About a month or so ago I stumbled across an advertisement for the Martos Project in the ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites) Australia e-newsletter.
Reading the project brief, it sounded like it was written for me. The brief called for recent graduates working in the heritage field, with a background in one of a list of disciplines including town planning and art history (in which I have a major from my first degree, a BA), to form part of a multi-disciplinary team. We would learn from a breadth of international expertise and contribute to an exciting historic conservation and urban regeneration project.
At first I thought, whilst an amazing opportunity, this was a bit of a pipe dream, however I found my excitement to be quite contagious. I steadily garnered the support of my manager, my Managing Director, and eventually the Company Board, to submit my application for the project. (Many thanks to Nerida and David for all their help on this one!)
After a comprehensive application process, I was notified by Diadrasis that I had been accepted as one of only 16 participants from across the globe including the US, UK, Ireland, Pakistan, India, Israel, Italy and Spain, to take part in the Martos Project.
The main aim of the project is the comprehension of all the different tasks of a complete architectural conservation project, integrated with the planning of an urban regeneration of the surrounding area. Given the limited dimensions of the ‘Fuente Nueva’, the sixteenth century fountain the subject of conservation, all actions regarding the architectural elements, from planning to conservation treatments, can be completed by the end of the six-week workshop, resulting in a small-scale model of the normal procedures of a complete conservation project.
Fuente Nueva (source: wikimedia, image credit: Monti B Sampayo)
This is an incredible and unique opportunity for me to further my professional development, which I couldn’t be more excited about. I’m looking forward to gaining skills and experience that will enrich my contribution to the Heritage Team at TPG, and generally to the practice of heritage conservation, adaptive reuse and urban regeneration in Perth.
