The study of landscape is the exploration into the reciprocal relationship between humans, non-humans and place. Research into landscape is vital because it has the ability to contribute to, and drive positive responses to, some of the major challenges facing modern society of rapid environmental change, as well as justice and injustice with issues of access and exclusion, ownership and dispossession within our communities and societies.
Within landscape, our Built Heritage acts as a constant reminder of shared histories across society. It is experienced subconsciously through our multiple daily interactions with the physical environment we inhabit through buildings and spaces. However, this physical relationship with historic entities only serves to reveal a portion of the tapestry of experience contained within a building. Buildings and places are ‘imbued with a message from the past’ that reveal a myriad of experiences associated with a place. This is referred to as the ‘intangible’ aspect of the Built Heritage. It is within the scope of SABRE to explore the intangible so that we can truly understand the full depth of past generations endeavours and achievements.
Contemporary research within this area is largely underpinned by the written word and, in some cases the re-casting of information without thorough evaluation. The practice of applying digital technologies and processes to the Built Heritage area is ongoing and continues to evolve, focused primarily on advanced technical solutions to visualisation, data acquisition, data collation and reproductions.
Research within SABRE is exploring the gap that exists in contemporary research of the Built Heritage that successfully exploits the opportunities that digital technologies offer to enable access to the intangible richness contained within the historical legacy of a building, artefact or place.
Among the key Irish organisations that SABRE will continue to work closely with is the Heritage Council https://www.heritagecouncil.ie/ and the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) https://www.buildingsofireland.ie/about-us/ including Dept. of LG, Heritage & housing and the National Archives.
SABRE also has connections with the international organisation of Landscape Research Group, [landscaperesearch.org] whose ethos is to promote and encourage research and education into all aspects of landscape regardless of geographic and disciplinary boundaries and owns the peer-reviewed academic Landscape Research Journal
