My Urban Sketchbook

There are still a lot of traditional houses on this island, and no doubt it’s a great place to conduct architectural research. But architecture wasn’t really the objects that drew my attention, it was the small vege gardens scattered in the settlements that are interesting to me. Apparently, some of the places were used for other purposes in history, such as courtyards, but the previous spatial function is no longer needed, so vege took over the space! Compared to the landscaping projects of grass and trimmed shrubs, the vege gardens seem closer to people’s everyday life. It will be interesting to see this community initiative be integrated into the regeneration of the traditional settlements.

英國水路(British Waterways)為全英國第三大的古蹟所有人，職員常需進行歷史建築的修復或是相關的監督工作，因此吸取新的古蹟修復及管理知識變得相當重要。與古蹟實務相關的在職訓練課程包含磚構、石構及石灰砂漿的修復技巧，上課並通過測驗之後即可獲得國家職業資格(National Vocational Qualifications)的承認。這樣的在職訓練除了讓職員多一份職照認可之外，也有利於提高工程人員與古蹟保存員之間的溝通效率，避免因運河維修工作而傷害到古蹟原有的價值。這一次的課程內容是石灰砂漿的基礎知識及修復操作，上課地點是選在里茲利物浦運河的一處二級古蹟船閘(Scarland Lock, Leeds and Liverpool Canal)，這裡的洩水道石牆因植物生長過密而需進行清理修復，剛好作為學生實地操作的場地。石灰砂漿在19世紀波特蘭水泥發明之前一直是主要的磚石黏合材，其滲透、強韌、彈性高、環保的特性仍是修復歷史磚石結構的理想材料。講師強調多用現地出產的細砂石及石灰作為混合材以延續既有的結構特性以及地方特色。