Getty Conservation Institute Hosts Workshops on The Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework
Workshops introduced participants to a tool for identifying and contextualizing heritage sites
The historic thematic framework is organized into 10 interconnected themes that shaped the built environment and heritage places of the 20th century.
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In partnership with the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi, the GCI’s Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative hosted a virtual workshop to introduce participants to The Twentieth-Century Historic Thematic Framework (TCHTF) and to examine how it might be used to identify and protect the Middle East’s significant modern heritage.
The TCHTF—a joint publication of the GCI and the ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Twentieth Century Heritage—was created as a tool for identifying and contextualizing heritage sites. Its goal is to promote broad thinking about the historical processes that shaped the 20th-century built environment globally and to support conservation of a wide range of significant heritage places from the era.
The workshop, held May 18 and 25, 2022, included about 30 professionals, including policy makers, academics, and representatives of heritage groups from the region. In the first session, the GCI presented the TCHTF and its 10 themes. This was followed by speakers who described their experiences applying a thematic approach in Abu Dhabi and Jordan. The stage was set for a lively plenary discussion about modernism and its meaning in the Middle East. In the second session, participants, in small groups, considered how to apply the themes from the framework to places in their own regions and discussed which themes and subthemes applied. The workshop gave the GCI the opportunity to promote this new heritage tool and provided insight into the possibilities and challenges involved in its application.
