ADAPTATION: Leveraging Modern Narratives towards Preservation and Public Uses of Pueblo Bonito's World Heritage Ruins in New Mexico's Central Chaco Canyon
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Abstract
This study focuses on creating new narratives to cultural heritage sites by comparing concepts of ruins from cultural heritage sites and post-industrial landscapes. Both landscapes share that unifying feature of ruins and the historical and cultural significance that comes with them. Such methodology has been the subject of many recent papers on the complex challenge of reclaiming post-industrial landscapes beyond an environmental engineering approach. In landscape design literature there is an approach to focus on industrial ruins as settings for parks worldwide. We propose a similar attention to cultural heritage ruins as parts of a new genre of parks. To answer our research topic, we reviewed extensive literature about landscape narratives, landscape ruins, and post-industrial design approaches. We also analyzed how post-industrial landscapes evolved into ruins over time, the landscape design approach and challenges, and how their landscape revitalization schemes created a new narrative. This thesis will be applied to the Chaco Canyon world heritage site and national park. Specifically focused on the on the central valley ruins of the three-unit mixed-use complexes. These ruins are representative of Pueblo historical and cultural heritage and will be used as a case study to investigate how the creation of meanings and narratives can enhance the qualities of this emerging genre of parks containing cultural archaeological heritage ruins and how it can be applied to them.