Minutes of
the Spring 2006 Meeting in Newport, Rhode Island
US/ICOMOS
Historic Gardens & Cultural Landscapes -
US/ICOMOS
National Scientific Committee of ICOMOS-IFLA
Committee on
Historic Gardens and Cultural Landscapes (HGCL)
United States
Committee, International Council on Monuments and Sites (US/COMOS)
Date: 27 April
2006
To: Members of
the US/ICOMOS Scientific Committee on Historic Gardens and Cultural Landscapes
cc: Gustavo F.
Araoz, Executive Director; Don Jones, Director of Programs
From: Gregory
De Vries, Heritage Landscapes
Those
attending were Darwina Neal (proxy chair for meeting), Gregory De Vries
(minutes secretary for meeting), Carrie Mardorf (minutes secretary for
meeting), Willard Bruce, Alan Downer, Nathan Imm, Karen Jessup, Nupur Prothi
Khanna, Patricia M. O’Donnell, Shaun Provencher, Terry Yasuko Ogawa.
Officers not present were Charles Leider (chair), Nancy Brown (vice chair),
and Spencer Leineweber (secretary).
Darwina Neal
opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. The participants introduced
themselves. Following introductions, a motion was made by Neal to accept a
correction to the minutes from the 2005 US/ICOMOS conference in Charleston.
The issue of the acceptance of the minutes was moved to a vote and
unanimously approved by all present. The group proceeded to hold a
conversation about a number of topics summarized below.
1. The limited
efforts of the proposed 2006-2007 student competition were discussed. The
competition has not happened. Karen Jessup reported that she volunteered but
was not contacted for further program development. Other HGCL members
directly involved were not present to comment.
2. Patricia
O’Donnell distributed a handout of the
Vienna Memorandum on World Heritage
and Contemporary Architecture – Managing the Historic Urban Landscape [pdf
file],
drafted in response to the May 2006 UNESCO Meeting in Vienna, Austria. The
document addresses the degrading changes faced by World Heritage cities and
includes such topics as the control of historic character and the
delineation of buffer zones for core areas. Although adopted at the meeting,
the memorandum may continue to be refined. O’Donnell urged all HGCL members
to comment on the document in order to incorporate aspects of urban
landscape preservation that compliment the architectural focus. Karen Jessup
noted that the use of “landscape” in the title of the current document is
synonymous with “environment.” HGCL members can strengthen the document by
contributing their edits and comments.
ACTION: Greg
De Vries will distribute the current draft of the UNESCO Vienna Memorandum
to the HGCL and follow up on the comment process for editing the document.
3. The Eiger
Xi’an Principles for the structural reform of the ICOMOS International
Scientific Committees were discussed. Patricia O’Donnell provided a handout
summarizing the Eiger Xi’an Principles and commented on their development at
the October 2005 ICOMOS 15th General Assembly in Xi’an, China. Reforms
include changes to the organizational structure of the ISC, definition of
the standards for expert level membership, and the establishment of a
three-year work plan. International Scientific Committee membership
categories will change from Voting and Corresponding Membership to Expert,
Associate, and Honorary Membership.
Recruitment of
potential members is occurring throughout world regions. The intent of the
structural
change is to increase membership, increase geographical representation, and
to foster the matching of skills and needs for missions and projects.
Reforms should be complete by the October 2008 General Assembly Meeting in
Quebec City. O’Donnell and Neal are currently corresponding members.
4. Patricia
O’Donnell handed out and reported on the
Xi’an Declaration on the
Conservation of the Setting of Heritage Structures, Sites and Areas [pdf
file] approved
at the October 2005 ICOMOS 15th General Assembly in Xi’an, China. The
document carefully defines settings and lays out tools and practices for
their preservation. One notable aspect is the inclusion of language such as
understanding the “character of the arrival experience” for defining and
appreciating the heritage significance. The Xi’an Declaration is posted
online. Efforts by O’Donnell in 2005 on behalf of the HGCL led to the
posting of declarations and charters on the IFLA website:
http://www.iflaonline.org/resources/policy/index.html .
ACTION: To
continue the effort of assembling and posting international policy
documents,
Shaun
Provencher will send a previously compiled list of documents to Patricia
O’Donnell. Greg De Vries will distribute the Xi’an Declaration to the larger
HGCL group. De Vries also will distribute the 2005 UNESCO Santiago de Cuba
Declaration on Cultural Landscapes in the Caribbean to the HGCL meeting
participants.
5. Darwina
Neal reported on the status of the IFLA HGCL Committee. IFLA is proposing
the formation of a Western Region (Americas) HGCL that would compliment a
Central Region (Europe & Africa) HGCL and an Eastern Region (Asia & Pacific)
HGCL. The goals of this change is to increase transparency, become more
effective in terms of projects, reflect the whole realm of landscape
studies, and improve global representation. The world IFLA conference will
be held in October 2006 at the ASLA/IFLA meeting in Minneapolis.
6. Patricia
O’Donnell led a discussion of the implications of reopening the U.S.
Indicative List for World Heritage nominations. The form for property owners
seeking inscription on the tentative list is reposted. Properties must
already be listed as a National Historic Landmark to be considered. The last
update to the List occurred in 1982. Alan Downer and Patricia O’Donnell
discussed the possible process of listing places of the Navaho Nation such
as Monument Valley.
7. Darwina
Neal led discussion of the future direction of the US/ICOMOS HGCL and its
annual activities. It was agreed that the present role of the HGCL is to
serve as a network for the dissemination of information and to foster
connections among members dedicated to the preservation of cultural
landscapes. Neal also noted that the ICOMOS/IFLA HGCL International
Scientific Committee will meet from 27 April to 2 May in Coimbra, Portugal
at the International ICOMOS Meeting: World Heritage of Portuguese Origin and
the Congress entitled "The Medieval Garden and its Romantic
Interpretations”.
ACTION:
Darwina Neal and Patricia O’Donnell will report on the ICOMOS/IFLA HGCL
meeting in Coimbra.
ACTION: In an
effort to recruit future members, Karen Jessup will search for a membership
list for the Society of Architectural Historians’ equivalent to the HGCL and
send to Darwina Neal who will forward it to Don Jones.
8. Prior to
the opening of the meeting, Cheryl Holms Director of the Redwood Library
commented on the history of the U.S.’s oldest lending library (1747) and
John Russell Pope’s landscape design (1934). Holms noted challenges to the
preservation of the library grounds posed by state requirements for the
remediation soils with high levels of arsenic. Arsenic-rich bedrock is the
source of the naturally occurring element that will reappear even in
remediated soils.
ACTION: Karen
Jessup volunteered to follow up with the Redwood Library on the issue of
landscape preservation and soil remediation and to contact the Rhode Island
ASLA chapter for institutional assistance.
9. Elections
of HGCL officers were held. Unanimously approved results are as follows:
Patricia O’Donnell, Chair; Shaun Provencher, Vice Chair; Gregory De Vries,
Secretary. After the election it was noted that Spencer Leineweber was
elected Secretary in 2005 and may desire to continue as an officer.
ACTION: The
HGCL Chair will contact Leineweber to determine his interest in remaining a
HGCL officer. It is noted that a group of four officers may be useful for
the work of the committee. If this is the case, a fourth position will be
created.
Toward the
close of the symposium, after this meeting, the US/ICOMOS board accepted the
offer of San Francisco, California, as the location for the 10th Annual
Symposium in 2007. Also, at the close of the meeting, the US/ICOMOS board
presented a draft document on United States participation in the World
Heritage Convention to the conference participants. The draft document
continues to be edited. |
