part 1 - Iccrom

MEASURING HERITAGE CONSERVATION PERFORMANCE
6th International Seminar on Urban Conservation
1.6. The construction of the
site: content and form
The creation of the website followed a logic of construction
based on historical interpretation, morphological
interpretation, and the interpretation of the
traditional popular manifestations of the site, held
in interaction with the local community. The methodology
adopted involved the local community in
the decisions to be taken, ranging from the design
of material containing information to the formatting
of the final product. To do this, the CECI technical
team endeavoured to raise awareness among
the various social actors present (religious bodies,
residents, owners of bars and restaurants, city managers)
of the relevance of the historical and artistic
value attributed to the site by calling attention to its
cultural significance and the importance of the role
of the community as a ‘guardian of heritage’.
The stages of the work consisted of: identifying the
place, defining the themes, analysing the relationship
of the community with the history of the site
and the construction of the narrative; these sometimes
took place simultaneously.
1.7. The historical interpretation
Saint Peter of the Clerics Courtyard is considered
one of the most expressive architectural and urban
groupings of Baroque culture in Pernambuco, in
which the importance of the Church of Saint Peter
of the Clerics stands out. The church, with its traces
of Baroque, and the houses surrounding it have
been the subject of numerous studies in the field of
the history of art and architecture. These have given
high value to this religious monument and the
architectural grouping, and have categorized it as
a national historical and artistic heritage asset. Saint
Peter of the Clerics Courtyard keeps, in its urban
configuration, traces of Dutch Baroque, which had a
profound impact on the history of Recife. Archaeological
studies carried out in the late 1990s showed
that an aspect of the layout of the group of houses of
the courtyard was part of the so-called City Maurícia
or ‘Mauritiopolis’, designed and constructed during
the government of Maurice of Nassau (1637-1644).
1.8. The morphological interpretation
The urban and architectural grouping of the Saint
Peter of the Clerics Courtyard consists of the Church
of Saint Peter, the courtyard and 63 buildings that
surround the four sides of the church. The buildings
surrounding the church are mostly single-story
houses, but include three two-storey town houses
(sobrados) and twelve one-story town houses. The
greatest incidence of townhouses in the courtyard is
in the block opposite the church façade, thus creating
a dialogue between the voluminous buildings
in the tall category. The townhouses, in general,
stand out because of their height, which is different
from the rest, and the fine decorative work on
their façades; these are the most ornate, with friezes,
entablatures, balconies and a large number of spans.
The ground-level houses are traditional two-door
vernacular buildings, twinned on either side, with
mortar façades, except for a few buildings that are
covered in ceramic and brick tiles. The doors and
windows of the ground-level houses have straight
or shallow arched lintels, one feature being stone or
mortar frames. Most of the roofs are covered with
ceramic channel tiles, of the gutter and spout type,
and their ridges are parallel to the street, i.e. parallel
to the sides of the church. Almost all roofs are
partially hidden by the parapets that rise from the
façades and create gutters for rainwater runoff.
The urban design and the built grouping still
maintain a good level of completeness, which make
it a site of great value as it recalls the past so well,
though its uses have been greatly modified since the
late 1960s.
1.9. The interpretation of popular
and artistic manifestations today
Saint Peter of the Clerics Courtyard has been the
stage for various traditional popular manifestations.
In order to make an interpretation of the current
culture regarding the courtyard, knowledge needs
to be gained of the main cultural events that take
place on the site. This includes shows that present
traditional and popular songs and dances, whether
sacred or profane; displays of art and a wide range
of gastronomical options; institutions that do their
business; and the character and types of services
offered. Research on these cultural expressions was
conducted in various registries in the city, and a
large number of hard copy references and items of
iconography were found.
In the Saint Peter Courtyard there are three institutions
of relevance to culture: the Casa do Carnaval,
the Aloizío Magalhães Museum of Modern Art and
the Training Centre for Visual Arts. The first works
with popular culture and the others with the contemporary
development of the visual arts by organizing
exhibitions and performances.
The documentary searches carried out to interpret
current culture were supplemented by statements
Ribeiro, C.; Lira, F.; Piccolo, R. & V. Pontual. 2012. Conserving and identifying heritage: A methodological contribution. In Zancheti,
S. M. & K. Similä, eds. Measuring heritage conservation performance, pp. 15-25. Rome, ICCROM.
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