Conservation The Old City Of Aleppo The Objectives, Strateges And Practicalities

The history of buildings that we have created over thousands of years is one of constant change. Political religious and economic regimes rise and fall; buildings, more often than not, outlast civilizations. Greek and roman pagan temples became Christian churches, Christian churches became mosques, and so on. The concept of building conversion is indeed very old. Building conversion often took place without regard for history or character.In the 19th century two opposing theories, concerned with old buildings, began to emerge. In France Eugene Emmanuel Viollet le Duc, developed the concept of restoration as a way to"purify"the building. He argued that he could work in the fashion of the gothic masons using new materials, so the final product was even superior in design and quality to the one that previously existed.In England, John Ruskin and William Morris strongly opposed restoration. They accepted that must change as societies change. Both insisted that imitating past was an insult rather than a compliment to the builders of the past: every generation should build according to the needs and manners of its own age. Ruskin argued that, in an extreme case of disrepair, it might preferable to demolish an old building and replace it with an"honest"modern structure rather than attempt"false"restoration.But conservation became a romantic and historicist philosophy that was counterproductive to the conversion efforts. Fortunately conversion is becoming more popular these days. Out of necessity comes invention, and conversion schemes generate some of the most innovative and intelligent work. Saving old buildings is no longer enough. The aim is not conservation but conversion, an architectural, rather than a sentimental or historicist process of creating new forms out of old fabric.This dissertation is to define the guidelines of conservation which unfortunately many architects understand it only as a"material process"concerning only on the physical condition of the building or the area; Others concern on the architectural aspect or urban ones, so the result of neglecting one of two aspects or regarding the conservation as a material action without the realizing the spiritual dimension will lead to wrong practicing of conservation.This thesis is trying to prove that any conservation process should be comprehensive one, includes all the different aspects (demography, housing, economy, environment, traffic, infrastructure, the architectural and urban status…etc.), because all of these previous factors will have a strong effect on the both of the historical area and the monuments.The location of the Old City of Aleppo has been selected as a study case because it is very unique one with an old and rich heritage; In Syria, the name"Aleppo"raises emotions: the image of a glorious past—an attractive historic city with architecture of world renew, on a legendary trading route.There are a lot of conservation projects had been executed in the Old City of Aleppo, but many of them damage and offend its unique fabric (the architectural and the urban one as well) because of the wrong understanding its nature. So, this thesis is proposing a new comprehensive strategy to conserve this old city which is a UNESCO World Culture Heritage Site.