Importance of architectural landscape design in the conservation of archaeological
sites: Tikal National Park case study
陳莉筑,陳有祺
Landscape Architecture
College of Architecture and Design
yuchi@chu.edu.tw
Abstract
Raising from a rainy green jungle in northern Guatemala, Tikal National park is a
sample of the most sublime cultural landscapes ever accomplished by the human
being; inside this tropical forest lays the largest and greatest of all Mayan cities,
which is one of the most admired scenic beauties of the world. Unfortunately, this
important archaeological site over the years, has been depraved, destroyed and
ignored, consequently as time passes its cultural and natural heritage is at risk. A
conservation proposal, was elaborated on the base of a previous diagnosis, which
offered a great amount of information on the construction of the archaeological site,
its main deteriorations, the causes, evolution and what possible treatments can be used
to help diminish these problems. To achieve this, a site analysis was carried out
through the examination of the current situation of Tikal National Park, to evaluate the
physical condition, conceptual content and contextual quality of its cultural elements,
in order to perform and updated study. The preliminary results showed that problems
like, deterioration caused by the absence of proper structures to protect the
monuments from the climatic factors, the lack of the appropriate infrastructure for
safeguarding the archaeological pieces and documents, and the insufficient facilities
for tourists and the people who work in the park, are causing the degradation and
damage of these archaeological remains, which is translated into the reduction of its
integrity, affecting up to the point of reaching a state of emergency due to the shortage
of a long-term planning. In this study, we established the importance of conservation
through an architectural design proposal for the park’s conservation and sustainability
of its cultural monuments, its environment, and the tourism activities. A landscape
design that can integrate the architecture with the archeological remains and nature of
the site, having a minimum impact over the cultural and natural heritage.
Keyword：archeologicalsites, cultural landscape, conservation, architectural
landscape design.