Future Heritage Symposium

Published on 1 July 2016

University of Liverpool in London
Thursday 16 June 2016

A closed symposium was organised on Thursday 16 June in the University of Liverpool in London campus. This was part of Future Heritage, a seed research project that is a collaboration between the Liverpool School of Architecture and the Merseyside Civic Society and funded by the University’s Knowledge Exchange & Impact Vouchers 2015-16 scheme.

The project adopts the term "Future Heritage", as coined in the independent Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment (2014), that aims to broaden our understanding of heritage as including the "whole grain of the existing built environment" and also considers contemporary architecture as what will become our heritage in the future. It therefore embraces architectural heritage and new architecture as two integral parts of the continuous evolution of our built environment. Both these elements relate to the provision of civic amenities and to the enhancement of our sense of place; and should acknowledge and reflect community-based values. In this connection, the project focuses on the cultural value of architecture and heritage and their contribution to the social sustainability of local communities. For more information please see our project website (in progress).

The principal focus of the symposium was the relationship between expert/professional and wider public engagement with post-war architectural heritage and contemporary architecture: how the perceived gap between the two can be bridged and how the two “camps” can benefit from each other. The primary objective was exchange of information, discussion, and exploration of potential collaborations. Participants were from: Historic England; Historic Environment Scotland; The Twentieth Century Society; University of Liverpool; Manchester Metropolitan University; and Newcastle University.