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A Balancing Act: How Architectural Tourism Can Be More Sustainable

Written by Matthew Maganga
Published on June 26, 2021

The world of travelling is a multifaceted one. There are the everyday trips one takes for work or school, commuting to a set location during the week, usually within the confines of a city. There are the longer trips too, the trips which usually involve getting into an aeroplane to visit someplace a bit farther from where the traveller usually resides. These trips are frequently done for business purposes, but for those who have the means to afford it, these trips are undertaken for learning and leisure – where the traveller can be defined as a “tourist”.

On the surface, tourism in its most basic form is a straightforward process. A traveller visits a country for an overnight stay at a minimum, does some sightseeing, takes some photographs, and leaves. For tourist hotspots such as Bangkok or Paris , that overnight traveller can be multiplied by an excess of 19 million similar travellers, all contributing to what is a key part of the country’s economy. While there are various reasons that draw someone to visit a certain place, there’s a consistent factor that has attracted tourists of past and present - that of a place's architecture.

The glitzy, ultra-modern architecture of Dubai attracts a large number of tourists each year, exemplified by projects such as SOM's Burj Khalifa . On the other hand, places such as Venice in Italy and Stone Town in Zanzibar remain popular tourist locations as people flock to view examples of historically significant architectural works. Cities such as these reap the economic benefits of architectural tourism but can also suffer from tourism’s negative side effects.

Venice has had long-documented problems with tourism. Romanesque architecture, Venetian Gothic, and Renaissance architecture are just a fraction of the architectural styles that draw tourists to the Italian city. However, the current population of 51,000 continues to decline by 1000 residents yearly, and a lack of affordable housing exacerbates this mass exodus of Venetian residents. With a large number of properties being rented to tourists and the conversion of local shops to souvenir shops - Venice can be viewed as an example of how tourism can, in many ways, transform a city for the worse. A city can be “stuck” trying to contort itself in line with tourist demands, leaving it without the vibrancy that made it such a captivating destination to visit in the first place – as the tourist is prioritised over the resident.

Sustainable architectural tourism, far from just being the presence of attractive, historical buildings – involves a healthy balance between the needs of the residents and tourists, where a city’s architecture is more than pretty buildings and instead a part of a healthy urban ecosystem.

It is a similar problem with Stone Town in Zanzibar . With a vibrant, amalgamated mix of Omani, Indian, African and modern European building traditions, Stone Town is a part of a city with an architectural heritage that is one of a kind. However, large parts of the town are privatised – and Stone Town’s architecture is deliberately left to gratify a tourist’s image of a distant, faraway past. Infrastructural problems abound in some buildings – immediately visible to the resident but to the tourist viewed as part of the place’s “identity”. Places such as Stone Town need to be viewed as constantly evolving, dynamic urban sites, referencing their past yet firmly rooted in the present. A present that necessitates tourists viewing the architecture of a “heritage” city as more than just an assemblage of attractive facades, and instead as three-dimensional buildings which should simultaneously serve the needs of tourists and host communities.

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In the midst of a pandemic that has seen us grapple with how to sustainably travel, it is also of paramount importance to examine and interrogate our expectations of what a place is when we do travel. Jamaica Kincaid’s book A Small Place , where she examines the harmful effects of tourism in Antigua, is a timely read and relevant to a whole host of global contexts. Sustainable tourism – within the context of architecture – is all about viewing places one visits as living, breathing, societies, instead of just a picturesque backdrop.

For every native of every place is a potential tourist, and every tourist is a native of somewhere.. Jamaica Kincaid in A Small Place - Jamaica Kincaid in A Small Place

Hashim Sarkis , curator of the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale , asked the question “How Will We Live Together?” One of the answers may lie in how towns and cities and cultivate spaces that serve their residents whilst also allowing tourists and travellers to visit sustainably. It is a gentle balancing act, yes, but one that is very much possible.

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The Influence of Architectural Styles on Tourism

Introduction:

Architecture is a significant driver of tourism , associated with cultural and traditional beliefs. A particular architectural structure turns into a landmark of the city or country to travel to that specific destination. Speaking of travel wheels, drive to architectural styles for unique experiences.

The Influence of Architectural Styles on Tourism - Sheet1

Visitors always perceive how visually appealing the architectural styles of the destination are. Tourism’s relation with architecture is the different cultural influences of the regions, reflected through buildings and surroundings. The art in the form of the building, with the authenticity in each element, gives a varying flow of experience from one place to another. Adventure is the thrill humans never want to miss in a lifetime, and each destination traditionally surprises them. The common ground is people’s interest in exploring varying attachments to every place they visit, leading to creating its own culture and building a connection between Architecture, adventure, and culture in travel.

The reason behind adding value to Architectural hotspots under social and financial aspects is to pull the tourism crowd from around the world for the increase in economic value as traveling is always the trend to escape from the present world. The development of an architectural structure or the whole urban development is given significant importance due to tourist growth, which brings a wholesome economic value to the place.

Architectural Photography

In the era of social media, people want to share their experiences about their travel, where architecture plays a backdrop leaving an emotion on another individual to seek a similar experience in that place.

Architectural tours are set up by the government in many cities for tourists to visit substantial historic and iconic monuments. The tourist learns more about the architectural styles, culture, and design philosophies.

Destinations

Wonders of the world are famous destinations, which solely explains the Architectural attraction of tourism.

The Taj Mahal in India is the symbol of pure love expressed in the form of architecture, white marble. A small town in India that would not be known to the whole world if not for the divine structure. Architectural style built by the Mughal Empire during the era.

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The Great Wall of China was built for the prevention of invasions and raids, while it failed to achieve them, it is one of the most visited places around the world, being a parallel wall stretching about 8850 km long. Chinese architectural style is implemented with the hip and gabled roof, also known as the Xieshan roof.

The Colosseum in Rome has its whole history in the construction and culture, yet people travel to re-live in the place. The magnificence of the structure still leaves an imprint on Earth and the future. Rome ‘s style of architecture with the rigid stone structure symbolizes its strength built for the highly challenging physical sports.

Machu Picchu is located in Peru, South America. One of the standings still pre-Columbian ruins, on the Andes Mountains with residential, agricultural terraces, and temples.

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The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, even today, remains a mystery on the massive construction of the structure. Humans are like ants measured to the proportion of the structure yet built. People visit the place only to have a visual treat in true size more than in screen images.

Christ the Redeemer, a sign of peace given to the USA by France during the world war. The tall structure of Jesus has been a landmark ever since.

Chichen Itza in Mexico, under the Mayan tribe Itza. They built more stepped pyramids and temples, magnetizing the crowd to see these incredible Architectural styles.

You say Paris memory takes you to the Eiffel Tower, the significance of love, that is the power of architecture to always take you back to a memory or to hoping to create one.

Dubai and Singapore have high tourism attractions due to the high-rise buildings and the development of the city and country. It has one of the highest-paying revenue in the country.

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Today people would love to travel to a particular destination for a reason not just architectural building but the whole urban culture and experience put together by the collective architectural styles and traditional adventures.

The stories behind every monument are the reasons for any person willing to visit and re-live in their format of thoughts. As an architectural monument, it has reached out to people more than the story itself.

Conclusion:

Materialism is one, and wanting to experience life in a different format is another. The discussion of travel starts with architectural experiences by providing a focal point. Architecture has always been the expression of the lifestyle of the people. The source of history is explained and evolved in the form of architecture; its empathy for the cultural beliefs of people and the experience of intangibility with the approach of visual experience is what brings to the plate of tourism.

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She is a person with an exponential interest in creating human thoughts into words and design. She also believes in a journey of new experiences and learning by traveling with time. Her way of balancing life explains the way she lives.