Lived Space in Past and Present: Challenges in the Research and Management of Townscape and Cultural Heritage (SUN Course 2010)

In the last week of June 2010, twenty-five young scholars of fifteen different countries from Canada to Russia gathered in Budapest to learn more from CEU faculty (Gábor Gyáni, József Laszlovszky, and Katalin Szende) and distinguished guest professors such as Peter Johanek (Münster), Rossina Kostova (VelikoTurnovo), Sarah Rees Jones (York), Anngret Simms (Dublin) about the complex spatial setup of towns in their physical and social dimensions from the Middle Ages to the present. Each town or city developed its unique structure and built form, which has undergone several changes, including rapid and fundamental alterations in modern times. The result of these processes, our urban cultural heritage, its research, protection and possible uses formed the core of the course. Through a series of topographical features, which were present in various forms in the majority of medieval European towns (defenses, squares and streets, churches, chapels, monasteries, cemeteries, marketplaces and shops, etc.), the participants examined how the built form of settlements reflected and influenced the needs of medieval and early modern society. An equally important issue is the place, role, and use of these elements of urban environment in our modern world. Participants included archaeologists, architects, historians, librarians, geographers and sociologists, who all contributed during the seminars with examples from their own research or practical work experience, from Edinburgh to Lebanon, and from buildings once used by the Maltese order to derelict industrial sites in the Ural Mountains.

An integral and highly enjoyable part of the course was represented by the "heritage walks" where we could explore the built environment around us in Budapest. Under the expert guidance of colleagues from the Budapest History Museum, Adrienn Papp and András Végh, as well as József Laszlovszky, our "internal" cultural heritage expert, students and faculty of the course gained insight into otherwise hidden or inaccessible places, in Roman and Turkish baths, medieval monasteries, and the first underground railway of the continent. People also became aware of the mental challenges and practical difficulties of integrating the vestiges of the past into the modern urban environment. The penultimate day of the course brought a one-day workshop on "Urban space and Topography: Research, Use, Reuse," where urban topography as the research agenda of various disciplines was presented by course participants and outside experts. Speakers paid much attention to ideological biases and modern demands towards historic urban spaces. The course was rounded off by a one-day field trip to Győr, Sopron, and Kőszeg where all these issues could be studied on the spot. Throughout the whole course, the coordinators, Kyra Lyublyanovics and Dóra Mérai, PhD students of our department, contributed essentially to develop a community spirit among the participants. We all hope that the contacts established during the course will prove to be useful in the future work and progress of the participants.

For more information see http://www.sun.ceu.hu/01-about/course-archive/2010/02-courses/course-sites/livedspace/index-lived.php