INTRODUCTION TO

ARCHITECTURAL
CONSERVATION
PREPARED BY:
Arch. Christine Ann C. Ferraris
COURSE CONTENT

▪What is heritage?
▪Importance of heritage conservation
▪Basic terms and definition in heritage
conservation
▪Three major theorists in architectural
conservation and their interventions
COURSE OBJECTIVES
▪Introduce the students to the basics of
heritage conservation
▪Lead the students to develop critical thinking
skills through discussion of different
conservation perspectives
▪Develop the students’ appreciation in the
discipline of conservation by discussing its
significance.
What is HERITAGE?

Oxford dictionary:
her·it·age /ˈherədij/
▪ Property that is or may be inherited; an
inheritance.
 What is a WORLD HERITAGE SITE?
World Heritage site, any of various areas or objects inscribed on the
United Nations Educational, Scienti c and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) World Heritage List. The sites are designated as having
“outstanding universal value” under the Convention Concerning the
Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

This document was adopted by UNESCO in 1972 and formally took

e ect in 1975 after having been rati ed by 20 countries. It provides a
framework for international cooperation in preserving and protecting
cultural treasures and natural areas throughout the world.
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What is a WORLD HERITAGE SITE?
According to UNESCO, there are 3
types of heritage site:
- Cultural
- Natural
- Mixed
What is HERITAGE?

` Tangible
• movable cultural heritage
paintings, sculptures, coins,
manuscripts.
• immovable cultural heritage
monuments, archeological
sites, etc.
`

• Underwater cultural
Intangible heritage (shipwrecks,
• Oral traditions, underwater ruins, cities)
performing arts,
rituals
What is HERITAGE?
What is HERITAGE?

natural sites with cultural aspects such as cultural

landscapes, physical, biological or geological formations
What is HERITAGE?
Heritage in the event of armed conflict

The Convention for the Protection of Cultural

Property in the Event of Armed Conflict adopted
at The Hague (Netherlands) in 1954, as a
consequence to the massive destruction of the
cultural heritage in the Second World War, is the
first international treaty of a world-wide vocation
dedicated exclusively to the protection of cultural
heritage in the event of armed conflict.
The Convention was adopted together with a Protocol in order to
prevent the export of cultural property from occupied territory,
requiring the return of such property to the territory of the State
from which it was removed.
 Why do we need to preserve
our heritage?
Conservation of
heritage buildings is
very important because
it provides
a sense of identity
and it represents the
past history and culture
of a nation.
 “Our heritage is the shared meaning
of our past”
And it is in that meaning that as a community we understand our identity
and shape our legacy. Our heritage shows how far we’ve come as a race,
what we’ve experienced and overcome. It is an important thread that links
our history to our present and adds value to our future. To lose our shared
meanings, memories and narratives is to deny a sufficient answer to ‘who’
and ‘what’ we are as people.
 Definition of terms
Restoration- It is bringing the object back to its former
condition. The process of reverting the building to its original
condition requires the use of original materials and
techniques. In restoration the most important requirement is
the final appearance.

Preservation- Involves keeping an object from

destruction and seeing to it that the object is not
irredeemably altered or changed. Priority is to maintain
the fabric and mitigate the damage.
 Definition of terms
Conservation- All the processes involved to retain its
cultural significance. Includes maintenance, preservation,
restoration, reconstruction and adaptation. Commonly a
combination of one of these.

Adaptation- any work in a building to change its function

or make minor modifications to suit its proposed use.

Neilson Tower, 1937

The site is now home to
the Filipinas Heritage
Library (FHL)
 Theories of Conservation
Three (3) important theorists of the 19th century

Eugene John Ruskin William Morris

Emmanuel (1819-1900) (1894-1936)
Viollet-le-Duc
(1814-79)
 Theories of Conservation

• Is a well-known leader of the

restoration movement in the 19th
century– introduced stylistic
restoration

• Is a strong proponent of ‘restoration’

which an intervention founded on
the philosophy that a conservator
may create something in an existing
Eugene structure even if it never actually
Emmanuel existed in the past.
Viollet-le-Duc
(1814-79)
 Theories of Conservation
• Addition of third tower in the
Notre dame Cathedral.

“To restore a building is not to

preserve it or repair, or rebuild it;
[but to] reinstate it in a condition of
completeness which may never
have existed at any given time.”

• His intervention combined

historical fact with creative
modification.
Notre Dame
Cathedral
 Theories of Conservation
• Believed in the retention of the
status quo of the historic building
and considered restoration as
falsification of history or loss of
historical authenticity

• He became one of the most

influential personalities in the anti-
restoration movement.

John Ruskin • He reasoned that Viollet-le-duc’s

(1819-1900) method is dishonest.
 Theories of Conservation
• He argued that regardless of the
carefulness and exposure of the
restorer to the different contexts to
capture the idea of the design,
restoration is still a “lie from
beginning to end”

“It is impossible, as impossible to

raise the dead, to restore anything
that has ever been beautiful in
John Ruskin architecture… that spirit which is
(1819-1900) given only by the hand and eye of
the workman never can be
recalled… it is palpably impossible”
 Theories of Conservation

• Founder of Society for the

Protection of Ancient Buildings
(SPAB)

• Morris was particularly concerned

about the practice of attempting to
return buildings to an idealised state
from the distant past (Viollet-le-
Duc’s approach) he saw this as
William Morris lying.
(1894-1936)
 Theories of Conservation
• He proposed that ancient buildings
should be repaired, not restored,
so that their entire history would be
protected as cultural heritage.

• He proposed that its important

features should be preserved, even
if a building’s function changed.

• The important attitude of SPAB

William Morris were “to put protection in the place
(1894-1936) of restoration” and “to stave off
decay by daily care”
 Theories of Conservation

• However, Morris also proposed that

repair with the minimum level of
alteration in features would make a
heritage building practical.

William Morris
(1894-1936)
-End of Lecture-