Morganne Shelford
Will Eisner thought that a building has
something to tell us about the lives of the people that built it and lived in
it. "Cultural heritage" is the past in the present, and New Yorkers
make a lot of effort to preserve it, sometimes even giving it a new lease of
life, cf. the High line, the NYC Centre, etc. The Guggenheim, ethnic diversity,
musical eclecticism, the Statue of Liberty, Harlem, are all examples of the
rich cultural heritage New Yorkers have reason to be proud of. Ground Zero
became “cultural heritage” because of the symbolic value New Yorkers gave it,
and 1WTC will not be just another oversized office block; it will be a
landmark, symbolizing New York and its people united against chaos. In NYC,
each building says something about the values of New Yorkers; think of Cornell
Tech, which is not just an educational establishment, it has to be the best…
NYC’s cultural heritage in one word: pride.
Victor Guillon
“Cultural heritage” is viewed differently from one person to the next in NYC.
For some, cultural heritage is about shared fundamental values, about keeping
the city as dynamic as it has always been, recycling old places into new ones
not only for the present but also for the generations to come. For others, it’s
preserving, intact, what the past has bestowed upon us (cf. the Lower East Side
Tenement Museum or even the NYC Center).
Besides buildings and monuments, cultural
heritage also means cultural diversity. Isn’t New York the world’s capital, a
Babel of ethnic groups? Its musical eclecticism and plethora of parades and
festivals are its live and kicking’ cultural heritage!
New York swallows you up and makes you its own;
but, since 9/11, New Yorkers also know that it is also up to them what their
City is to be. They make the stones speak of what is right and wrong…
Claire Plassart
New York’s cultural heritage is about civic
pride but also about dominance. NYC considers itself the world’s capital, and
its buildings and monuments display this: Guggenheim, Chrysler, UN, Empire
State, 1WTC, etc. New Yorkers wish to preserve their immense cultural heritage,
sometimes modernizing buildings or finding new uses for redundant
infrastructure (cf. the Highline project).
New York is a cosmopolitan place, each
community affirming its identity through art and music. There are also massive
cultural and sports events which unite the population.
NYC is a dynamic, forward-looking place, the
latest example of this is the development project for Roosevelt
Island. Cultural heritage for New Yorkers is not just about the past and
things from the past that are still with us, it’s also about maintaining the
values of hard work and the spirit of conquest inherited from those that came
before. "Cultural heritage" in NYC is the imperative to build...
New Yorkers still commemorate 9/11 - they
cannot afford to forget it - but they, as always, move on: 1WTC is rising up
from Ground Zero…
Rémi Kondjoyan
New Yorkers have good reasons to be proud of
their cultural heritage. NYC is attractive to visitors and residents alike
because of its extraordinary cultural facilities and places of historic
interest. But, though wanting to keep the city the way it is, New Yorkers also
want to make NYC a city of the future. They are therefore modernising the town’s
infrastructure and investing in research to stay competitive, building
prestigious high-tech but ecologically-friendly research centres (cf. the
Roosevelt Island project).
Security has become a priority, since 9/11,
since Sandy. All the disaster movies which use NYC as backdrop seem all of a
sudden very real… One of the results of catastrophe is to have made New Yorkers
realize that their “cultural heritage” is important to them because it is not
just “old buildings”, it is what they have built together over the centuries.
Cultural heritage is essentially about people: who we were, are, and hope to
be…
New York, the place, the people, the ideal, is
synonymous with resilience and optimism, with individual opportunity, but also
with necessary tolerance. Whatever part of the world you may have come from,
whatever your customs, in NYC you will become a New Yorker, because NYC thrives
on diversity. But NYC works - at least it does today - because newcomers
buy into a set of values and practices common to all New Yorkers, if you will,
a “cultural heritage” they learn to share.
Vincent Pinneau
New York City has for a long time been the
principal entry point for immigrants. Their first impression of the New World
was New York; they came hoping to fulfil their personal American Dream. The
result was NYC’s extraordinary cultural diversity; people from more than two
hundred countries cohabit more or less peacefully in this dynamic metropolis.
What all these people have in common is, to various degrees, the will to succeed;
this fundamental value defines the “cultural heritage” of NYC. One example: the
Manhattan skyline, so familiar the world over, is in fact ever-changing, the
result of the pioneering and ambitious spirit of its inhabitants.
How New Yorkers have coped with 9/11 says much
about them and how they consider their built environment; 1WTC, being
constructed on the site of Ground Zero, serves as both a memorial to the
victims and a symbol of New Yorkers’ defiance of terrorism and their will to
build a brighter future.
Marie
de Langlade
For New Yorkers, “cultural heritage” is both
literally part of their everyday lives as a built environment, and part of
their routine existence as a set of shared values and practices.
Some, through preservation initiatives, want to
keep the City as is, to save its “soul”. Others would like to transform old
landmarks into something useful, which they consider is in the spirit of their
dynamic city.
NYC is undeniably multicultural. Parades, the
annual marathon, and other such traditions, are at the same time an expression
of the City’s unity and of its cultural diversity.
The 9/11 terrorist attack increased solidarity;
in this context, “cultural heritage” took on a strong emotional significance,
places and buildings becoming symbols of defiance and hope, something the
inhabitants had to defend in the face of anarchy…
Elina Chandezon
New York City, futuristic metropolis, is
incredibly wealthy, especially as regards its cultural heritage. New Yorkers,
for obvious reasons, love NY! It is hard to tell though if all of them really
appreciate how much they possess…
Some New Yorkers are keen enough to devote time
and money to the preservation of the Big Apple (as much as to its development).
Doesn’t the High line project show New Yorkers want to both modernize the city
whilst keeping its “roots” strong?
New Yorkers use their cultural heritage, add to
it everyday, and make use of it to express who they are to the world. For
example, the construction of 1WTC on Ground Zero shows New Yorkers’ defiance of
terrorism; it is a building that, though not yet complete, is, in a sense,
already part of their cultural heritage…
Solène Gauthier
Everything in
NYC is “cultural heritage”, because, whatever you look at, it is famous! Some
New Yorkers are more keen than others in keeping the Big Apple beautiful; the
High line is a great example of how they have made from something old,
something new. This is keeping cultural heritage sites alive (by making them
relevant and useful). For others, NYC is not some museum. Most people are proud
of the world-wide fame of the town they have built but they don’t think about
it much, not at least as a place of particular interest from a “cultural
heritage” point of view. It’s just where they live and try to earn a living!
Miléna
Chapot
New York’s cultural heritage is extremely
diverse because the city is a “mixing bowl” of 254 different nationalities.
This diversity is displayed through music and art. George Gershwin’s work
epitomises this eclecticism, uniting many musical styles into one.
New York’s architecture, famous worldwide (e.g.
the Statue of Liberty), is the most visible part of that cultural heritage. New
Yorkers choose to preserve their cultural heritage sites by sometimes
“recycling” them (for example the High line). They also create buildings and
monuments in the tradition of NYC (i.e. on a grand scale such as the Roosevelt
Island Project).
The tragic events of 9/11 united people and
increased their determination to reconstruct, no matter the cost, the buildings
which they condidered important from a cultural heritage standpoint; 1WTC will
be an extraordinary landmark… In NYC, “cultural heritage” is made by the
people, for the people; the affirmation of liberty is therefore an intrinsic
part of it.
Simon Breillad
Cultural heritage is the customs, knowledge,
behavior, and material objects (including the built environment) that are
transmitted from one generation to the next… But what importance does “cultural
heritage” have in New York City, where 245 countries are represented and 200
languages are spoken?
Cultural heritage is the thing
that makes all those different ethnic groups live peacefully together: they
have something to share. This sense of a common heritage (and destiny?) has
been accentuated since the 11th September 2001… The attachment to their
cultural heritage that new Yorkers feel is well represented by the festive
crowds like for Thanksgiving or St Patrick’s day, when they listen to all the
different styles of music or even when they give million dollar donations to
help the reconstruction of an historic building. Nevertheless, in the Big
Apple, newness, energy and modernity are by definition part of the cultural
heritage, and so finding a new use for an old place (like the High line) is a
great way to both save money and preserve the “soul” of this modern high-tech
dynamic city.
Hughes Thorin
New-Yorkers don’t live with cultural heritage,
they live “in” their
cultural heritage! I mean that New Yorkers consider what their parents have
transmitted to them and
what is being built as
cultural heritage. New Yorkers
aren’t oppressed by their past. They live with their past in the present to
drive it into the
future.
For New Yorkers, everything which they
associate with strong memories is cultural heritage; they have to transmit it
to the next generation. These cosmopolitan inhabitants are proud of their town
and want to keep it the way it is, despite their differences. It is this will
to keep NYC the way it is which makes its unity. It gives a soul to the city
and makes it overflow with imagination, which gives incredible inspiration to
New Yorkers. It is the inspiration of today’s New Yorkers, which will inspire
the artists of tomorrow.
Emma Nicolas
For New Yorkers, everything in
the city is part of their cultural heritage, whether it be buildings,
memorials, or architecture, or immaterial things like music, ethnic diversity, or even
the city’s very soul! Some inhabitants are very involved in preservation of this common heritage, whereas others just live in New York without knowing all the
efforts being made to keep it in a good state.
NYC is like the world's capital, especially as
there are people from 245 countries there. This, plus 9/11 which has made
for a more united city, means that the population of NYC is constantly looking forward; they create new places every day or “recycle” buildings they find important. For New Yorkers, the past needs to
be present.
François Dischamp
Through music, art, architecture, etc., culture
heritage seems to be omnipresent in New York. However, all New Yorkers don’t
have the same conception of the term. Some consider that culture heritage is a
fabulous gift from past generations that needs to be preserved for themselves,
and passed on from one generation to the other. But for other New Yorkers, it
is important that every generation leave a mark and try to improve the work of
their forebears, New Yorkers themselves being the people in charge of this
difficult mission.
New York, the city of innovation, wants to
always be a step ahead of everyone. New Yorkers are keen to preserve this
status and they have understood that they were the ones controlling New York’s
fate.
Vianney Lepoutre
For New Yorkers, the past is what has been
achieved and an example to follow; for them, time is synonymous with progress…
Buildings of importance from a cultural
heritage point of view, have immense symbolic value: the Statue of the Liberty
stands for hope and freedom, the Twin Towers for economic power, etc.
These places and buildings are also, more
simply, places in which they live and work.
They are also reminders of past events,
associated with personal and collective memories. That is perhaps the main reason
they protect these buildings, even if they have to change their original
function, such as for the New York City Center.
New Yorkers protect their buildings because
they are a source of civic pride. This civic pride is also expressed through art
and music, which is part of their rich cultural heritage.
Some feel any changes to their landmarks or traditions
are an attack on the very soul of the city, on its particular atmosphere; the protests
against the High line project were carried out by a few die-hard nostalgics...
