Representation in the Teaching of Heritage: A conceptual and methodological approach employed at the Goiabeiras Campus of the Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil

Abstract

This article presents the results of a conceptual and methodological proposal employed in the “Historical, Artistic and Cultural Heritage” course in the Architecture and Urbanism degree at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES), Brazil. It was motivated by the idea of overcoming the conservation- development dichotomy and the widening of the concept of heritage to include the notion of territorial heritage, which not only identifies heritage at broader geographical scales, but also its procedural logic. One of the problems presented is the segmentation of the heritage-teaching-design thematic triad. To overcome it, and through an empirical- qualitative methodology based on the Italian Territorialist School approach, a proactive participatory experience was created in which students are encouraged to work on representation as a method of recognizing heritage-value architecture and interpreting critical pre-existence at the UFES ́s Goiabeiras Campus. The experience is divided into three stages: a) analysis, through a preliminary inventory, which identifies, classifies and categorizes the campus’ valuable assets; b) synthesis, where the previous maps are compared and layers of territorial heritage (physical, built and anthropic) are identified and serve as a basis for the definition of landscape units, according to which the values and potential resources of the territorial heritage are interpreted diachronically; and c) design experience, based on critical interpretation. This experience results in an awareness of the transformative power of territorial heritage representation, not only as a document, but as an active instrument for interpretation, identification and analysis, which improves integrated design actions.