ARCHITECTURAL

CONSERVATION
TOPIC : ASSESSING HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE – CONCEPT AND PROCESS (Part-1)

SUBMITTED BY :
Ansu Mariam Daniel
Semester: 7, Roll NO.:7
MASAP
 SIGNIFICANCE
‘Significance’ refers to the values and meanings that items and collections have for
people and communities.
Significance helps unlock the potential of collections, creating opportunities for
communities to access.
Conservation as a process should take account of all the values that contribute to
its significance.
1. Understanding the values.
2. Assessing heritage significance.
What Does ‘Significance’ Mean?
• Significance refers to the values and meanings that
items and collections have for people and
communities.
• Significance may also be defined as the historic,
artistic, scientific and social or spiritual values that
items and collections have for past, present and
future generations.
• These are the criteria or key values that help to
express how and why a item or collection is
significant.
 SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT
• Process of researching and understanding the meanings and values of items and
collections.
• Explores all the elements that contribute to meaning, including history, context,
provenance, related places, memories, and comparative knowledge of similar
items.
• The results of the analysis are synthesised in a statement of significance.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
• A statement for a building or monument will need to consider the architectural,
historic, archaeological, traditional, artisitic or other interest, setting out the
areas of high significance, where change should be minimised. Areas of lower
significance may be able to accommodate greater change where the overall
significance is not affected.
• A statement can be applied to
buildings and structures within a
Conservation Area where the
relationship between buildings and
features within that environment is as
important as the exterior of the
buildings themselves.
 ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Significance assessment involves five main steps:
• analysing an item or collection.
• researching its history, provenance and context.
• comparison with similar items.
• understanding its values by reference to the criteria.
• summarising its meanings and values in a statement of significance.

SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT PROCESS

Introducing the Significance assessment process

• Significance assessment is the process of

researching and understanding the
meanings and values of items and
collections.

• There are three variations of the process for

assessing significance:
i. For single items;
ii. For a collection or parts of a collection;
iii. For collection projects.
 a. For single items
The Didarganj Yakshi is one of the finest examples of very early
Indian stone statues. It used to be dated to the 3rd century BCE, as
it has the fine Mauryan polish associated with Mauryan art. The
treatment of the forelock in particular is said to be
characteristically Kushan..
Didarganj yakshi, patna museum
This canon of wrought iron popularly known as Dalmadal, was
probably the largest canon manufactured by the Malla kings. It is
3.8m long with a muzzle of 29.2cm in diameter. The malla kings
was said to have used this canon against Bhaskar Rao, the
commander of the Maratha Invaders. This Canon is near
chinnomasta temple and is significant for the people of bishnupur
as well as bengal.
Dalmadal canon, west bengal
Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on Friday visited the campus
of the Visva-Bharati University here to inaugurate the
renovated 'Shyamali' building - a mud house often used by
Rabindranath Tagore as his summer retreat.
"This is a place of inspiration to all of us to get motivated for
peace, nationalism and love for nature. I salute the memory
of the great son of the great country”.
Shyamali, Santiniketan, west bengal
 b. For a collection or parts of a collection
The Rasmancha is a historical building located
at Bishnupur, Bankur district, West Bengal, India.
Length and breadth of this temple is 24.5 meter
and the height is 12.5 meter. The base or altar of
the temple is made of laterite stone and upper
part is made with bricks. Upper structure looks like
a pyramid. Middle part resembles Bengali huts and
the arches of the lower part resembles Islamic
architecture.
Rash Mancha, Shyamsundarpur, West Bengal
Vishalla prides itself on its presentation of Indian
culture and tradition in its village-like environment
with its museum of old utensils known as Vechaar.
Vechaar is the only museum of its kind in the
world, displaying such a precious collection of
utensils.
Vechaar utensil museum, Ahmedabad
Uttarayan Complex has
beautiful gardens and
some of Ramkinkar Baij's
sculptors. Bichitra Sadan,
the Tagore museum, is
also located in the
Uttarayan Complex.

Uttarayan, Santiniketan, West Bengal

 c. For cross collection projects
Muziris Heritage Project

• Abdul Rahman Sahib Museum

• Islamic History Museum
• Paravur Jewish Synagogue Museum
conservation and heritage can be linked with development and they can form potential
resources and assets for promoting non-formal education and tourism. The focus should be
on the local economy generating local employment, promoting traditional industries, art and
craft activities. Tourism and heritage management are integrated in this approach. The project
is seen primarily as a conservation project. There is a major thrust on non-formal education
and it is being seen as a model for sustainable tourism where the local community benefits.
Kerala has so far marketed only its beaches, backwaters and forests and to some extent its
monsoon. The project is influenced by the tourism considerations, but managed by the
principles and conventions of the international guidelines on cultural heritage management.
 SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT PROCESS
• Significance is a vital tool in the sustainable management of collections.
• Significance assessment helps focus resources on the most significant items and collections,
giving them priority in curatorial, conservation, exhibition, research and access programs.
SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENT PROCESS
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

The assessment criteria are a broad framework of cultural and natural values.

Four primary criteria apply when assessing significance:

• historic
• artistic or aesthetic
• scientific or research potential
• social or spiritual

Four comparative criteria evaluate the degree of significance. These are modifiers of the
main criteria:

• provenance
• rarity or representativeness
• condition or completeness
• interpretive capacity