Read reviews of The Venice Charter Revisited
New Urban News December 2011 - Philip Langdon
The Historic Environment Vol. 2 No. 1, April, 2011 - Dennis Rodwell
Context (IHBC), November 2010 - Dennis Rodwell
Traditional Building, April 2010 - Clem Labine
Conservation South Asia, April 2010 - Neel Kamal Chapagain
The Venice Charter Revisited: Modernism, Conservation & Tradition in the 21st Century is a collection of 64 essays on new buildings in old places. The book is an invaluable resource for students, teachers, conservationists, community activists, and all those looking for a new approach to architectural and city-wide conservation.
The Venice Charter of 1964 was a major step towards better conservation of traditional buildings and places. It has since become the founding document of ICOMOS, the organisation for professionals in conservation.
However, in recent years, the requirement of clause 9 that new work "must be distinct from the architectural composition and must bear a contemporary stamp", has been misused to justify contrasting modern additions, alterations and new buildings in historic places worldwide. "The Venice Charter Revisited" is a timely look at how planning has gone wrong, why it needs to be fixed, and how we can support new traditional building within the spirit of the Venice Charter.
Right, an example of how the Venice Charter is being misused to justify modernist development. The Jam Factory in South London, by Ian Simpson Architects, in Building Design 11/2004. Click on image to enlarge
Including both the Venice Charter and the INTBAU Venice Declaration, which aims to guide development in historic areas to a more harmonious relationship with old buildings, it adds to the library of traditional architecture and tradition in general, linking the names of the subscribers with the book and its values. Totalling over 700 pages and with more than 350 black and white photographs and diagrams, "The Venice Charter Revisited" will be an authoritative source on heritage and planning in the 21st century.
The values of the book are endorsed in a Foreword by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Patron of INTBAU. Publication has been made possible by the generous subscriptions of INTBAU members.
The reconstructed Frauenkirche and buildings around the Neumarkt, Dresden. Reconstructions of archaeological sites are discouraged by the Venice Charter. However, reconstruction of war damage is encouraged by the ICOMOS-DDR Declaration of Dresden of 1982. In 2000, architects tried to persuade Dresdeners to rebuild in modernist style. Luckily, public opinion won out in this case. Image courtesy panorama.dresden.de.
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