Weltkulturerbe zu sein ist zwar etwas Positives, allerdings wird auf Zwang eine Hülle konserviert, denn die Gesellschaft hat sich verändert. Die Gefahr besteht, dass das Weltkulturerbe zu einem Disneyworld für Kulturreisende wird.
In diesem einsemestrigen Entwurf in Kooperation mit der GTZ, der Stadtverwaltung und einer lokalen Universität soll der moderne, lokale Lifestyle (Kunst&Kultur) die Altstadt brandmarken.

The etiquette 'cultural heritage' by the UNESCO is indeed a positive thing. However it conserves a container whose content has changed. The site runs the risk of becoming a disney world for cultural travellers. The one-semester design project in collaboration with the German Institution for International Cooperation (GTZ), the municipality and a local university aims to brandmark the old town with the local modern lifestyle (art&culture).

A new brand for the old town – Syria : Damascus : old city was the urban design studio during the winter term 08/09 at the institute planning and building in non-European regions called PAR at TU Darmstadt, Germany.
The DVD contains the students’ work:
- 10 videos (over 60 min) of the urban design propositions
-  3 ebooks (over 500 pages) of approaches to the Arab culture, Syria and Damascus
-     foto-sound-scapes (almost 3h audio) of the guided tours during the excursion in March 2009

More details on how you can buy the DVD - A new brand for the old town

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