Transition Religious Heritage
Description
The Netherlands is unprecedentedly rich in religious heritage, possessing a wide variety of buildings, from church buildings and synagogues to monasteries and abbeys. This heritage par excellence, often with valuable interiors, is appreciated by a broad public for its religious significance, but also for its cultural and identity- and image-defining function in cities or villages.
However, religious heritage is under severe pressure. Secularisation and rising costs mean that owners have great difficulty bearing the costs that their historic buildings and art collections entail. More and more churches and monasteries are therefore closing their doors. As a most conservative estimate, at least a third of the approximately 6,000 church buildings in religious use will lose their original function in the coming years. Other estimates predict even greater loss of function. To give an example: There were 1,500 monasteries in the Netherlands in 1975, of which only 135 are now in religious use and another 120 will close their doors within a few years.
Owners are doing their best to keep the buildings open for as long as possible, including by looking for other types of use besides church. Where exploitation is no longer successful, a new use is often sought in a laborious and lengthy process. For a number of buildings, demolition is imminent, especially in city and village centres where economic pressure is high or, on the contrary, in areas of shrinkage.
The size of the task, the speed of this transformation and the scale on which it is taking place across the country, set against the special significance of these buildings with their valuable interiors and often prominent location, make this task a social issue of national importance. Its impact is most palpable at the local level. (From: Final Statement Agenda for the Future of Religious Heritage; December 2016)
Governments, in coordination with the various partners, will look at the valuation of buildings and their interiors with new eyes and from a broad framework of interests. The importance of preservation and the demand for transformation space will have to find a new balance.
Speaker(s)
Chairman and discussant: Prof W. Poelman
ir. Ton Voets, chairman KIVI Construction Section
ir. Sylvia Pijnenborg, BOEI / director Religious Heritage
P.H.G. Houben, head of building affairs diocese Haarlem-Amsterdam
Lilian Grootswagers, Erfgoed.nu / Future Religious Heritage, Task Force Toekomst Kerkgebouwen
ir. Peter Drijver, architect
Hans van Beek, architect Atelier Pro
Roland Schraverus, ALLround Architects, architect
Location
Prinsessegracht 23, 2514 AP The Hague
Organiser
Construction
Name and contact details for information
Ton Voets