ElCoNum
Collaborative elaboration of a thematic digital heritage collection
Algerian architectural archives
Since November 1st 2014 InVisu unit was granted for 2 years an European cooperation project on architectural Algerian archives featuring researchers from the two sides of Mediterranean sea.
project led by Claudine Piaton
The projects covers a large historical period (XVIth-XXth centuries) and concerns archives from three countries Spain France and Italy. These countries worked in various ways to the construction process of various buildings in Algeria, from XVIth century Spanish military architecture across the Algerian coast, from French colonial (1830-1962) construction and architects firms, or even Italian architects firms at work during the post 1962 independence era.
These archives are disseminated in different Europeans centers or in private hands making difficult a global understanding of the interventions on Algerian architectural landscape.
Brought together and centralized, these collections maybe useful to provide research material for future studies on modern architecture history in Mediterranean area.
The Elconum project aims to improve the visibility of theses documents. As part of the European Commission Creative Europe Program, its goal is to broaden the access to the European cultural works creating links between Academic research, cultural institutions and the public thanks to the use of new technologies. A collection composed by archives from different European public institutions, or private contributors will be made available to a large audience from the two banks of the Mediterranean sea. It will be improved by comments and family archives deposits by web tools. Simultaneously to the making of this collection, Algerian and European photographs will bring an artist point of view on the preserved architectures.
Plan de nivellement du boulevard à créer sur l’emplacement de l’enceinte française, France, Service historique de la Défense, Vincennes, 1 H 562
Plan de transformation du quartier Bab-Azoun, 1875, France, Archives nationales d’Outre-Mer, Aix-en-Provence, fonds des Cartes et plans, 1PL982
The cooperation project relies on a long partnership between Firenze University (Italy), Melilla University (Spain), Tizi Ouzou (Algeria). The Aristeas firm specialized in multimedia tools conception and art books publishing is also associated to the project. This project will allow to experiment the conception of a multimedia eBook and a virtual exhibition.
In the wake of this project, a crowd-sourcing website will be opened in order to complete the following objectives:
- broaden the audience and visibility of architectural archives through the opening of general audience aimed website, available in four languages (Italian, Spanish, French and English)
- raise the general audience awareness towards the value of family archives.
- discover new documents from family archives that will enhance the collection made by historians and collect original information from the former or current inhabitants.
Elconum ended in september 2016 with a seminar set in Florence, Italy. Elconum, Facoltà di Architettura dell’Università di Firenze, Chiesa di Santa Verdiana, Sept. 29-30, 2016, Florence, Italy.
Related publication : Claudine Piaton, Juliette Hueber, Boussad Aiche, Thierry Lochard, Alger. Ville & architecture, 1830-1940, Honoré Clair, 2016, 368 p.