Heritage Conservation

This report presents a critique of established cultural heritage practices in Western Australia, focusing on the control of the process by corporate proponents and its effects on rock art and stone arrangements. The moderating roles of scholarly societies in questions of ethics are reviewed, and the report concludes with a constructive proposal to end practices that have facilitated large-scale destruction of cultural heritage sites.

Dans Les ibadites. Mode de vie, organisation et patrimoine d’une minorité musulmane dans le Maghreb en ébullition, dossier central de la revue Horizons Maghrébins, 76, 2017, p. 151-160.  Photographies : Axel Derriks.
Cet article compare l’état de conservation de quarante mosquées ibadites de l’île de Djerba entre 2002 et 2016. Quatorze mosquées ont été entièrement préservées, cinq ont été modérément endommagées, onze ont été complètement défigurées, notamment par l’ajout d’un haut minaret étranger à l’architecture locale. Dix mosquées ont été victimes de dégradations volontaires, qu’il s’agisse de pillage, de chasse au trésor, de profanation ou de confiscation arbitraire du lieu de culte par des groupes extrémistes.

"Pride and Prejudice and Patina" is the "Praska Lecture" I delivered on February 9, 2015 at the Fine Arts Institute of the New York University. In "Pride and Prejudice and Patina" I discuss some aspects behind conservation decision-making that often are not often acknowledged, such as human perception thresholds, aesthetic custom or technical inertia. I suggest that these phenomena need to be taken into account in order to fully understand most conservation cleaning treatments.

Not-guilty verdicts, mistrials, and impunity for the Bundy family and many of their supporters in the armed confrontations over public land use in Nevada and Oregon. Expanded access for private oil, gas, mining, and logging industries and the downsizing of national monuments such as Bears Ears lead by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke. A number of highly contentious debates and sensationalized events have again focused attention on land held in the public domain by the United States. This essay argues that federal land policy as a form of colonial administration has been constitutive for the logic of expectation as property in what is now the United States. From the state land cessions negotiated on behalf of the Articles of Confederation to the preemption acts (1830–1841) to the homestead acts (1862–1916) to present-day demands for land transfer, the acquisition and disposal of the so-called public domain have been central to westward colonization, the consolidation of the nation-state, and the promise of land ownership as the ostensible foundation of individual liberty. These dynamics are evident in contemporary conflicts over public lands and arguments for the transfer of public lands to either state or private ownership. Approaching the Bundy occupations as flashpoints that illuminate competing interpretations and claims to land within the history of westward colonization, this essay seeks to demonstrate the ways in which expectation emerges from particular economies of dispossession of indigenous peoples that have historically worked through and across the division of public and private property.

The paper gives a brief overview of the annihilation of Mosul‘s historical architecture, whether deliberately perpetrated by ISIS (Daesh) or caused by terrestrial combats and bombardment during the liberation of the city. The situation of the architectural heritage in the city is monitored, among others, by the Monuments of Mosul in Danger Project since 2014. In addition to the main results of the documentation part of the project, the paper also introduces more conceptual questions regarding the ideological context of the violence on monuments, an ex post analysis of destroyed sites and future outlooks of the local heritage management.

En restituant avec précision une période essentielle de l’histoire de la restauration de peinture, ce livre ouvre de nouvelles perspectives pour la recherche en histoire de l’art et souligne que les œuvres sont perpétuellement transformées et instables. Chaque modification invite à redéfinir ce qu’est un tableau, au gré des époques et des pays. L’activité de restauration s’apparente alors à une forme de réception mais aussi de recréation des peintures, dans laquelle le geste est inséparable de la pensée, et la pratique de la théorie.

La tesi di Laurea in Architettura dal titolo “L’ISOLA DELLA PENA, L’ARCHITETTURA DEL RISCATTO. Castiadas, la più grande Colonia penale agricola d’Italia”, riguarda lo studio dell’ex Colonia penale agricola di Castiadas e dei suoi fabbricati.
L’intento è stato quello di ricercare ed analizzare i documenti, molti dei quali inediti, secondo un approccio di tipo scientifico, per poter ricomporre i processi storici, politici ed architettonici che hanno contraddistinto la nascita e l’evoluzione dell'ex Carcere, dall'impianto nel 1875 ai successivi ampliamenti, fino alla sua chiusura.

Actas de las XIII Jornadas Museológicas Chilenas realizadas en Valdivia en el año 2016.
Organizadores: ICOM-Chile y Dirección Museológica de la Universidad Austral de Chile.
Coordinador general: Simón Urbina.
Comité editorial: Luis Alegría, Gabriela Alt, Marcelo Godoy, Leonardo Mellado, Ricardo Mendoza, Simón Urbina, Valeria Vera, Fernando Vergara y Karin Weil.
Edición: César Altermatt.
Diseño: Milka Marinov.
Maquetación: Alejandra Rosas.
Traducción de conferencias magistrales: Valentina Pires A. / VPA Communications.

Este libro describe el trabajo realizado en el sitio arqueológico que se ubica detrás de la Casa de Gobierno, en donde funcionó entre los años 1857 y 1894 la Aduana Nueva, más conocida como Aduana Taylor, la cual constituyó el primer edificio público de gran envergadura y de características monumentales que tuvo la ciudad de Buenos Aires.
Una investigación histórica y documental exhaustiva al inicio del texto permite conocer que sucedió en el lugar donde primeramente funcionó el Fuerte de Buenos Aires y parte del cual fue reutilizado en la construcción de esta Aduana del siglo XIX, cuya estructura aún puede observarse hoy día.
Toda  su construcción, funcionamiento y demolición llegando hasta el momento actual en el que se erige allí el Museo de Casa Rosada, está narrado con la finalidad de contextualizar y poder comprender el trabajo arqueológico efectuado en el lugar entre los años 2009 y 2011, así como los hallazgos arqueológicos descubiertos. El piso original que tenía el patio de maniobras, los restos de un sistema de movilidad de mercaderías - desconocido por las fuentes históricas de la época y posteriores - junto con fragmentos y objetos de diferentes materiales, que son descriptos y analizados particularmente (lozas, gres, vidrio, metal, piedras para chispas, restos óseos, entre otros) constituyen solo algunos de los restos arqueológicos recuperados.
Estas páginas muestran asimismo como profesionales de la arqueología trabajan dentro de una obra de construcción moderna, de forma multidisciplinaria, teniendo un carácter de rescate pero con un fuerte componente de investigación. Dentro de la Arqueología Urbana Argentina se espera constituya un trabajo de referencia para todos aquellos que se abocan a esta especialidad, así como también para el público en general interesado en este tipo de información y relato.

This whitepaper provides a legal analysis to align the 1972 World Heritage Convention and the UNESCO Constitution and its commitment to human rights and fundamental freedoms. It sets out recommendations for UNESCO, the World Heritage governing bodies, and States Parties to ensure properties on the World Heritage List and Tentative Lists are not sites of serious, systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.

This paper will contribute to our understanding of a number of ancient monuments, Roman theatres and amphitheatres, in the complex context of reusing cultural and environmental resources in Italy. This also involves an interpretation of the Syracuse Charter for the conservation, use and manage¬ment of ancient theatrical buildings.
Through the study of selected examples, we have attempted to identify analytical, methodological and operational instruments that can enhance these monuments and find new tourism-cum-cultural mechanisms. The paper goes on to list restoration and conservation actions that have become urgent due to the neglect and deterioration that often characterises such monuments or, on the contrary, the over-use caused by open-air performances, the fitting of stand equipment and the holding of stage productions that are thrown together and incompatible with this historic heritage. Ancient buildings and archaeological remains require planned actions and constant maintenance.
These structures must be included in the urban landscape through the creation of urban archaeo¬logical parks, and their original uses should be recovered with the use of ‘light’ renovations and the application of compatible and reversible scenery and partial and temporary mobile roofing systems, designed and fitted by experts.
What is therefore required is a limited use of these complex ancient structures that involves respect, strict monitoring and the setting of audience quotas at performances, with the insertion of temporary, easily reversible fittings that can protect these sites as well as allow access to them.
Il contributo intende contribuire alla conoscenza di alcune strutture antiche per lo spettacolo nell’ambito del complesso quadro dell’utilizzazione delle risorse culturali e ambientali di un territorio, anche attraverso una rilettura della Carta di Siracusa per la conservazione, la fruizione e la gestione delle architetture teatrali antiche (2004). S’intende, quindi, attraverso lo studio di alcuni casi esemplificativi – gli Anfiteatri di Albano, di Lucus Feroniae, di Monteleone Sabino, il Teatro di Privernum, di Ostia Antica oltre ad alcuni esempi tunisini – individuare strumenti analitici, metodologici e operativi per il recupero e la valorizzazione di tali complessi monumentali e individuare nuove dinamiche turistiche-culturali. Gli spazi all’aperto che più si prestano a una proficua riutilizzazione, con forte richiamo turistico, sono proprio le strutture per le rappresentazioni antiche, greche e romane. Oltre un migliaio sono gli edifici presenti in tutto il baci¬no del Mediterraneo e numerosi anche sul territorio della Penisola italiana. Si tratta di attivare azione di restauro e conservazione, sempre più necessarie vista l’incuria e il degrado che spesso caratterizzano tali grande strutture o, al contrario, il sovra-utilizzo determinato dagli spettacoli all’aperto, con allestimenti e grandi produzioni sceniche spesso improvvisati e non compatibili con i manufatti storici. Tali antichi edifici, quali reperti archeologici, richiedono interventi di programmate e costanti manutenzioni, spesso di reinserimento nel tessuto urbano delle città d’antico impianto o di valorizzazione paesaggistica, la creazione di parchi archeologici urbani, oltre che di riacquisizione della funzione originaria attraverso operazioni ‘delicate’ e l’inserimento di strutture sceniche compatibili, reversibili, di sistemi mobili per coperture parziali e temporanee, progettati e messi in atto da tecnici e operai specializzati. Un uso, pertanto, limitato di tali complesse strutture che possono essere rese fruibili con rispetto, attraverso rigidi controlli e spettacoli contingentati, l’inserimento di opere temporanee, facilmente rimovibili, in grado di proteggere i luoghi e consentire, contestualmente, la visita dei siti in cui sono inseriti. Uno dei parametri fondamentali per la valorizzazione è quello della fruizione, legata a una capienza sostenibile e ad adeguati limiti per la diffusione acustica, in modo tale da non produrre danni sia alla struttura sia ai luoghi. Tali apparati per lo spettacolo devono essere parzialmente o talmente rimovibili, realizzati con materiali compatibili e di facile manutenzione. I criteri da rispettare dovrebbero essere: adeguatezza tecnologica, minima invasività, controllo delle strutture da parte di tecnici e promotori di eventi, imprenditori e direttori artistici. Appare, inoltre, importante agire con cautela anche nell’organizzazione delle tematiche di rappresentazione, favorendo spettacoli congrui e adeguati (testi dell’antichità e del teatro, danza, musica, cinema). Il tema dell’utilizzo solleva, inoltre, la questione dell’accessibilità, per cui si richiede qualità architettonica e fruizione agevolata per progetti di praticabilità, seppur ‘temporanei’, caratterizzati da strutture reversibili e minime, messe in opera in occasione delle stagioni teatrali. Si tratta di strutture antiche che richiedono un approccio progettuale consapevole e multidisciplinare tra architetti e archeologi, oltre che con il supporto di tecnici specializzati, direttori artistici e responsabili delle istituzioni. Figure professionali capaci di attivare operazioni congrue, finalizzate alla fruibilità di tali organismi attraverso interventi meditati e rispettosi. Progetto di ri-uso e valorizzazione che viene, inevitabilmente, a delinearsi attraverso limiti e potenzialità, riconoscimento dei ‘valori’ e punti di debolezza; si tratta di azioni rivolte sia alla conservazione della struttura sia alla fruizione del sito, comprese tra operazioni di tutela e valorizzazione caratterizzate da un unico obiettivo: combattere l’abbandono e l’inevitabile deterioramento materico.

Gefahrstoffe in Museumsobjekten – Erhaltung oder Entsorgung?

Substanzen, die ein chemisches Gefährdungspotential aufweisen, befinden sich entweder in reiner Form oder als Bestandteil eines Stoffgemisches in den Sammlungen vieler musealer Institutionen. Wegen ihrer Eigenschaften - explosionsgefährlich, entzündlich, giftig, gesundheitsschädlich oder umweltgefährlich - gehören sie gesondert behandelt. Stark betroffen sind unter anderem historische Chemikalien- und Medikamentensammlungen oder technische Objekte mit Asbest- und Quecksilberbestandteilen. Dazu kommt eine beachtliche Menge organischer Materialien, die in der Vergangenheit zum Zweck der Schädlingsbekämpfung mit Biozid kontaminiert wurden. Auch wenn der Umgang mit radioaktiven Stoffen in der Strahlenschutzverordnung und nicht in der Gefahrstoffverordnung gesetzlich geregelt ist, gehören auch radioaktive Werkstoffe zu den Materialien, die eines besonderen Umganges bedürfen: beim Handling, beim Lagern, Ausstellen oder bei der Durchführung konservatorischer Maßnahmen.
Angesichts der restriktiven Gesetze stellt ein sicherer und objektgerechter Umgang mit belastetem Sammlungsgut eine neue und komplexe Herausforderung für Museen dar. Die Entwicklung von Strategien über den Umgang mit Gefahrstoffen drängt. Die Strategieansätze müssen einerseits an die Gesetzeslage, aber auch an die denkmalpflegerischen Richtlinien angepasst werden. Hier gilt umso mehr der Grundsatz, dass erst die genaue Kenntnis über die Objekte zu einem verständnisvollen Umgang führt. Im folgenden Vortrag wird ein Überblick über gefahrbelastete Objekte gegeben und auf das Spannungsfeld zwischen Bewahren und Entsorgen näher eingegangen. 


Hazardous Substances in Museum Objects – Presevation or Disposal?

Substances which pose a potential chemical hazard normally occur either in a pure form or as a component in a mixture in the collections of many museum institutions. Due to their characteristics – combustibility, inflammability, toxicity, danger to health or the environment – they need to be managed apart. The most affected are historic collections of chemicals and medication, and technical objects containing asbestos and mercury. In addition to these hazards there is a considerable amount of organic materials that have been contaminated with biocides as pest control in the past. Even though the management of radioactive substances actually falls under the regulations for radiation protection rather than those for hazardous substances, such substances also demand special treatment and handling in regard to storage, exhibition and conservation.
In view of the restrictive laws governing such substances, the safe and respectful management of affected collection objects poses a new and complex challenge for museums. The development of strategies for the management of hazardous substances is urgent. Strategic approaches have to take not only legislation but also conservation guidelines into account. Here in particular the valid tennet is that only a thorough knowledge of the object leads to its intelligent management. In the following paper an overview of the hazardous objects will be presented and the conflict between preservation and disposal more closely examined.

This is the updated version of 'Heritage Games' following lots of comments.  It is group of activities that can be used in heritage practice to explore what matters and why, and to whom, and to use that understanding to manage or conserve heritage, indecisions-making and in working with different communities.  There is also a section on values in leading heritage organisations.  As you can see from the first page, I am still playing with the title!

Building into the historic fabric has largely become one of the principal challenges of contemporary architecture. Unshackled from the messianic promises of Modernism and its large-scale programs of substitution of the ‘old’ with a cleansed a-chronic ‘new’, societies and architects alike stand emancipated against their own built legacy. Since the ‘90s, the same applies to the preservationist fixations that see heritage in the terms of artifacts maintained as lifeless testaments of their past .
In itself, the idea of heritage brings forth one of the most fundamental aspects in mankind’s endeavor for self-preservation and evolution, namely to preserve human values and memory. In these terms, safeguarding heritage becomes an act of responsibility involving equally an ethical stance, normative policy, and technical expertise. Nevertheless ‘cultural heritage’ is hardly exhausted as a mere catalog of artifacts that show ‘outstanding universal value’ , mainly because culture itself is embedded and evolving in the fabric of everyday practices and the living memory of the community.
The act of building in such context becomes case-specific, taking into account the esthetic and cultural valuations of the setting, as well as the preservation and empowerment of an ecosystem of human production. As such, it reflects both social bonds and the trace of an accumulated intellect. The problem ultimately becomes a call for ‘good practices’, informed by an elevated awareness of our individual and collective responsibilities. Once we deem it ‘architecture’, it becomes an almost Herculean task since all new proposals must stand their place from a glorified past that sometimes stretches to the point of myth.

A Charola do Convento de Cristo apresenta em diversos locais pequenas áreas da superfície mural pétrea decorada com guadamecil, uma tipologia de cabedal decorativo e artístico europeu. Estes são os guadamecis mais antigos conhecidos em Portugal que ainda permanecem no local de origem e, considerando a sua decoração gravada e policromada com os símbolos manuelinos, como a Esfera Armilar e a Cruz da Ordem de Cristo, podem ser datados das primeiras décadas do século XVI, época das campanhas ornamentais encomendadas por D. Manuel I.
Nesta comunicação, para além de se enunciarem as características singulares dos guadamecis da Charola, raras no património cultural português e europeu, apresenta-se uma breve contextualização histórica e tecnológica desta arte europeia. São ainda abordados os principais problemas do estado de conservação encontrados, bem como as acções de conservação desenvolvidas para preservar esses revestimentos únicos.

Abstract in English:
The Charola in the Convent of Christ presents small areas of the stonewall surface decorated with gilt leather (guadamecil), a type of European decorative and artistic leather. These gilt leather coverings are the oldest known in Portugal that still remain in the place of origin and considering the engraved and painted decorative patterns related to the heraldry of the Portuguese King Manuel I, such as the Armillary Sphere and the Order of Christ Cross, these leathers were placed in the Charola during the Manuelin ornamental campaigns, in the first decades of the 16th century.
In this paper it is presented a description of the characteristics of the Charola gilt leather, rare in the Portuguese and European cultural heritage, as well as a brief history of this decorative art. Gilt leather condition and the conservation treatment carried out to preserve these unique coverings are also presented.

Epic accounts of polar explorations have dominated the narratives of Antarctica’s past and contributed to a prevailing image of distant wilderness untouched by humans. Archaeological studies have been undertaken from different theoretical and practical perspectives that have helped to either question or reinforce the dominant narratives of Antarctic history. Archaeology began in the late 1970s, focusing on conserving the huts left behind by the expeditions of the Heroic Era of Antarctic Exploration. Since the 1980s archaeological research in the South Shetland Islands region has been focused on diverse topics, including sealing/whaling expeditions. This study presents a historical overview of archaeological work in Antarctica through a chronological approach that describes previous research conducted at the sites of polar expeditions. It also discusses how archaeological practices have contributed to the complex heritage-making process in Antarctica.

The concept of authenticity, as defined in international circles between the 1960s and the 1994 Nara Conference on Heritage, has been one of the main instruments used to define policies aiming at heritage protection during the last few decades. The concept also became more than an instrument: it shaped entire approaches to the question of the built heritage and to the process – social and political – aiming at its conservation and restoration. For this reason, it has been the object of intense discussions, with scholars and activists denouncing some of its founding ambiguities as being tied to static and sometimes culturalist conceptions of history, to colonial visions, and to policies of social segregation. The object of this chapter is to reflect on such debates around the case of the city of Aleppo, and particularly around the way its medieval and Ottoman built heritage was dealt with in the period of the Ottoman reforms of the second half of the 19th century, the period of French colonial occupation, and the various phases of independence up to its present- day tragic destruction.

Archaeological research focused on nineteenth-century sealers-whalers occupation in the South Shetland Islands has been developed for the last three decades, and the conservation and management of archaeological sites has become a matter of concern for the scientific teams involved. To date more than 30 of these sites have been found and marked along the coasts of the Islands. Some of these have been excavated and studied in more detail providing information about not only sealer’s everyday experiences in land but also the relationship of sealing and whaling to global capitalism expansion. 
Sealing activities were present in the South Shetland Islands since their discovery during the entire nineteenth century. They contributed to the incorporation of uncharted Antarctic places, and the experiences of the groups of sealers left on shore for their duties were the first of their kind in Antarctica. The significance of those expeditions has low visibility in Antarctic Narratives. The nineteenth century material remains of these sealers represent a unique source of evidence for the study of the early stage of human exploration and occupation of Antarctica. Site conservation has not yet been undertaken in the context of the Antarctic Treaty System.
One of the main goals of this paper is to show the analytical power that material culture studies have for understanding the sealers presence in the history of Antarctica. This paper poses the general question: What has the study of material things meant to our knowledge about the historical sealing industry in Antarctica? As a starting point, sealers presence in Antarctica is understood in the particular historical context of the expansion of the modern capitalist world. The sealers presence in the islands represents the process of exploration and of incorporation of an unknown and remote place. From this perspective, I am interested in learning about the particularities of this process by posing specific questions that help characterize the strategies used by sealers in the South Shetland Islands during the nineteenth century.
This paper presents a summary and meta-analysis of data produced during three decades of archaeological research on the topic, addressing specific questions regarding the decisions involved in the use of space, the selection of economic activities developed, the organization of the activities ashore, and possible temporal changes in these choices. More specifically, this paper examines whether the sealer strategies were expansive or focalized in terms of use of space, opportunistic or specialized in terms of resources exploited, flexible or rigid in terms of organization, and to what degree they changed along time during the nineteenth century. Data to answer these questions was gathered through a deep review of all the information about sealers sites in the South Shetland Islands published so far, including publications from our own team as well as other groups.

Many qiaoxiang in southern Fujian and Guangdong appear derelict, but from documenting the material heritage and interviewing people about its social significance, another image surfaces. The homeland of Overseas Chinese was not only found to be significant to the diaspora, but serve as an enduring reminder of a grassroots-based modernity in rural China. The qiaoxiang effectively became a transnational legacy of migration from southern China that has undergone the following stages of transformation: exodus-led emergence of a remittance landscape, sudden abandonment, and sometimes revival. Today, it has become a “repository” or “living museum” where tourists and scholars alike can visit and ponder about how humans adapted to post-rural life.

Alvar Aalto’s career – his perspectives as seen in his writings and in his architecture - progressed from being initially influenced by classicism (which he applied in a playful manner aligned with Nordic Romanticism), on to modernist functionalism and rationalist attitudes (through his contact with the International Congresses of Modern Architecture (CIAM) and its prominent members), which he later developed further into his own ‘humane architecture’ encompassing the psychophysical field.

At the Core’ gives an insight into the cultural influence on the built heritage of Surat. It chronicles the time before Rander was a part of Surat, having developed much before Surat. When affluent Jains from Rander(now a ward of Surat City) crossed Tapi river, they took with them their wealth and skills and settled in Surat. From there began the story of Surat as we know it today. It is said that flags of 84 countries used to fly high at Surat port. The initial settlement grew; Suryanagar became Surat; the urban fabric became finer and the city prospered.
The book has been brought out after extensive research of built form in the city. This was undertaken as part of heritage listing and grading processes- one of its first systematic endeavors to document and grade built heritage in India. Book is well acclaimed and has received INTACH-SATTE award 2010.

A MOST HAVE FOR ART HISTORIANS!

Proviamo a tornare indietro nel tempo, al fatale 1866. Quell' anno si completava una fase legislativa cominciata sedici anni prima nel Regno di Sardegna con le leggi Siccardi, veniva infatti emanata la legge post-unitaria che soppresse le Corporazioni religiose. Nel 1867 il governo Rattazzi diede avvio alla liquidazione dell' asse ecclesiastico, la parte cattolica si affrettò a definire eversive entrambe le leggi. Da un giorno all' altro, con un semplice tratto di penna, un ordine clericale e feudale sedimentato stratificato e rimasto immutato nei secoli, collassava e si scioglieva rovinosamente.
Passavano alla proprietà e all' uso dello Stato gli edifici di Congregazioni, di monasteri, di conventi subito trasformati in tribunali e in scuole, in ospedali e in ospizi, in galere e in caserme. Una quantità incommensurabile di oggetti d' arte mobili affluiva in massa sul mercato facendo la fortuna di miriadi di antiquari fra i quali primeggiava il mercante internazionale Stefano Bardini. Ciò che non finiva disperso o distrutto, (ed era la parte di gran lunga più grande) alimentò per decenni sia il collezionismo privato che quello pubblico; l' uno e l' altro, nelle miserrime condizioni economiche dell' Italia di allora, a destinazione quasi esclusivamente straniera.
Colossali devastazioni, perdite immense ha provocato la demanializzazione del patrimonio ecclesiastico. Evento forse necessario nella fase di passaggio del nostro Paese dall' Antico Regime alla Modernità e tuttavia brutale, doloroso, destinato a lasciare nella coscienza civile degli italiani ferite rimaste a lungo aperte.
Nel vasto naufragio si salvarono dall' uso improprio gli edifici di culto insieme a limitate porzioni dei complessi monumentali più legate o più contigue al culto. Si salvarono perché protette dalla devozione popolare, dalla letteratura, dalla fama degli artisti che vi erano rappresentati, dal loro essere, in maniera più o meno significativa, documenti della storia e della identità nazionali.
I luoghi sacri conservati al culto pubblico rimasero alla proprietà e quindi alla gestione dello Stato mentre l' autorità religiosa ne assumeva la regolare officiatura. Al F.E.C. (Fondo Edifici di Culto), sono oggi affidate oltre 750 chiese, meno dell' uno per cento del totale (calcolato in circa centomila unità) degli antichi edifici destinati alla pratica religiosa cattolica; dalla Martorana di Palermo a Santa Maria della Misericordia di Taggia, affascinante pinacoteca di pittura ligure-piemontese-fiamminga; da Santa Maria Novella di Firenze a San Bernardino di Aquila, che il terremoto del 2009 ha fatto sentire a tutti noi dolorosamente vicino; dal San Domenico di Napoli, dove dormono i re angioini e aragonesi e Tommaso scrisse la sua Summa Teologia, al Santuario di Fontanellato a Parma, prodigio di eleganza barocca e rococò.
Chi abita da cittadino o attraversa da turista l' Italia storica è difficile che conosca lo status giuridico delle tante chiese dislocate sul territorio nazionale. Del resto che la croce dipinta da Giotto in Santa Maria Novella a Firenze, che i Caravaggio conservati nella Cappella Cerasi di Santa Maria del Popolo a Roma, appartengano allo Stato o all' ente parrocchia o all' ordinario diocesano o alla congregazione religiosa che custodisce quel luogo, apparirà al visitatore irrilevante. Altro è ciò che interessa. Interessano la buona fruibilità di quei capolavori, la loro corretta conservazione e manutenzione, la aggiornata ed efficace presentazione didattica e scientifica. E' consolante accorgerci che questi sono gli obiettivi guida della attuale dirigenza F.E.C..
La storia ha costruito l' Italia dissestando distruggendo e poi riassemblando come per un immane rivolgimento tellurico, i suoi strati profondi. Lo strato identitario unificante degli antichi edifici di culto distribuiti su tutto il territorio nazionale dal Piemonte alla Sicilia, è oggi affidato, per una sua piccola ma prestigiosissima porzione, al Fondo Edifici di Culto.
Chi come me ha servito per tanti anni nella amministrazione italiana dei beni culturali e che ora dall' osservatorio privilegiato dei Musei Vaticani è in grado di apprezzare, con attenzione e sensibilità speciali, l' iridescente mirabile mantello di chiese che copre l' Italia, non può che esprimere vivo compiacimento per tale iniziativa editoriale introdotta dalle mie righe.
Una rete di perfetta affidabilità affidata agli architetti e agli storici dell' arte delle Soprintendenze garantisce la qualità dei testi. L' ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER ci assicura del livello del risultato editoriale, improntato ad eleganza e a rigore come da sua mai disattesa tradizione.

Antonio Paolucci
Direttore dei Musei Vaticani
dalla Presentazione del I volume

Baghdad, a city with more than 1250 years of history. Its historical core and heritage facing a great danger today.
This book provides a guideline for an ambitious project to Revive Baghdad Historical Center based on planning study that sets principles and strategies to achieve its goals.

Preserving historic building is crucial to retain national heritage and history. It is not just that, preservation of historic building will lead to social, economic, and environmental benefits. It will increase the property value as well as its surroundings. It also gives non-priced benefits that come from the enjoyment and satisfaction of people when they pass by restored building (Garrod et al, 1996). This report will discuss preservation of old buildings in Riyadh and will try to evaluate the work that has been done to preserve its old buildings.

Autor: Cesare Brandi
Título: Teoria da Restauração

Título Original: Teoria del Restauro
Roma, Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura, 1963
Torino, Einaudi, 1977; 2000

Tradução: Beatriz Mugayar Kühl

Apresentação: Giovanni Carbonara

Revisão: Renata Maria Parreira Cordeiro

Cesare Brandi (1906-1988) foi personagem de notável importância no campo das artes no século XX. Formado em direito e letras, dedicou sua carreira à crítica e à história da arte, à estética e à restauração, atuando de forma exemplar no serviço público. Teve papel primordial na fundação do Istituto Centrale del Restauro (ICR) em Roma, em 1939, dirigindo-o por duas décadas, quando passou a atuar no ensino universitário, inicialmente em Palermo e depois em Roma. Possui uma profícua produção bibliográfica, com numerosos e relevantes textos relacionados às áreas supracitadas, abarcando ainda a poesia e diários de viagens, sendo também colaborador assíduo de jornais e periódicos. O livro aqui traduzido, Teoria da restauração, inicialmente editado em 1963, permanece um escrito basilar e não superado nesse campo do conhecimento. Neste trabalho, Brandi articula sua excepcional capacidade intelectual com a vasta experiência prática que acumulou na direção do ICR, elaborando um texto denso, rigoroso, embasado em princípios sólidos e coesos, possuindo uma tal profundidade que se torna uma fonte inesgotável, à qual se deve sempre retornar para interpretar questões ligadas à preservação de bens culturais, para poder enfrentá-las de modo fundamentado e responsável. Esta primeira edição em português da Teoria conta com uma apresentação feita por Giovanni Carbonara – professor titular da Faculdade de Arquitetura da Università degli Studi Di Roma "La Sapienza" – que evidencia o papel essencial de Brandi e a perenidade e atualidade de suas proposições.

Tradução Beatriz Mugayar Kühl
Apresentação Giovanni Carbonara