Call for Papers

Edinburgh New Town and the new towns in Scotland, 1767-2017: Reflecting on 250 years of urban heritage

Scotland will be celebrating the 250th anniversary of Edinburgh New Town in 2017 and several academic and cultural events have been scheduled for the spring. The significance of this cultural heritage of the eighteenth century and the importance of conservation will be reflected over in Edinburgh, as several recent urban transformations remain controversial. In keeping with the celebrations of the city’s anniversary, an interdisciplinary conference will be held at the University of Picardie Jules Verne, in Amiens, on 5-6 October 2017. It is organised by the CORPUS (Conflits, Représentations et Dialogues dans l’Univers Anglo-Saxon) Research Team.

A simple and coherent plan with a rectilinear layout devised by architect James Craig was selected in 1767 by municipal authorities in the hope of bestowing grandeur and prosperity on the Scottish capital. Reflecting the ideals of the Enlightenment expressed by several of the city’s leading citizens, including David Hume and Adam Smith, this new urban scheme transformed Edinburgh extensively. It came to express the successful union between Scotland and England and, within a few years, ‘Auld Reekie’ became the ‘Athens of the North’.

The 1967 celebrations of the bicentenary of the New Town saw the opening of a landmark exhibition ‘Two Hundred Summers in a City’ designed by architect John L. Paterson. In 1971, the Edinburgh New Town Conservation Committee was created in response to the partial destruction of George Square, in Edinburgh, a few years earlier and to impending threats of destruction of the New Town. A rescue plan of this single urban scheme of unusual size was fostered by modernist architect Sir Robert Matthew. This initiative coincided with the conservation plans of Parisian townhouses in the Marais and with Malraux’s definition of conservation districts. France stood as a reference for those responsible for the conservation of the built environment in Scotland, including politicians, architects, curators and private individuals.

Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, born in 1999 from the merger of the New Town Conservation Committee and the Old Town Renewal Trust, now ensures the preservation of this urban scheme which has been a World Heritage Site protected by UNESCO since 1995. The recent controversy over the transformation of the Royal High School, a building in neo-classical style built by Thomas Hamilton in 1829, into a luxury hotel shows the public’s passion for its architecture. The reconstruction of the Saint James Centre, a shopping mall from the 1970s, has also been intensely debated and the new design has been dubbed ‘the turd’ by its opponents.

The success of ‘How Glasgow Flourished, 1714-1837’, an exhibition curated by Glasgow Museums in 2014 to coincide with the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, testifies to the public’s interest in the city’s Georgian architecture.

The conference aims to explore the new towns built in Scotland from the 18th century. The issue of the conservation of new towns will be one of our subjects of analysis. Proposals for 20-minute papers that explore the Scottish urban landscape in relation to Scotland’s literature, history, arts and culture are particularly encouraged. Sustainable development is of primary concern to the major players in Edinburgh, as it appears with the regeneration of the city’s waterfront and the growing efforts to enhance the maritime heritage. Comparative approaches will prove interesting, especially on the reception and legacy of Edinburgh New Town abroad.

The conference will bring together colleagues working in the field of conservation as well as academics from the following disciplines: history, history of art and architecture, history of ideas, geography, literature and British Studies.

A summary of 200-300 words and a short biography should be sent to Clarisse Godard Desmarest: clarisse.godarddesmarest@u-picardie.fr

 

Scientific committee:

  • Dr. Charlotte Barcat, teaching assistant in British Studies, University of Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens)
  • Dr. Clarisse Godard Desmarest, lecturer in British Studies, University of Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens)-Institut Universitaire de France
  • Dr. Trevor Harris, Professor in British Studies, University of Picardie Jules Verne (Amiens)
  • Dr. John Lowrey, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of Edinburgh
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