Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property

The Conservation Architect must consider factors that deal with issues of prolonging the life and preserving the integrity of architectural character, such as form and style, and/or its constituent materials, such as stone, brick, glass, metal, and wood.

In addition to the design and art/science definition described above, architectural conservation also refers to issues of identification, policy, regulation, and advocacy associated with the entirety of the cultural and built environment.

Typically this process operates as a specialized aspect of a society's planning system, and its practitioners are termed built or historic environment conservation professionals.

Architectural conservation is the process by which individuals or groups attempt to protect valued buildings from unwanted change.

[2] As a movement, architectural conservation in general, and the preservation of ancient structures specifically, gained momentum during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Prior to this time most of the ancient buildings that were still standing had only survived because they either had significant cultural or religious import, or they had yet to be discovered.

[3] The growth of the architectural conservation movement took place at a time of significant archaeological discovery and scientific advancement.

Preservation/Conservation were used interchangeably to refer to the architectural school of thought that either encouraged measures that would protect and maintain buildings in their current state, or would prevent further damage and deterioration to them.

Two of the main proponents of preservation and conservation in the 19th century were art critic John Ruskin and artist William Morris.

Restoration was the conservationist school of thought that believed historic buildings could be improved, and sometimes even completed, using current day materials, design, and techniques.

Victorian restoration of medieval churches was widespread in England and elsewhere, with results that were deplored at the time by William Morris and are now widely regretted.

[5] Over time inorganic materials like brick, stone, metal, concrete, and terra cotta began to be used by ancient people instead of organic ones, due to their durability.

[5] In fact, we know that these materials are durable because many ancient structures that are composed of them, even some built as far back as the Bronze Age, like Egypt's Great Pyramids, still stand today.

Ancient buildings such as the Egyptian pyramids, the Roman Colosseum, and the Parthenon face common preservation issues.

[10] He gives the Parthenon in Athens as an example; built between 447 and 432 BCE to serve as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, its purpose over time changed to Christian church, mosque, and powder magazine before it became one of the most famous tourist attractions in the world.

Modern measuring techniques, such as photogrammetry (the use of aerial photographs to make maps and surveys) and stereophotogrammetry, are also used today to increase accuracy.

For both ancient and historic buildings, lightning conductors and fire-fighting equipment are checked to make sure they can provide sufficient protection.

The 1985–1989 removal of 38 layers of paint and the cleaning and repair of the exterior sandstone walls of the White House in the United States are an example of building restoration.

Although techniques of architectural conservation are improving, the action of cleaning or repairing buildings can, with hindsight, be seen to cause problems that at the time were unforeseen.

There are many organizations that work to raise public awareness of the necessity to preserve ancient and historic buildings and areas, across communities, users and government.

It emphasizes the preservation of structures such as historic sites, houses, monuments, and other significant properties through careful maintenance and upkeep.

Restoration aims to create accurate depictions of these locations and protect them against deterioration that could make them inaccessible or unrecognizable in the future.

[19] For instance a restoration might involve the replacement of outdated heating and cooling systems with newer ones, or the installation of climate controls that never existed at the time of building after careful study.

Tsarskoye Selo, the complex of former royal palaces outside St Petersburg in Russia is an example of this sort of work.

In cases like this the standards allow other materials with similar appearance to be used and organizations like Britain's National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty will work with a historic paint color re-creator s to replicate the antique paints in durable, stable, and environmentally safe materials.

The polychrome painted interiors of the Vermont State House and Boston Public Library are examples of this type of heritage restoration.

[40] The standards deal with the "...materials, features, finishes, spaces, and spatial relationships..."[41] of historic buildings and are divided into preservation, rehabilitating, restoration and reconstruction.

The Agents of Deterioration are the ten primary sources of damage to heritage objects and buildings comprised in a comprehensive list by the Canadian Conservation Institute.