Publications

Bandyopadhyay, S., Quattrone, G., Goffriller, M., et al., 2014. Harat Al-Barashid & Harat as-Sawafah, Sinaw: Documentation and Heritage Management and Development Plan.

Summary

This Documentation and Heritage Management Plan (HMP) is concerned with two settlements in the Sinaw Oasis – Hārat Āl Barāshid and Hārat as-Sawāfah – and builds upon the extensive documentation carried out on site, as well as on knowledge on the sites acquired prior to fieldwork and during project development. Alongside providing comprehensive drawn documentation resulting from the survey carried out in Autumn 2013, this report includes a preliminary strategic Master Plan which addresses issues of heritage management, conservation and development, as well as approaches for its implementation. Due to the close proximity and the long connected history of both Hārat Āl Barāshid and Hārat as-Sawāfah it was decided to address both settlements in conjunction. The Master Plan proposed in this report, while divided into two sections to address the settlements separately, assumes both Ήārahs to function in tandem with one another in the future. This solution was deemed the most likely to succeed in view of economic constraints and is expected to provide the necessary developmental contingencies.

Drawing on track record research and development of HMPs for Hārat as-Saybanī, Barkat al-Mawz (2011), Hārat al-Yemen, Izkī (2012), Hārat al-Hujra, Fanja (2012), Hārat as-Sulayf, ΚIbrī (2012) and Hārat al-Aqr, Bāhla WHS (2012) this HMP is informed by a study of the oasis context as well as by extensive documentation, analysis and interpretation of the urban structure, morphology, building typology and social conditions of the settlements’ present and the immediate past. It also identifies and illustrates zones and categories of development and conservation to be carried out, which build on a statement of significance and an accurate assessment of the state of conservation and the threats to the vernacular heritage at Sinaw, and includes a comprehensive inventory of structural and non-structural defects present at the settlement.

On this basis, a culturally and technically informed Master Plan is proposed, which aims to move away from an entirely tourism-focused development towards a holistically and inclusively sustainable alternative. To this end a study of contemporary precedents of rehabilitation of historic towns and buildings is included in order to show a range of possible cutting-edge strategies, approaches and solutions to the topical issue of historic built fabrics adaptive reuse. The Master Plan advocates a sustainable revitalization centred on re-habitation, heritage tourism, education, training and skills development programmes with emphasis on traditional knowledge of the built environment and the crafts. Key zones are identified for protection, restoration, rebuilding, consolidation and redevelopment, and a set of detailed guidelines is provided for the implementation of related actions and measures.