Czas i konserwacja zabytków

• Authors: Krzyżanowski Lech

Title variants

EN

TIME AND CONSERVATION OF HISTORICAL MONUMENTS

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The paper was presented at the conference Conservation of Historical Monuments on the Threshold o f the 21st Century, Cracow, October 1990. Referring to the history of the conservation of historical monuments. the author emphasizes that the views of conservators have undergone a serious evolution in the 20th century. The scale of evaluation of historical monuments underwent corrections, which carried practical changes in the approach to individual structures, as well as large complexes of these. A great achievement of the last decades is the creation and justification of such concepts as „historical landscape", „cultural landscape", which enriched the criteria of evaluation. Their influence on spatial engineering must not be underrated. Analysis of the basic phases of development of European historical monument conservation makes it possible to state that towards the end of the 20th century, there is a more general awareness of the dependence of the fate of historical heritage on the solving of ecological problems. Another meaningful phenomenon is turning more attention to the social sphere of receiving conservation activity. The slogan of society's participation in the process of renovation, modernization or restoration of old city districts is in fact carried out on an ever broader scale. However, the slogan of participation carries with it also the necessity of taking seriously the views of the inhabitants. This is not obvious for some of the experts, although in fact it is an important prerequisite for success in the field of protection and conservation of historical monuments. The recipient of conservation work is not abstract history, but the contemporary human environment — owners or users of houses, sculptures, paintings. We probably do not fully realize that conservation activity, with all its scientific, technological or aesthetic prerequisites, in the final result serves to raise the quality of living of people contemporary to us, or even future generations. This statement does not automatically lead to flattering the tastes of the public, not always prepared for contact with historical heritage. It also does not make it necessary to disturb the fundamental principles of conservation. It should be noted that the historism dominating in Polish theory and practice is the product of specific circumstances and chronology of events. Perhaps it is time to subject this historism to discussion and verification. For more than a dozen years now, new phenomena have been occurring in conservation practice and in the theoretical approach to these solutions. Many American and European examples can be indicated, where an old building is taken down, leaving the facade or its part, so this may become a historical element of an entirely new modern museum, bank etc. Following the example of painters, this measure can be defined as collage, but this does not explain anything, what is more — the differences in function of the building and painting are nearly incomparable. No attempt has been made so far to comment this conduct, which is becoming fashionable. It can be assumed that one of the roads is being formed for departing from the post-modernism concept, in which case the phenomenon may take on a mass scale character. An important feature of the current state of development of historical monument protection and conservation is a clear overcoming of European centrism, particularly in architectonic and town planning undertakings. We may ask whether there actually is an opening of the perspective of European historical mon ument conservators on the achievements of colleagues from other continents. Are we ready to perceive the possibility of enrichment thanks to new impulses? Or maybe this creates an oportunity to analyze our own concepts and attitudes on the basis of discussions on oversea examples. There is nothing new about the idea of regarding the activities of historical monument conservators as a component of the process of communication, in the process of transmission between history and society. Two dilemmas connected with our participation in this process of communication are undoubtedly of a permanent nature. The first is associated with the degree that the objectivism of our activities ansu res genuine information from history to the recipient. The other dilemma, no less important, is associated with the manner of proceeding of the conservators. Here, the following question can be asked: does the road to satisfactory results lead through the issuing of prohibitions and commands, or through partnership joint quests for optimal solutions, in which it is easier to find a place for the historical transmission of the original material of the monument as well as for the functions contemporary to it.

• Publisher: Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa
• Journal: Ochrona Zabytków
• Year: 1991
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 7-10

Dates

published

1991

Contributors

author

Krzyżanowski Lech

• dr, PP PKZ — Zarząd Warszawa

References

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Identifiers

ISSN

0029-8247