HISTORIC RESTORATION

This picture shows one of the Magnificent seven buildings located around the Queen's Park Savannah known as Stollmeyer's Castle. Once a magnificent building now stands a old and beaten down although the brick work and the architectural design gives the building an invincible appearance. The building is one of many historical buildings located around the Queen's Park Savannah. Something that is similar to all of these buildings is that these structures are deteriorating as the years pass. These buildings represent an important part of the nations history and should be conserved for future generations and also to showcase the historical artefacts of our nation. Currently, this need for conservation and restoration of our cultural artefacts has been realized by our heads and now work is being done to bring back this building and others like it to their former glory (see picture below). 

According to Tim Hall in Urban Geography, cultural and historic buildings  can be considered as cultural artefacts. According to Aylin Orbaslic historic buildings are an important part of the urban environment and conservation and preservation of these buildings promote national identity that stimulate tourism.  

These are some links showing some information on these historic building:
http://www1.american.edu/dlublin/travel/trinidad2.htm
http://citizensforconservationtt.org/main/index.php/builtherit/magnificent-seven/126-killarney-stollmeyers-castle


REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 
Orbasli, Aylin. Architectural Conservation. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2008. Print 

A CHANGING SKYLINE!!!

The picture shows the spectacular building of the Waterfront in Port of Spain. The structures are huge in comparison to a lot of other buildings surrounding it. To me these structures represent strength and power while also representing a softer side such as beauty and warm. The buildings in the photo has a welcoming yet intimidating appearance to it. However these magnificent buildings were not always here as seen in the picture below. These buildings are just another addition to the ever changing skyline of Port of Spain. No longer is Port of Spain filled with small buildings clustered together and dominated by only two skyscrapers, the city is changing. Port of Spain now has numerous skyscrapers. Is this change a good thing?? does the change represent who we are as Trinbagonians?? Does it reflect our culture as a people or is it just another representation of our economic growth?? These questions emerged as I took the photo.  

Picture showing the area of the buildings on the waterfront. An empty skyline. Taken from http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=174328&page=4 

According to Tim Hall in Urban Geography, spectacular buildings much like the building on the waterfront represents the economic growth of a city and this is due to the increasing competitiveness of today's society. Thus it can be said based on Tim Hall's statement the these building of the waterfront show the economic growth of the country. Thus the architectural designs of these structures are not concerned with representing the culture of the citizen but with representing the growth within the city. This then brings to my thought, which one is more important? The need for architecture to represent economic growth of a place or for the representation of the culture of the people residing in the city. Is there is kind of balance to the issue? Can we represent our economic growth while still keeping our culture at the forefront of this development?

This forum is very interesting, it shows pictures of  the changing skyline of Port of Spain over the years and also of comments and views of this skyline: 
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=174328&page=4


REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 

NEW URBAN ARCHITECTURE! A GOOD CHANGE???

  The picture above shows the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA). This building is located in the heart of Port of Spain. NAPA can be seen as an extravagant structure because of its beauty and the details of the architecture. I personally find this building spectacular as I appreciate the different architectural approach as compared to the surrounding buildings. Not only is this building beautiful but the activities that this building hosts can be termed as beautiful as well. The structure showcases our culture through different activates like theatrical performances and art displaces just to name a few. While my view is a very positive on towards the building, there may be negative views as well. Some people may bring up the point that this building is not representative of Trinidadian culture but is of the culture and values of the Global North.  

According to Tim Hall in the book Urban Geography, this is an era of “competitive globalization” and with this era, come the need for cities to represent it’s economic development. Cities show the growth of the economic sector by constructing extravagant or spectacular buildings within the city. With this in mind, I can make the perception that this is what NAPA may represent within the city, just another extravagant and huge structure to showcase the economic development taking place within Trinidad and Tobago. NAPA is said to embody the national flower, the Chaconia. Is it representative of that?? Is this the injection of culture behind the building?? This is where the question of if this type of development in architecture is a good change or a bad change. NAPA is located around the Queens Park Savannah; this area is surrounded by many different historical buildings. Will buildings like NAPA encourage the destruction of the historical structure to give rise in a constantly developing nation?? Or will these historic buildings be preserved?? These are the issues that come to the surface with the rise development in a nation. And According to Aylin Orbaslic “‘Protectionism’ continues to draw opposition when it is seen as a barrier to development”.

This link below shows information on how contemporary buildings can be incorporated in a historic environment: 
 http://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/newsletters/26_2/contemporary.html

REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 

Orbasli, Aylin. Architectural Conservation. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2008. Print 

RESTORATION OF CULTURAL ARTEFACTS

The picture above shows the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception . This church is very old and as meaning attached to it from numerous groups. This is a very old building and by the looks of it has age a whole lot and its showing. The building sits in the heart of  Port of Spain among the changing architecture of the other buildings. This building is a religious building and thus there are strong values and meanings attached to the building. Thus this building is a cultural artefact and should be preserved as it represents great value to the community. In the picture above it is seen that there are renovations taking place on the building, therefore this cultural artefact being attempted to be restored as it is understood that this building is important within the urban space and that it represents part of the urban culture or identity of Port of Spain.       
      According to Tim Hall in Urban Geography religious buildings were in great demand in historical civilization and these buildings should be preserved as these have strong meanings attached to them. According to Aylin Orbasli in the book Architectural Conservation, conservation of historic buildings can promote national identity and also stimulate tourism. These historic buildings once regenerated add value to the cultural heritage of the city space and gives the urban space a sense of identity or individualism. These historic buildings are seen as artefacts among the ever changing city landscape. 

Here are some sites highlighting the history of the building and shows restoration efforts in the attempt to save this historical building:
http://caribbean-beat.com/issue-112/saving-soul-city
http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,129414.html

This site just shows some picture of the cathedral in its former glory:
http://english.cntv.cn/20120329/113765.shtml

Link showing restortion efforts elsewhere:
http://www.iarc.ie/exhibitions/previous-exhibitions/christ-church-restored-an-exhibition-marking-the-1870s-restoration-of-christ-church-cathedral-dublin/#&panel1-8


REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 
Orbasli, Aylin. Architectural Conservation. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2008. Print 

URBAN ARCHITECTURAL "REGENERATION" :

                           A Good Idea?? 

This picture shows the national library of  Trinidad and Tobago better know as NALIS. The picture shows a very eerie view of this place. It almost looks uninviting or not approachable. However this view of the library is more a representation of the more modern look of the library. On the opposite end there is a completely different view. On that side one can take in the ambiance of an old building (old Fire Brigade Headquarters). This is a big contrast to this modern building. The library is a good example of architectural regeneration, the old building has been transform into a new more modern building while still keeping the architectural design on the old building at the surface. A lot of times in urban geography there may be views stating that there is a destruction of historic building within an urban centre, like that of the "old" building and replacing these with modern buildings however what the library in this picture shows is something totally different. This building goes a different way within the urban centre showing that historic buildings can be incorporated with newer and more modern buildings to give rise to a classic and perhaps more beautiful buildings than the occasional and more common urban buildings like that of the Nicholas Tower located in the same urban centre of Port of Spain. 

According to the textbook, historic building within the city usually have some kinda of meaning and value to the society and thus these artefacts or landmarks should be maintained. According to Aylin Orbasli in the book Architectural Conservation, conservation of historic buildings can promote national identity and also stimulate tourism. This author also mentions that historic building can be adapted and reused in the modern times and that when these buildings are regenerated the significance and meaning of the building is enhanced. There is also a need a incorporate the meaning of the building when regenerating, adapting or adding on other buildings to the historic landmark, only when these things are done, then the historic building is regenerated in a proper manner. Looking at the photograph above one could wonder if the concept described by Aylin Orbasli was successful with that project of the old building and new library or if it was unsuccessful. 

More information about the different architecture of the library can be found at the websites below:
http://thinkinginsomniac.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/architecture-sketch-old-public-library-port-of-spain-trinidad/ 
http://thinkinginsomniac.wordpress.com/tag/national-library/



REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 
Orbasli, Aylin. Architectural Conservation. United Kingdom: Blackwell Science Ltd, 2008. Print 

THE RED HOUSE : CULTURE BEING NEGLECTED!!

This is a picture of the famous Red House. This building can be said to be a cultural, historical and political  artefact and is a great object of value to Trinidad and Tobago. However, this picture does not depict a glorious building as describes but shows a deteriorating building. This once glorious building is now deemed unimportant and broken down by many citizens. The current Red House building was built in 1907, however, the building existed since 1844 but was destroyed by fire in 1903. As one can tell by the history of the building, there is a lot of value or meaning attached to this building. This then brings up the question of why this building is allowed to deteriorate when other new modern buildings are being constructed. Why not improve our buildings that have a high value within society first then look forward to building new contemporary building within the city. How long would our historical, cultural and political artefact be left to deteriorate until it disappears completely?????

According to the textbook, work done by Jon Goss gave the idea that there should be a rise in the idea that buildings should be categorized as either cultural artefacts, objects of value, signs and as spatial systems. Goss argued that all building have meanings and that we need to figure out what exactly is the meaning. According to the textbook, building s of value should be maintained as these building are landmarks to the beginning of civilization and as such have strong values attached to them. 

The links below give some important details about the restoration of the Red House and also the history and other important details: 

    

http://www.udecott.com/index.php/cc/cc_project_item/restoration_of_the_red_house/

http://www.wecaribbean.net/the-red-house/

http://guardian.co.tt/news/2013-02-16/deterioration-and-neglect-red-house-restoration-stalls

REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 

Hartshorn, Truman. Interpreting the City: An Urban Geography. United States of America: John Wiley and Sons, 1980. Print 

THE ARCHITECTURE OF CULTURE 

      This picture depicts a cathedral within Port of Spain. To be more exact this is the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral.The cathedral is a very old building however, the condition of it is astonishing, it looks like it hasn't age a whole lot. This could be due to the cathedral being constantly maintained . The cathedral sits in the heart of the city and among the ever changing architecture of the surrounding buildings but this building has the same architecture it had when it originally built. This building is a religious building and thus there are strong values and meanings attached to the building, therefore any changes especially in terms of "modernizing" the architecture of the cathedral would be associated by great resistance from a number of groups.
      According to Tim Hall (chapter 8 - Urban Geography), a rise in civilizations grew from the demands for religious buildings and thus a lot of these buildings within the urban space today tend to have a more older architecture quality to them.   
  
The following link is a blog entry about the history of the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral and also it gives great detail about the meaning and history of the architectural detail of the cathedral. Very Interesting!!
 http://thinkinginsomniac.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/architecture-sketch-holy-trinity-cathedral-in-port-of-spain-trinidad/

this link below gives a different view to religious buildings, it basically shows different pictures of different contemporary ideas for the architecture of such an important building in society, it raises the idea of maybe modernization of religious buildings is possible in a good way. Or maybe religious building should be left to their original architecture. 

http://openbuildings.com/collections/contemporary-religious-buildings-collection-48688


REFERENCES

Hall,Tim and Heather Barrett. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print 
Hartshorn, Truman. Interpreting the City: An Urban Geography. United States of America: John Wiley and Sons, 1980. Print