The real thing: an investigation into authenticity and the substance of place

This PhD narrative provides a reflective and summary text on research produced over the period 2012-2022. This work comprises publications (peer reviewed papers, book chapters and commissioned reports), supported by artefacts such as film and digital models. This document provides a narrative bringing together my published work on the subject of authenticity and place. I argue that authenticity is a plural, dynamic and networked condition (rather than singular and static); that the representation of a place or object (including its replica) is an important and integral part of that condition; and that meaning and any sense of authenticity is contingent upon the relationships between people, places, objects and their representation.

The study is one of surfaces. The surfaces analysed range in scale from fragile interiors within historic buildings to streets and districts within city centres. Within the three principle case studies (the Roman baths and Abbey within the city of Bath; and the centre of Liverpool) surfaces are analysed to reveal the agency of small details, whether designed or undesigned - ranging from purposeful architectural interventions to weathering and erosion. I argue that the efficacy and authenticity of surfaces, across scales, is dependent upon such details and their curation.

My work draws on theories of heritage, agency, representation and the nature of the object through time. The published work is complemented by, and informed by, practice including film-making and digital models. Through my work, I establish that authenticity is as much about story-telling as the inherent qualities of any object or place; I also argue that “authenticity”, in its application to both tangible and intangible heritage, is becoming too stretched as a term of reference, and that Ruskin’s notion of “voicefulness” be revisited as a concept which more usefully captures the relationships between people and place/object.