- What are the differences among conservation, preservation, maintenance, and restoration practices?
Conserving building means that there is a clear significant value of this building. This value can be architectural, artistic, historic, or environmental. The wide concept of the conservation is to predict the possible risks around this valuable building to consider the appropriate actions for preserving it through different processes and interventions such as restoration.
Conserving of the cultural heritage can extend life of these valuable resources of past cultures as well as it can improve the economic conditions of a society. Taking into consideration that these resources of cultural heritage are non-renewable so the intervention should be able to achieve the contemporary requirements without altering intrinsic values of them \citep{magrini2016energy}.
Definitions of conservation are found in international conventions, national laws of each country. In this part, the definition of conservation is extracted from Venice charter, ICOMOS Burra Charter, Italian Code of the cultural and landscape heritage “Law number 42/2004”, and European Committee for standardization “CEN”.
Conservation is an overall concept to protect cultural heritage. It aims at protecting buildings, or site or even remains to keep their cultural significance. It includes three main activities as following; PRESERVATION, MAINTENANCE, RESTORATION, or any combination of these activities \citep{Mazzarella_2015}, \citep{troi2014energy}.
Preservation means maintaining the fabric of a building in its existing state and delaying the causes of deterioration. Also, preservation includes process of applying measures necessary to sustain the existing form, integrity, and materials of an historic property. So, the set of activities to decrease the risk situations should be considered in each context.
Preservation is suitable in two cases:
- If the existing fabric itself constitutes evidence of specific cultural significance, or
- If insufficient information is available to allow other conservation processes to be carried out.
It includes preliminary measures to protect and sustain the stabilization of the building, generally focuses on continue maintenance and repair of historic materials and features rather than extensive replacement and new construction.
New exterior additions, that transform the aspect of a building, are not allowed; however, the limited and sensitive improving of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work that make properties functional is appropriate.
Restoration is returning the existing fabric of a building to a known earlier state. Thus, it is the process of accurately depicting the form, features, and character of a building as it appeared at a certain period of time. It is mainly focused on the preservation, recovery and enhancement of the character of this valuable building.
It is suitable in two cases:
- If there is sufficient information of the earlier state of the building, and
- If returning the building to that state discovers the significance of the building and does not harm or demolish other parts of the building.
- If the state of conservation is very bad and there are several collapsed parts.
The restoration can be done by removing features from other periods and reassembling existing components reconstruction the missing features without introducing new materials or sometimes with the use of materials and techniques recognizable from the original, as long as consistent with the character of the buildings.
The limited and sensitive improving of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and other code-required work to make properties functional is appropriate within a restoration project.
Maintenance includes activities and interventions to continues protecting of the cultural property and to maintain the integrity, efficiency, and functional identity.
- What are the different variables of cultural heritage (General variables)?
Table A in Figure (7) summarize the concept of conservation (aim, variables, building category) and also Refer to
A Glossary in the appendix file .