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Flemish Beguinages As World Heritage: the Search for a Common Management

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Flemish Beguinages As World Heritage: the Search for a Common Management FACULTY OF ENGINEERING RAYMOND LEMAIRE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION KASTEELPARK ARENBERG 1 – BUS 02431 B-3001 LEUVEN (HEVERLEE) KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN Flemish Beguinages as World Heritage: the search for a common management Promotor Prof. Arch. Barbara Van der Wee Copromotor Prof. Koen Van Balen Assessors Piet Geleyns Ona Vileikis Thesis to obtain the degree of Master of Conservation of Monuments and Sites presented by Nena De Roey Leuven, January 2013 0 FACULTY OF ENGINEERING RAYMOND LEMAIRE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR CONSERVATION KASTEELPARK ARENBERG 1 – BUS 02431 B-3001 LEUVEN (HEVERLEE) KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT Flemish Beguinages as World Heritage: the search for a common management Volume I: OBJECTIVES-SYNTHESIS Promotor Prof. Arch. Barbara Van der Wee Copromotor Prof. Koen Van Balen Assessors Piet Geleyns Ona Vileikis Thesis to obtain the degree of Master of Conservation of Monuments and Sites presented by Nena De Roey Leuven, January 2013 Disclaimer Toelating tot bruikleen De auteur geeft de toelating deze eindverhandeling voor consultatie beschikbaar te stellen en delen ervan te kopiëren voor eigen gebruik. Elk ander gebruik valt onder de strikte beperkingen van het auteursrecht; in het bijzonder wordt er gewezen op de verplichting de bron uitdrukkelijk te vermelden bij het aanhalen van resultaten uit deze eindverhandeling. Leuven, 2013 Permission for Use of Content The author herewith permits that the present dissertation be made available for consultation; parts of it may be copied, strictly for personal use. Every other use is subject to strict copyright reservations. Particular reference is made to the obligation of explicitly mentioning the source when quoting the present dissertation‘s results. Leuven, 2013 Autorisation d’utilisation L' auteur autorise la mise à disposition du présent mémoire pour consultation; il est permis de copier des parties, strictement pour usage personnel. Toute autre utilisation est strictement soumise aux restrictions prévues par le droit d’auteur; tout particulièrement, il doit être tenu compte de l’obligation de citer explicitement la source lorsqu’il est fait référence aux résultats de ce mémoire. Leuven, 2013 Acknowledgements Writing this master thesis would not have been possible without the support of several people whom I owe many thanks. Above all, I would like to thank the staff of the RLICC for giving me the opportunity to continue the work of my colleague Merita Augustini. I would like to express my gratitude to Ona Vileikis who always made time for me, to Prof. Barbara Van der Wee and Prof. Koen Van Balen who followed up my work and finally to Prof. Thomas Coomans who lend me part of his library. I also would like to thank Suzanne Van Aerschot for her help and for writing the interesting publication ‘Flemish beguinages: World Heritage’ which I consulted often. I am also indebted to Piet Geleyns, who gave me advice and collected valuable cadastral maps for the research. Many thanks also go to all the people who cleared their schedule and shared their insights with me. Almost 70 persons helped me to compose this complex puzzle on the management of the thirteen beguinages. Thanks for answering my questions and guiding me through these beautiful heritage sites. Thanks for all the coffee and the remarkable stories I will always remember. I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my results. Last but not least, I would also like to thank my friends and family who supported me along the process. Especially to my mother Christel Vanblaere, who helped me correcting and improving the texts: thanks. Nena De Roey December 2012 Volume I: OBJECTIVES-SYNTHESIS I INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Objectives, methods, scope and limitations ...................................................................... 3 1.2 UNESCO World Heritage: policy .......................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 The Operational Guidelines and management of WH properties .................................... 7 1.2.2 Serial properties ............................................................................................................. 10 1.2.3 Intangible heritage ......................................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 UNESCO and Belgium – Flanders ................................................................................ 12 1.3 Belgium and Flanders: heritage policy ............................................................................. 14 1.3.1 Conservation of immovable heritage in Flanders ........................................................... 14 1.3.2 Movable and intangible heritage policy in Flanders ...................................................... 19 1.4 Flemish beguinages ............................................................................................................ 22 1.4.1 The beguine movement: history .................................................................................... 22 1.4.2 Flemish beguinages as World Heritage: the inscription ................................................ 28 II SYNTHESIS .................................................................................................................................. 30 2.1 The Flemish beguinages and their management today .................................................. 31 2.1.1 Protection, ownership and current functions ..................................................................... 32 Protection ................................................................................................................................... 32 Ownership .................................................................................................................................. 35 Public ownership.................................................................................................................... 35 Private ownership .................................................................................................................. 36 Hereditary leasing .................................................................................................................. 39 Evolution after 1998 and impact on management ................................................................. 40 Functions ................................................................................................................................... 42 Housing as main function ...................................................................................................... 42 Religious function .................................................................................................................. 43 Cultural and touristic function ................................................................................................ 44 Commercial function .............................................................................................................. 44 Social function ....................................................................................................................... 45 Parking and other functions ................................................................................................... 46 Evolution after 1998 and impact on management ................................................................. 46 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 49 2.1.2 State of conservation, maintenance and documentation .............................................. 50 State of conservation ................................................................................................................. 50 Different approaches to conservation and restoration........................................................... 50 Architectural elements in need of conservation or restoration .............................................. 52 Movable and intangible heritage ............................................................................................ 54 Evolution after 1998 ............................................................................................................... 54 Maintenance .............................................................................................................................. 55 Flemish support and Monument Watch Flanders .................................................................. 56 Documentation........................................................................................................................... 57 2.1.3 Shared challenges ......................................................................................................... 59 Financing and gentrification ....................................................................................................... 59 Accessibility and parking ........................................................................................................... 60 Accessibility ........................................................................................................................... 60 Parking ................................................................................................................................... 63 Energy efficiency ......................................................................................................................
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