Transsylvania Nostra Journal

The theoretical foundations of European historic building conservation seem to be crumbling. It can be stated that the European perception of historic building conservation is in a theoretical crisis. In practice there is a theoretical basis that evolved after World War II and came to be embodied in the Venice Charter, which will be 55 years old next year. Concurrently, it is increasingly important for society that historic building conservation present a perceptible image of historical architecture and not an abstract sight “de-boned” along the lines of a didactic philosophy formulated with a kind of scientific austerity. The article undertakes the formulation of a conceptual foundation that breaks away from the premise of artwork conservation and sees the essence of presentation in the multi-layered architecture of different historical periods. It evaluates architecture in its entirety and does not look for pretence values singled out for their own sake. It does not look for aesthetic satisfaction in masonry fragments that are selected to be presented but that have never appeared as part of the space, but rather considers its task to be the historical representation of space, spatial structure, volumetric and architectonic configuration.

Keywords: historic building conservation theory, reconstruction, principle of distinctiveness