Day 1:

The kick-off of the workshop was Ayako Omura’s (NAYA Co, Project Manager, Architect) presentation about her experience as a project manager in a heritage conservation project. Presenter explained the background for the project that deals with conservation of a traditional Japanese house which is a private property. She explained her role as the project manager and listed her tasks, such as: Formulating team members, coordinating stakeholders, managing the project in terms of cost, schedule, design, etc. Explained about the steps in the particular restoration project, “Sukya architecture” restoration - the necessity to find traditional carpenters who have the traditional skills. Talked about the problems caused by the various backgrounds/needs of the stakeholders. Explained the position of Sukiya architecture in Japanese history. Asked questions whether strict conservation is always the best solution? Can the styles be mixed or can compromises be made?

Talked about the dilemma: Garden vs. Building. Carpenters and Gardeners cannot always get along with each other and to avoid the conflict, the owner has to first contract the gardener and then the carpenter, or vice versa. Gardener and carpenter could not agree on the choice of the stone for the building. In this particular case, the project manager questions the existing or unwritten manners, brings the problems to the table and asks the conflicting bodies to try to be impartial and encourage them to go beyond their territories and find compromise.

 

Irakli Kevlishvili (Georgian National Museum, Architectural Team, design engineer)

Talked about his experience and the challenges faced in the inter-sectoral cooperation. Constructors are often chosen for financial reasons and they do not always comply with the professional requirements. Low qualification level is often a challenge.

 

Marietta Gasparyan (Yerevan State University of Architecture and Construction, Deputy Head of Department of Theory of Architecture, Restoration and Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage, Fine Arts and History, Doctor of Sciences)

Presentation dealt with the restoration of the 19-20th c. architecture of Yerevan. Urban reconstruction projects neglecting 19th c. architecture, often resulting in their destruction, while medieval architecture gets the priority. Most of the buildings from this period are being destroyed and just facades are being conserved. Presented a project design of a new project “Old Yerevan”.

 

Elena Oliyinik – ("Arkhitektura I prestizh", regional coordinator, director) :

The presentation dealt with the revalorization of Lutsk - 14th c. castle from the period of Lithuanian rule. Talked about the complex nature of Lutsk with its diverse religious denominations throughout the history and their portrayal in the built heritage of the place which includes Lutheran, Franciscan churches, synagogue and many more. Living quarters of different ethnic and religious groups of the town are also very diverse. Jewish, Polish, Armenian settlements are also very different. So the conservation plan took into consideration all of these details. Revalorization concept included reconstruction of a few dwelling houses. Presenter elaborated on the current challenges faced by Lutsk reserve, such as financial and managerial obstacles.

 

Huseyn Garayev - Center for Protection, Monitoring and Study of Cultural Heritage Presentation: Harmony of architecture with environment

Talked about Baku and the current urban sprawl which is similar to the 20ies of the 20th c. when the 1st oil was discovered. Stressed the importance of combination of landscape and garden architecture with the built architecture. Stressed the importance of consideration of nature and the environment in all aspects of life and especially in the planning of architecture. Choice of place, orientation to the east, relation to natural light are some of the most important aspects to consider.

 

Olga Bogomolets (Historical Culturalogical Complex  “Radomysl   Castle”, owner):

The story of reconstruction of Radomysl Castle which was reconstructed with the aim of opening a museum for home icons which have been thrown away by people in the Communist rule. The preserved icons were collected and the presenter found the space in Radomysl in the place of the old mills which could be reconstructed to house the exhibition of the icons. The mills were reinforced. The wooden structures have been restored, as well as the brickwork. The restored facility houses now the only museum of home icons of Ukraine. Amongst are the icons drawn by national artists.

 

Yeva Sargsyan (ReArk Architectural Environment Research Center, co-founder and president)

 Garni Bridge Restoration:

Presented about a controversial restoration of a historical bridge which lost its authenticity. The presenter tried to research and find out how the decisions were made and what was the logic behind the decision to “restore” the bridge in a way it was. The dispute concerns the typology of stone cladding, whether it was regular or irregular. The restored bridge has a surface with polished stones. There was almost no documentary evidence on how the monument looked like historically.  

 

 

Day 2:

Summary of day 1 by Ayako Omura

It was summarized that the project stakeholders identified in all reports were:

Owner, planner, architect, craftsmen, government, project manager, donors.

 

Ketevan Korkia (“Qartu Management” Ltd, Management, Design, Engineering. Project Coordinator)

Talked about “Qartu” Foundation which has been funding restoration projects for almost a decade in Georgia. It has 120 mln GEL annual budget and restores and builds 50-60 monuments yearly, among them public buildings, historic sites, as well as new construction, etc. The presenter explained the process: The state places a request for rehabilitation/restoration of a site, the foundation makes the decision and the case goes to Qartu Management which studies the case and plans the budget. Her role as the project manager starts here by visiting the site and meeting the officials.

Phase 1: Preparatory phase 2: project design, 3: building. The first phase is the most difficult. The PM defends the building from the owner and the constructor. At this stage the PM establishes a team. The average time for project design work is 6 months and year and a half for implementation.

 

Ayako Omura presented further topics: Procurement process and anti-seismic prevention.

Talked about the stages of procurement in the project management and the role of the PM in the procurement stage. Anti-seismic regulations are changed after each earthquake. After Kobe earthquake the regulations were tightened. Fraud cases of structural calculation also caused changes and as of 2013 “Sukyia Architecture” can only be calculated by “performance-based code”.

 

Conclusions:

Discussion concerned various issues raised in the presented topics. Larger part of the discussion was devoted to considerations which could be made to raise awareness on the home icons museum which is threatened by the state.

The results of the workshop will be reflected in the draft national policy which will be presented to the authorities at the end of October.

 

Key points for the resolution were outlined:

-          Need for Management skills in the region

-          Capacity building of young restoration architects

-          Supervision by restoration architects

 

Oliver Reisner from the EU delegation to Georgia presented the participants with certificates and presented his concluding remarks:

Introduced an idea raised in Armenia within the EaP project in Armenia to create a platform for eastern partnership where best practices, experience will be compiled. For the donor it is important and easier to communicate and cooperate with one organization where all the regional challenges will be compiled. Introduced a web platform: www.cultureinexternalrelations.eu – to be used for consultative process for the Eastern Partnership culture

He suggested an idea of creating a rating for historic cities, which have done well in conserving their heritage and those who have taken bad care. It will be encouraging for the cities.