Rethinking architectural heritage conservation in post-disaster context

This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of architectural heritage and its conservation in a post-disaster context by taking into account the interrelationship of form and function. To do this I borrow from the work of Laurajane Smith who argues that heritage is a cultural process linked to activities of remembering and identity formation. This definition requires us to move beyond the idea that heritage is merely tangible and asks us to acknowledge the importance of uses of material culture. Thus, I argue that the relationship between form and function should be central in understanding architectural heritage. The paper examines these issues with particular reference to examples from Banda Aceh post the 2004 Tsunami Disaster and, to do this, borrows some methods from architectural anthropology. The paper argues that the traditional architectural conservation practices, including adaptive reuse, that stress the importance of building forms should be expanded. Thus, the paper offers the idea of adaptive re-form or redesign where function is privileged to the extent that material form may be altered to accommodate the resurrection of traditional uses. This is practically important in post-disaster contexts and Southeast Asian cultural contexts, where materiality is viewed as impermanent.