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  • Editorial
  • Frank Matero (bio)

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Figure 1.

"The Art of Restoring," Fun Vol 25, June 27, 1877. The satirical warnings of irreversible restoration fictions by nineteenth-century critics led to the importance of documentation and recording as the foundation for all conservation actions. Improved methods of data capture and manipulation have resulted in an information revolution for heritage professionals; however, the challenge remains as how to best apply and use the new technology for informed conservation decisions. (University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries; http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00078627/00030/)

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What is past is prologue.

William Shakespeare, The Tempest

Many built works pass down through time. How they are received by each generation is ultimately a function of what we know and feel about them and what ultimately becomes heritage. Conservation/preservation therefore has always been about transmission and reception. As the second-century grammarian Terentianus Maurus pronounced, Habent sua fata libelli—books always have their histories—and so it is with the physical places we inhabit. What survives, what is forgotten, and what is cared for or destroyed describe the lives buildings and places acquire over time. Such trajectories are dependent on many diverse factors; however, once consciously examined, all built heritage comes under consideration for its ability to communicate to us; to have relevance in ways consistent or new to its original authorship.

As stated by the Italian theorist Cesare Brandi, "restoration [conservation] is the methodological moment in which the work . . . is appreciated in its material form and in its historical and aesthetic duality, with a view to transmitting it to the future."1 It is a true historical event, a human action that is part of the process by which a work is transmitted and received. The act of preservation is therefore the actual moment of the conscious contemplation of cultural heritage primarily for its historical value; it is, in a sense, the "afterlife" of any created work.

Recording is one way in which those concerned with built heritage attempt to capture physical aspects deemed significant or defining of a thing or place. For the architect this may be the plan, section, and elevations of a building; for the architectural historian it may be a comparative stylistic analysis of the classical orders; for the engineer it may be the gradual movement of a wall or dome over several years; and for the conservator it may involve recording a multitude of decay phenomena. Regardless of intent, recording and its acquisition-hungry sister, documentation, are the cornerstones of conservation practice. Heritage specialists perform documentation and recording based on the belief that by accumulating and producing records of the tangible aspects of the built environment, one can preserve inherent informational and aesthetic values, or at least the potential values, that may be lost through natural degradation and human modification. [End Page 153]

Traditionally, documentation and recording for conservation have long been associated with the physical state or condition of an object or site in danger of being lost or damaged and immediately before and after intervention. No doubt this can be attributed to the physical changes most conservation treatments affect, as well as the contributions that documentation can make toward an increased understanding of the past appearance or technology of the object or site. But it has been through the study of existing condition as a record of past change that heritage specialists have seen the value of documentation and recording in developing a more accurate knowledge of alteration and deterioration, especially long-term trends and patterns of anthropogenic change and natural weathering. By studying current condition as the cumulative result of change over time through careful observation and description, one can come closer to managing change as responsible stewardship.

The documentation of structures and sites and associated building arts such as sculpture, mosaics, and wall painting presents enormous difficulties, attributable as much to their size and complexity as to the pressures of utility and context. A great many agents and phenomena, ancient and modern, transform sites over time and in different ways. A variety of natural and cultural processes including natural decay and human actions continually alter a building's...

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