I would like to express my appreciation for the opportunity
given to me to present in outline the H.C's most important project, the
compilation of a comprehensive register of S.W.A 's historical
buildings.
My presentation will include a specific request for assistance for this
project. To those of you who have not heard of the H.C. the following
facts can be provided:
The H.C. is a sub committee of the I.S.W.A.A. It has currently 7
members, 4 Architects, l townplanner, an archivist and the
representitive of the N.M.C. , all of whom have specialist knowledge
and experience in one or other field of conservation. The H.C. was
formed as a sub committee of the National H.C. of the E.S.A.A. in 1977
and is at the moment the only voluntary organisation actively engaged with the
conservation of S.W.A./M architectural heritage, the S.v.S.F. having wound up its activities more than a year ago.
Our committee's purpose is self evident as the name A.H.C. suggests. Our specific aim and objectives are not limited to the identification
of national monuments as is often believed, but concentrate on conservation of especially the older, parts of our built environment,
which have special qualities which are often overlooked or ignored for the sake of progress, but which ultimately enrich our lives· and those of generations to come, in a unique and irreplacable way.
It has been said that buildings of the past do not belong to us but that we are only their trustees. It is the evidence of common history that helps to create public awareness, identity a sense of belonging. Other tangible reasons are preservation of the beautiful, and preservation of existing resources. If we agree that the conservation of our heritage should be an important part in our lives, the question how and what to conserve comes to mind. The H.C. like most other organisations faced with this
question divided their task into 3 distinct steps, namely Evaluation, Survey and Policy. Since its inception, the H.C. realised that new enlightened conservation legislationin the form of long-range planned protection would be the most effective method to conserve our architectural heritage. However, despite the availability of valuable research on conservation policy, and the availability of
models of conservation legislation which we were able to present, little progress could be made in this sphere. In view of this the H.C. decided to concentrate its efforts on the subject matter itself, namely the survey and evaluation of our old buildings, as we realised that an inventory with the necessary recommendations would be a powerful aid to expedite compulsory long range protection, on a
national regional and local level. Local authorities for instance could
incorporate the recommendations resulting from the survey into their townplanning schemes.
The evaluation or grading of buildings covered by our survey will be done according to a list of carefully selected criteria to allow as objective an assessment as possible. In this way evaluative information could be made available to planners and policy makers, if desired.
With the generous financial assistance of C.D.M. we were able last year to begin the survey in ernest. The H.C appointed what it considered the best qualified person available in S.W.A. at the time, Miss Schoedder, to do the survey. The inventory was to include all buildings builti before 1930 which were substancially unalltered. Exceptions to the above could be made at the discretion of the recorder and could include buildings less than 50 years old, which form part of a grouping of buildings which itself was built before 1930. For practical reasons we
decided to begin with the survey of buildings of Windhoek.
After a few months it became apparent that the original estimate on
which we had based our budget would be out by a big margin. The reasons
for this as we discovered was a combination subsequent decision to
include buildings built between 1915-1930, the tendency to
underestimate when the volume of buildings is large, spread out and
obscured by new development as in the case in Windhoek, and lastly the
extra time required to correlate different erf numbers which had changed
twice in the lifespans of many of these old buildings.
Because of the unexpected additional costs and despite the R 2000,00
financial assistance provided to us by the Windhoek Municipality, the
H.C. is compelled to seek further financial assistance to complete the project as originally envisaged.
Unfortunately the present economic climate prevents C.D.M. to make
further financial contributions towards the register in the current or
next financial year, and it is because of this the H.C. decided that it would be
appropriate to approach those authorities for assistance under whose
jurisdiction many of the old buildings fall, and who stand to benefit
directly from the survey. They are the municipalities, 2nd tier??
authorities and the central government,
In the meantime until further financial assistance has been secured present funds will permit us to complete the inventory for Windhoek,
Swakopmund and possibly Okahandja in its entirety thus allowing the
full benefits of the survey to be drawn. The completed surveys will
also be used as examples to raise further funds.
We estimate that we need a further R 30 000 to complete the inventory
for the whole S.W.A. /A. This estimate does not include the costs of reproducing the inventory
nor does it indude the expenses for special visits by experts who have
to assist with the grading of certain buildings and neither does it allow for escalating costs due to
inflation.
To conclude, I would like to appeal to this committee to assist us
directly or to use its influence to help us with the raising of
especially financial assistance to complete this important project.
Grades can roughly be differentiated into those for intrinsic
value (i.e. Architecture and History) and those for contextual value, like environment integrity and
usability. Of the two sets of values the former will largely determine the
degree of control which should
be imposed. The evaluated buildings will be grouped into a limited number
of categories of which only those with the highest score value??, buildings
of major significance should be preserved. Restoration and changes in
design should be carried out only after careful research. Changes in
use may be encouraged but, only if they do not harm the
appearance and character.
For the next category, conservation is also desirable but greater
freedom will be allowed with rehabilitation. The decision whether to
preserve or replace must involve a careful analysis of the social and
economic costs and the benefits of each action.
Buildings im groups C will only be worthy of conservation if they are
of value to the environment. They represent the borderline cases. The
buildings belonging to the lowest category will not be considered
in a conservation plan and could to a large extend be eliminated
through preliminary evaluation.
Conservation techniques will depend on the score in respect of the
basic criteria i.e. contextual value in conjunction with intrinsic value and
would precipitate one of several conservation
recommendations.