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Books by Anna Skoura
Everyday Streets: Inclusive Approaches to Understanding and designing streets, 2023
While research on everyday streets has highlighted the complex relationship between their fabric ... more While research on everyday streets has highlighted the complex
relationship between their fabric and their economic and social
life, it has yet to properly assess the role of cultural heritage in this
relationship. Drawing on the performative nature of place as well
as the concepts of everyday heritage and the taskscape, this chapter
argues that mapping heritage practices develops our temporal and
spatial understanding of everyday streets. This mapping is achieved
by assessing the people, places and practices on everyday streets
using interdisciplinary methodologies. Focusing on the case of Tivoli
Barber Shop on Belfast’s North Street, this chapter demonstrates the
contribution of local, independent shops to everyday streets’ continuity,
social memory and dynamic production of cultural heritage.
Introduction Belfast, like most cities, is made of blocks and plots. The shapes, proportions, ma... more Introduction
Belfast, like most cities, is made of blocks and plots. The shapes,
proportions, materials and rhythms of blocks and plots reflect the history,
uses and economies that make the city. But what actually shapes Belfast?
Do plots and blocks reflect or actively shape the economy of Belfast? How
does this affect the way people live and use the city? These questions are
addressed by exploring the built fabric of Belfast through the corridor that
connects Belfast city centre with Queen’s Quarter. Bedford Street, Dublin
Road and Botanic Avenue create a corridor that offers a diverse and
adaptable fabric with a large range of scales and uses. The potential of this
corridor is large, providing spaces for intervention in the built fabric and
the urban design of the public realm.
Working, living and playing should be part of the everyday life of the
city, and the built fabric should provide these spaces. Solid and adaptable
architecture encourages a range of different activities in and around
buildings, while allowing change to happen. Constant demolition and
rebuilding cannot be the only way of coping with the changing city, and
cannot be sustained. We have to find a compromise between the existing
city and the planned one. Our studio investigated this Belfast corridor,
by confronting it with similar scenarios abroad, focusing our interest in
Glasgow, a highly comparable example.
The book shows the work of the Master of Architecture Studio Unit:
Making Belfast throughout one semester of dedicated work to unravel
the urban form, economy, mobility and character of the city.
Conference Presentations by Anna Skoura
Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way, 2017
Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and us... more Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and use them. However, they have been largely neglected by planning decisions in city centre redevelopment, especially in the UK, but also throughout the world, with an approach focused on the franchised retail led occupation of these streets. The relentless demolition of city streets for this purpose threatens to erase the tangible and intangible heritage of local shopping streets. This paper aims to communicate how North Street and Castle Street in Belfast, two local shopping streets are at risk of losing their sense of place and ownership. These are valued by those who inhabit and use them, and will very likely be replaced anonymous franchised commercial spaces.
Papers by Anna Skoura
UCL Press eBooks, May 25, 2023
Buildings & Cities
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade’s biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biograph...
Buildings and Cities, 2023
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade's biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage.
Buildings and Cities, 2023
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade’s biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage.
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Publications and Peer Reviewing for postgraduate students in the humanities and social sciences. : For Authors, Editors, Guest Editors, Peer Reviewers and postgraduate students, 2019
Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way?, 2017
Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and us... more Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and use them. However, they have been largely neglected by planning decisions in city centre redevelopment, especially in the UK, but also throughout the world, with an approach focused on the franchised retail led occupation of these streets. The relentless demolition of city streets for this purpose threatens to erase the tangible and intangible heritage of local shopping streets. This paper aims to communicate how North Street and Castle Street in Belfast, two local shopping streets are at risk of losing their sense of place and ownership. These are valued by those who inhabit and use them, and will very likely be replaced anonymous franchised commercial spaces.
Protection of Historical Buildings Proceedings of the International Conference on Protection of Historical Buildings Prohitech 09 Rome Italy 21 24 June 2009 Prohitech 09 Vol 1 2009 Isbn 978 0 415 55804 4 Pags 403 408, 2009
Everyday Streets: Inclusive Approaches to Understanding and designing streets, 2023
While research on everyday streets has highlighted the complex relationship between their fabric ... more While research on everyday streets has highlighted the complex
relationship between their fabric and their economic and social
life, it has yet to properly assess the role of cultural heritage in this
relationship. Drawing on the performative nature of place as well
as the concepts of everyday heritage and the taskscape, this chapter
argues that mapping heritage practices develops our temporal and
spatial understanding of everyday streets. This mapping is achieved
by assessing the people, places and practices on everyday streets
using interdisciplinary methodologies. Focusing on the case of Tivoli
Barber Shop on Belfast’s North Street, this chapter demonstrates the
contribution of local, independent shops to everyday streets’ continuity,
social memory and dynamic production of cultural heritage.
Introduction Belfast, like most cities, is made of blocks and plots. The shapes, proportions, ma... more Introduction
Belfast, like most cities, is made of blocks and plots. The shapes,
proportions, materials and rhythms of blocks and plots reflect the history,
uses and economies that make the city. But what actually shapes Belfast?
Do plots and blocks reflect or actively shape the economy of Belfast? How
does this affect the way people live and use the city? These questions are
addressed by exploring the built fabric of Belfast through the corridor that
connects Belfast city centre with Queen’s Quarter. Bedford Street, Dublin
Road and Botanic Avenue create a corridor that offers a diverse and
adaptable fabric with a large range of scales and uses. The potential of this
corridor is large, providing spaces for intervention in the built fabric and
the urban design of the public realm.
Working, living and playing should be part of the everyday life of the
city, and the built fabric should provide these spaces. Solid and adaptable
architecture encourages a range of different activities in and around
buildings, while allowing change to happen. Constant demolition and
rebuilding cannot be the only way of coping with the changing city, and
cannot be sustained. We have to find a compromise between the existing
city and the planned one. Our studio investigated this Belfast corridor,
by confronting it with similar scenarios abroad, focusing our interest in
Glasgow, a highly comparable example.
The book shows the work of the Master of Architecture Studio Unit:
Making Belfast throughout one semester of dedicated work to unravel
the urban form, economy, mobility and character of the city.
Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way, 2017
Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and us... more Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and use them. However, they have been largely neglected by planning decisions in city centre redevelopment, especially in the UK, but also throughout the world, with an approach focused on the franchised retail led occupation of these streets. The relentless demolition of city streets for this purpose threatens to erase the tangible and intangible heritage of local shopping streets. This paper aims to communicate how North Street and Castle Street in Belfast, two local shopping streets are at risk of losing their sense of place and ownership. These are valued by those who inhabit and use them, and will very likely be replaced anonymous franchised commercial spaces.
UCL Press eBooks, May 25, 2023
Buildings & Cities
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade’s biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biograph...
Buildings and Cities, 2023
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade's biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage.
Buildings and Cities, 2023
Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has bec... more Social value has a long academic tradition in the field of heritage studies, and while it has become part of heritage management, expert-driven intrinsic values still dominate the conservation policy and practice. This paper explores the use of building biographies as a way to assess, illustrate and record the social value of shopping arcades. A case study of the North Street Arcade in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is used to explore how building biographies can contribute bottom-up evidence to top-down value-based approaches of architectural conservation. The North Street Arcade is a listed shopping arcade that has been lying vacant and derelict for the last 30 years awaiting demolition and redevelopment. Archival documents, historic photographs, news reports and documentaries, interviews and anthropology were combined to compile the arcade’s biography. Allowing the combination of positivist and interpretive approaches, as well as merging community and expert voices, building biographies can produce localised and inclusive heritage narratives that accentuate the many dimensions of social value that different publics ascribe to built heritage.
Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022
Publications and Peer Reviewing for postgraduate students in the humanities and social sciences. : For Authors, Editors, Guest Editors, Peer Reviewers and postgraduate students, 2019
Preserving Transcultural Heritage: Your Way or My Way?, 2017
Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and us... more Local shopping streets are harbingers of a sense of place and memory for those who inhabit and use them. However, they have been largely neglected by planning decisions in city centre redevelopment, especially in the UK, but also throughout the world, with an approach focused on the franchised retail led occupation of these streets. The relentless demolition of city streets for this purpose threatens to erase the tangible and intangible heritage of local shopping streets. This paper aims to communicate how North Street and Castle Street in Belfast, two local shopping streets are at risk of losing their sense of place and ownership. These are valued by those who inhabit and use them, and will very likely be replaced anonymous franchised commercial spaces.
Protection of Historical Buildings Proceedings of the International Conference on Protection of Historical Buildings Prohitech 09 Rome Italy 21 24 June 2009 Prohitech 09 Vol 1 2009 Isbn 978 0 415 55804 4 Pags 403 408, 2009