The ancient civilizations of the world have left some evidences behind and they have to be preserved. It is because they are the proof of the existence of human history and a long legacy of human civilization. The conservation of the ancient architectural building is not the responsibility of the respective nation, but it is the responsibility of the world. The international organization called UNESCO was formed with the view to preserve the ancient and historic treasure of the world. UNESCO is the world organization taking care of the major historical and ancient sites and takes efforts for their conservation. The idea of conservation of ancient historical treasure came forward after the World War II in which people experienced massive destruction of human, environment and architecture as well. After the World War II, the need to preserve the ancient historic architecture emerged.
The process globalization has given boost to preserve the architecturally important sites all over the world. Many of them have been damaging due to natural calamities as well as the man made activities. The historical sites are in danger due to the human interference or the military activities. War is such a devastating thing that destroys the evidences of ancient and rich human civilizations all over the world. Recently some major world heritage sites are being threatened by the civil war in Syria which has been going on since 2011.
Syria is a country located in the Middle East region. The country has been severely affected by the civil war that broke out in March 2011. It was first erupted in the southern city of Deraa after the arrest and the torture of some teenagers who painted revolutionary slogans on the school walls (Rodgers et al.). The protesters demanded resignation of President Assad. The war took away the life of 90,000 people and in 2014, the number reached to 191,000.
Along with the human loss, the war witnessed the significant architectural loss. Syria could boast of being the abode of six World Heritage Sites. These six sites have been selected by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as being "of special cultural or physical significance"(Izadi). Some of these sites are severely damaged due to the violent insurgences and military attack. The repair is possible but it is not possible to bring them in their original form.
The buildings in many old and major cities of Syria were destroyed in the war. Homs is the third most important city in Syria after Aleppo and Damascus. The aerial bombarding was the more destructive in the city of Homs than any other city in Syria. The city had many ancient buildings and monasteries which were destroyed in the war. Along with Um-al-Zinar church, there are other 11 churches in Homs that are destroyed partially or severely in the war. Um-al-Zinar is one of the most ancient churches in the city. The loss is significant. St. George church from the city was also damaged severely.
The reconstruction is possible. Rather the churches are undergoing reconstruction, but still it is not possible to construct them in such a manner that they were. The term reconstruction is used in architecture in context of the architectural design. Feilden (366) says that the design can be constructed by taking support from the documentaries or physical evidences. The old buildings especially the 12 damaged churches in Homs can be reconstructed by taking support from the available evidences. Along with reconstruction one more architectural process suggests by Feilden is the restoration. The restoration process of the architecture is used when the building is destroyed, or damaged. In the process of restoration, the architectural design is confirmed again.
The restoration, reconstruction and the conversation of the damaged building in the city of Homs should have a sustainable approach. The sustainable development aims at achieving the way of constructing building where the future of mankind will not be kept on mortgage. While adopting sustainable approach to the reconstruction of historical building in Homs, the sustainable evaluation of the buildings is important. Graham describes some of the issues of reconstructing or restoring the buildings
One of the most important issue is the management of available resources. While reconstructing the heritage building damaged in the war, the renewable and recyclable resources should be used on priority basis. Maximum utilization of solar energy is also the best way of resource management. The energy is used efficiently so that the waste should be minimized. The use of biodegradable materials is the other way of sustainable development. The biodiversity should be improved while reconstructing the building.
During the reconstruction process of the buildings in Homs the green building technique should be necessarily use
Place your order