presentation Robinson

1. Possibilities of Emptiness:
Working with the Echoes of Industrial Culture
Professor Dr Mike Robinson
Director, Ironbridge International
Institute for Cultural Heritage
University of Birmingham, UK

2. Every society lives with the
echoes of its past

3. A different kind of monumentalism

4. Identity remains when structures are gone

5. Reflections on a World Without
Remains and Reminders
• Histories are all in
the future
• A place of different
conversations
• Amnesiac
communities
• Does it matter?

7. BIG Question
Assuming we consider industrial heritage
to worth retaining, preserving, protecting,
interpreting, etc. …….
HOW do we go about it?

8. SHIFT
From:
• emphasis on
‘museumification’
• reliance on public
sector subsidy /
culture
• public sector /
‘expert’ management

9. SHIFT
To:
• integration into
wider cityscape /
landscape /
‘policyscape’
• increased private
sector engagement
• sustainable
management
practices

10. The Fate of Industrial Space
Without an agenda for industrial heritage we
are condemned to coffee shops, housing estates
and retail parks
At the same time:
How many art centres do we need?

11. Every Space is a Possibility

12. Multi-level Approach
Policy Level
• Integrated Industrial Heritage Landscape
approach
• Urban vision – alignment of community desire,
political will and financial planning
• Embedded in economic policy and contemporary
industrial sectors
• Planning for scaling back public subsidy

13. Sheffield’s Little
Mesters Yards
• Positive incentives for
continuing industrial
use
• Adaptive re-use
• New re-incarnations

14. Multi-level Approach
Site Management Level
• Flexible utilisation of resources – planning
• Maximising audience appeal / participation
• Flexible utilisation of resources – diverse
revenue streams/ stakeholders
• Planning for scaling back public subsidy

15. ‘Connecting’
Ironbridge

16. Heritage Branding

17. The Big Challenge for Industrial Heritage: …….

19. Concluding Words
• Integration
• Connecting
• Creativity
• Conversations
• Re-incarnation
• Death

20. Thank You
www.heritageculture.com