Cite this article
Kefif, F., Hendel, M. (2024) ‘Creating an inventory for a heritage that holds meaning for its inhabitants: The case of 1950s large housing estates in Oran, Algeria’, Architecture Papers of the Faculty of Architecture and Design STU, 29(4), pp. 4-14. https://www.doi.org/10.2478/alfa-2024-0019
SUMMARY
Heritage primarily serves as a means of establishing one’s identity in connection to others within the same family, facilitating the differentiation between the extraordinary, the remarkable, and the ordinary. The enhancement of the heritage value of the large housing estates has recently been examined globally, emphasising the contextual aspect. This approach seeks to elevate and safeguard modern architectural heritage through various strategies, beginning with the creation of an inventory as an operational tool. This inventory serves as the foundation of a methodological framework, with its core function being the identification and recognition of values. Large housing estates in Algeria emerged from the 1950s onwards, characterised by extensive production of varied architectural, urban, and social typologies extending to the peripheries and centre of Oran. They exemplify contemporary urban design, embodying a vision of communal living and comfort for the maximum number of individuals across many functions. This colonial architectural heritage is insufficiently valued by public authorities, a situation stemming from the entrenchment of expert decision-makers in traditional values. However, alternative approaches suggested by institutional actors are particularly thought-provoking, encouraging the consideration of heritage as a dynamic process aimed at including large housing estates on the heritage list. The main question of this study is whether the issue of creating an inventory system for large housing estates may serve as a tool for determining their destiny. The hypothesis posits that employing a methodology encompassing information collection, intrinsic value recognition, and assessments elements while drawing inspiration from unconventional models can develop an effective inventory model tailored for the 1950s housing estates. This research work is based on the twinning of the quantitative and qualitative approach, and also the observation in situ, executed in the administrative and educational offices, including professionals, institutions, employees, and inhabitants of the large housing estates. We commenced by using the qualitative method, which enabled us to gather as much information as possible in order to recognise the values and then classify the criteria, which is the fundamental stage in any inventory. Several survey tools were considered: consultation of the Algiers and Oran archives, field observation, which shed light on the practices used to appropriate these inherited spaces, semi-directive face-to-face qualitative interviews with professionals in housing and heritage, history, and sociology, and open interviews with inhabitants. The quantitative method was then used to assess the values using criteria previously defined by the heritage and housing specialists and the inhabitants, using a multiple-choice questionnaire, ranking questions, open-ended questions, and image-based questions. We examined Law 98-04 concerning the protection and enhancement of cultural property within the Algerian Ministry of Culture, which was influenced by the decree of 4 March 1964 initiated by André Malraux and André Chastel. Their national inventory system for cultural facilities offered a robust theoretical foundation for the framework proposed in this research. This article aims to identify values and propose a reliable inventory by drawing inspiration from overseas models (France, Canada, Switzerland) to promote the destiny of Algerian’s large housing estates towards a heritage perspective that can serve as a prototype for developing a specific inventory for contextual large housing estates. This study presents a model of a thematic inventory organised into three fundamental sections which can serve as a reference, particularly in the neighbouring countries of the Maghreb which have witnessed the concept of large housing estates. 1. Establishing context: This section must comprehensively portray the building. This is a registration document for the large housing estate, derived from field data and archival material. 2. Physical condition: This section includes alterations to the initial structure, degradation, and integrity of the complex, information about which can alone be provided by the CTC authority (the National Body for Technical Control of Construction) concerning its condition and longevity. 3. Heritage value scores (each score reflecting the degree of each criterion): This section encompasses the magnitude of each determined value, whether tangible or intangible, after the assessment of the established criteria in the area. The study advocates for incorporating inhabitants into the heritage framework as a compelling method for acknowledging and assessing novel criteria, diverging from the materiality of artefacts, termed ‘heritage from below,’ rather than adhering to the institutional heritage referred to as ‘heritage from above.’ This approach has led to the stigmatisation of an architectural heritage rich in value, exemplified by numerous large housing estates designed by esteemed architects and experts, including Georges Candilis. The collaboration and agreement among many stakeholders facilitate the identification and cataloguing of large housing estates, therefore legitimising a novel approach to recognising the architecture of social housing among significant historic assets. Finally, this contribution highlights an offer to compose an inventory for the type of social housing that is the large housing estate, which will make it possible to protect unique, singular works in a good state of conservation and serve to nourish the spirit of architectural and historical knowledge of the work with the aim of making a heritage of its own, a radiance, a legitimacy.