12th March 2009, 6.00pm

Centre for Sustainable Heritage, Room 106, Roberts Building 1st Floor – Malet Place, Corner with Torrington Place
London WC1E 6BT

Guest Lecture delivered by:
Professor Michael Turner
UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem
Member of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee

The conservation of cultural heritage in general and of Jerusalem in particular, can be perceived either as the means of consensus or as the essence of the casus belli of the cultural and political reality of the city. The former has more to offer and with the need for sustainability – conserving the city of past, present and future generations – mutual recognition can transcend the barriers of conflict.

The Arch of Ecce Homo, Jerusalem

This presentation takes a look at the wider options for the definition of Jerusalem’s multi-cultural significance and will present a possible scenario that employs the almost globally accepted UNESCO World Heritage Convention as the foundation of consensus building. While the significance of religious myth and symbolism is high on the list, it should be put into the spatial perspective to balance the sacred and profane. This reappraisal might provide a focus for a clearer definition of the city’s cultural significance, peeling the palimpsest, thus giving revised boundaries, relevant buffer zones and a mechanism for management. A dynamic interpretation demands a collective respect by all concerned citizens of the events in the city, thus allowing the shared historic score to be played with different emphases and different instruments by each of the players.

Please email Ben Glynn at b.glynn@ucl.ac.uk if you wish to attend.
Please note that this is a public lecture and all are welcome to attend

Contributing to the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities debate