Publicomos

Notice (permalien)

Réf.

42740

Type

article

Titre

Uses and abuses of reconstruction

Langues

English

Auteurs

Crișan, Rodica

Maison d'édition

ICOMOS

Date

2018

Pages

19 p.

Titre de la revue

ICOMOS University Forum

Vol. & n°

v. 1

ISSN

2616-6968

Mots-clés

cultural heritage / philosophy of conservation / theory of restoration / reconstruction / criteria / principles / authenticity / memory / sense of place / spirit of place / social aspects / local communities / cultural identity / cultural significance / tourism / concepts / counterfeits / conservation of cultural heritage / values / conservation of historic monuments / conservation of historic sites / anthropology / doctrine

Monuments et sites

Nara document

Résumé en anglais

Negative consequences of misunderstandings and/or inappropriate generalisations of the very comprehensive and deliberately vague definition of authenticity consecrated by the Nara Documents can be observed in the practice of last decades. The absolutization of the idea that heritage values are not inherent in the tangible fabric and the underestimation of the material authenticity, open the way to abusive ‘in style’ reconstructions driven by political and economic reasons which become more important than any conservation philosophy. The abuse of reconstructions is worrisome especially since it seems to be more and more accepted in the current conservation practice. Counterfeit historic buildings are too often made equal to originals by professionals, with no concern for misleading people, nor for the distortions induced in the social recognition of the built heritage values. Very often kitsch is proliferating within consumerism-lead reconstructions which fetch heritage sites as entertainment places with historic ambiance for tourists’ delight. Some other times the underestimation of the material authenticity justifies the demolition of existing historic buildings, subsequently replaced by slightly modified copies to accommodate contemporary demands within an overall historic appearance.

Document joint

3_Crisan.pdf

Licence

Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)