been running for 25 years and has placed 600 professionals in preservation organizations. US volunteers have worked in Australia, Italy, Lithuania, Pakistan, Slovakia and the United Kingdom, among many others. Interns from outside the US often work at or with units of the National Park Service.

The program is very competitive. At a minimum, applicants must have an undergraduate degree in a preservation-related field. While there are no age restrictions, the program is designed for those nearing the end of their graduate programs (usually second year students) or those who have been working professionally for 1-3 years.

Good online sources for internship opportunities – and jobs – include PreservationDirectory.com and PreserveNet. Recent postings there included a Building Preservation/Restoration Intern, Stratford Hall, in Stratford, Virginia, and Historic Preservation Intern, Timucuan Ecological and Historic Preserve, in Jacksonville, Florida.

Check with your local or statewide preservation organization and see if they would welcome an intern. The advantage of this approach is the ability to define your own project. Initiative could lead to some very interesting projects.

Whatever you decide to do with your summer this year or next, I hope it’s a good one!

A Direct Line to History

Posted on November 18, 2010 by admin

Access to one of Armenia’s most famous building complexes just got a little easier. A new cable car, which at 5.7 kilometers (3.5 miles) is the world’s longest, opened in October, enabling year-round access to the country’s ancient Tatev Monastery.

Armenia's Tatev Monastery Creative Commons Photo: Alexander Naumov

The Tatev Monastery dates to the 9^th century and is built along the Vorotan River Gorge on a remote promontory with sheer cliff faces on three sides. The only accessible side has been fortified with walls and towers, creating a formidable defensive complex. It is one of the country’s most important religious centers and a major tourist attraction. The complex contains the St. Paul and St. Peter church, built in 895-906; the Church of St. Gregory, built in 1295 on the site of an earlier church; the over-gate church of Astvatsatsin (11th century); and the Gazavan, built in 904.

The Gazavan Pillar Creative Commons Photo: Thomas Frederick Martinez

The Gazavan pillar is one of the site’s most fascinating features. It is an octahedral column eight meters (26’) tall, crowned with an ornamented cornice. It is also a marvel of Armenian engineering: in response to seismic activity – or the touch of a hand – the structure will sway but return to upright position. (It was also sensitive enough to indicate when enemies were approaching, which may have been its intended purpose.) Armenia is in an active seismic zone and the Gazavan pillar has survived numerous earthquakes. The rest of the complex has not been so lucky. A severe quake in 1931 seriously damaged the bell tower and dome of St. Paul and St. Peter church. The dome has been reconstructed, but the tower is still in ruins.

The cable car is a major heritage tourism development initiative for Armenia, which is hoping to showcase its architectural and other heritage. The fare for visitors is 3,000 Armenian drams (eight dollars/six euros.); local residents ride free. If you go, be sure to send us photos!

Note: You can help the people of Armenia preserve their architectural heritage by joining AiP’s volunteer project in Gyumri in June 2011.

Learn more:

Tatev – Wikipedia Entry

Tatev Foundation Website

3D Virtual Model of Tatev Monastery

The Great Balkan Road Trip

Posted on November 2, 2010 by admin

Judith Broeker wrote this account of her travels through the Balkans earlier this fall.

Like many who grew up in the American Midwest, where it often takes hours to reach your destination, I love a good road trip. So as program director of Adventures in Preservation, I scheduled our two European workshops to allow time to drive from one to the other, i.e. from Slovenia to Albania. Fortunately, friends I had met at our 2008 workshops were also free to join, and we schemed and planned the best way to explore as many countries as possible in the Western Balkans during those two weeks.

We met in Slovenia to work on the restoration of a 17^th century cottage with a group of AiP volunteer vacationers. After a great week, our small group of travelers headed to northern Croatia. Just a note to say that our trip involved quite a bit of driving that required a ‘devil may care’ attitude. Though the quality of driving in the Balkans has greatly improved over the past ten years, driving there can still be an adventure.

Hvar croatia architecture heritage travel

Harbor in Hvar, Croatia

Our trip began by driving, rather sedately, down the entire coast of Croatia. I can tell you, everything you may have heard about the Adriatic’s striking color and beauty and the amazing views across islands looking toward Italy, is true. Given we were all passionate about historic preservation and building conservation, we visited a number of remarkable historic towns settled around the 4^th century BC and variously ruled by Romans, Gothics, Byzantines, Venetians and so on. The visual remnants of these cultures allowed the amateur photographers among us to go wild. If you ever get the chance to make this trip, you’ll want to remember the names of Šibenik, Trogir, Split (Diocletian’s Palace), Hvar and of course Dubrovnik.

Šibenik Croatia plaza architecture heritage travel

A rainy night in the center of Šibenik

My personal favorite was exploring the old city of Šibenik on a rainy night. Water cascaded down the stone steps as we made our way from the cathedral square up to the castle. There was just enough light to give an eerie glow to the rain-soaked scene. Just as striking was the lavender-scented island of Hvar, where we followed a narrow twisting road high above the coast to access beautiful old towns and deserted stone farmsteads.

A side trip to Mostar, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, allowed us to see the Stari Most, the bridge which is a symbol of the town’s incredible resilience through time. We then returned to Croatia, and spent a day in Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik is yet another World Heritage site in the region, a remarkable example of a walled city. Much has been written about both towns, so I’ll leave you to those more detailed descriptions. From Dubrovnik, we drove into Montenegro and followed the shoreline of the southern-most fjord in Europe, the Bay of Kotor. This coastal drive vacillates between modern development in the larger cities (which was not much to our liking) to beautiful quaint historic towns.

Stone shephard's cottage

Our forays into Montenegro’s mountainous back country had our mouths dropping open – both from the beauty of what we saw and from the precarious nature of our travels over the high, narrow roadways. The views of Tara Canyon, Europe’s deepest river canyon, and Durmitor National Park were almost not to be believed. Hikers, rafters and cyclist come from around the world for this experience. Our car often teetered close to the edge … and then we’d meet the tour bus! Keep in mind that Stephen, who did much of the driving, is a die-hard Porsche owner, and all his associated skills kept our hearts racing along with the engine.

Local traffic sign

Our time in Serbia and Kosovo was brief, but the cities in southern Kosovo were alive with crowds of people, energy and excitement in the air, even with a marked lack of electricity in most shops. A small generator was a standard feature outside each entrance. Driving was insane and speed limits addressed both tanks and cars. We passed by Bill Klinton (sic) Blvd. as we headed through Pristina on our way to Skopje, Macedonia.

We arrived in Skopje, which like all of the Balkans is a crazy mix of deteriorated, questionable new, and reconstructed architecture along with the occasional delight of quality restoration or striking new architecture. Regardless of your taste, it makes every outing an eventful exploration. In a single outing we encountered a Roman temple under construction, a petrified cat (you don’t want to know!), historic trades districts now filled with shops displaying shoes or evening gowns, and chance encounters with both the oldest Orthodox church and oldest mosque.

church in Ohrid Macedonia heritage travel

Byzantine Church in Ohrid

Leaving Skopje, we drove through Macedonia’s wine region and made our way to the edge of the Mariovo region, dotted with deserted stone villages in rugged terrain. The towns we visited were still occupied but nonetheless gave us a glimpse of the region’s quaint, and beautiful, stone architecture, with narrow streets much better suited to walking than driving. We then traveled to Lake Ohrid, staying several days to visit a variety of Byzantine-era churches scattered up the hill and around the lake. The most memorable was a small church built and brightly painted c. 1280. Through its history, it has been cleaned but never restored or repainted and its interior is absolutely gorgeous.

The final days of our trip took us into Albania through steep hills and gorges. We were heading for Tirana to pick up an AiP team member coming from Canada for the Gjirokastra workshop. That day, Camilla, our other fearless driver – always cool and steady – was behind the wheel. Her cool was put to the test, because as the guide book pointed out, crossing the street in Tirana is not for the faint of heart, and for that matter, neither is driving down the street. We circled the city center with hundreds of other darting, honking drivers, through construction and one-ways, in search of our hotel (Hotel California). I finally jumped out and flagged down a taxi driver, who led us to our destination.

We spent a day exploring Tirana, discovering that new development almost completely overwhelms the city’s historic past. To be fair, preservation is extremely difficulty, given the deteriorated condition of buildings – old and new – left without maintenance for many years.

This is the state of architecture in much of Albania, which was confirmed as we headed south through the country. Arriving in Gjirokastra, our group of AiP volunteers joined Cultural Heritage without Borders to deal with this issue by working with the community to save their remarkable heritage. This was a fitting end to the road trip that took us from one end to the other of a region rich in natural and cultural heritage.

The Great Wall of China

Posted on October 21, 2010 by admin

Section of the Ming Dynasty Wall

From almost any perspective, even, or particularly, that of a preservationist, it’s hard to define the Great Wall of China – is it a building, is it a structure, is it a cultural landscape? Regardless of how you define it, once you see it in person, you will have a new respect for it and a greater understanding of the enormity of the task of building it.

I recently hiked with my family along a few segments of the Wall’s 8,851 kilometer length as part of a Wild Wall Weekend, organized by William Lindesay. The trips are just one facet of the conservation and outreach efforts he conducts tirelessly.

William, as a long distance runner, got it into his head back in the 1980s to walk the distance of the Wall. It took several attempts – due to injury, arrests, and even a deportation – but in 1987 he traveled 2,470 km alone and on foot along the route of the Ming Dynasty Great Wall between Jiayuguan and Shanhaiguan. As he tells the story, his life with the Wall began as an adventure, then become focused on research and is now devoted to conservation. Since founding The International Friends of the Great Wall in 2001, William has become the world’s most outspoken advocate for preservation of the Wall and works with an international coalition of governments, sponsors and supporters to protect it.

According to William, “wall” is a misnomer, as the “Great Wall” is actually a series of walls, some 14 of them in fact, built at various times, but all with the purpose of keeping invaders out.

Given that the Wall is built at the highest points of the land it protects, the hikes up to it and down from it were as long as the hike alongside or on top of it, but all that elevation gain was well worth it. We learned a lot about the Wall and its history, and particularly about the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644) section of the Wall where we hiked. The majority of the Ming Wall is built from brick on top of a stone foundation (other sections are built of rammed earth). The stones were always quarried locally; some of them can weigh a metric tonne. Using local stone not only saved transporting them but also contributed to the steepness of the slope on the “outside” of the Wall.

Tower along the Great Wall - Jason George

Detail of one of the towers, note the missing tablet above the entry way

The bricks were manufactured nearby and are uniform in dimension. The Wall is essentially an elevated road and has (or had, as the case may be) battlements along each edge. The Wall is interrupted on a regular basis by an undulating series of towers. William’s sons explained the purposed of the towers as the four “S’s: Shelter, Storage, counterSeige, and Signaling. The towers are beautifully built, filled with overlaying series of interconnected arches. Many of these arches were in excellent condition but there were also quite a few that you would not choose to walk under, just in case.

The white mortar contains lime and rice flour, which is a very strong and durable combination. While the touristy sections in Badaling and Simatai have been rebuilt and repointed, the sections we saw all still had their original mortar.

Despite the permanence of its construction, the Wall is in no way intact. For many years, the Wall was raided, by people taking the bricks for their own construction needs. Nature has also run its course – grasses, plants and even trees grow on top of the Wall. Yet despite this, the glimpse of some of these wild sections of the Wall, whether from below or from a tower looking along the length of a section, is awe inspiring.

One of the many towers along the Great Wall

The conservation of this incredible landscape is not to be taken for granted, but progress is being made.

Tag Archives: cultural landscapes