Reconceptualising Heritage Conservation for 20th-Century Architecture

Abstract

An apparent shift of focus in the field of heritage conservation has emerged in the last two decades. The 20th-century architectural legacies have received greater recognition for their cultural significance and begun to be statutorily protected as 'heritage'. Particularly in some West European and North American countries, the deep-rooted prejudice and widespread mistrust towards modem architecture have been gradually eliminated by the launch of conservation awareness campaigns and through the effort of scholarly societies, amenity groups as well as heritage authorities. Whereas the conservation of 20th-century architecture appears to gain legitimacy as a specialist subject and an established profession, this paper sets out to frame the concept of 'modem architecture conservation' and examine how its emergence has changed the general conception of heritage conservation. To integrate different. sometimes conflicting, interpretations and understandings of the term 'modem architecture conservation', the papersets out to reframe the concept by examining the emergence of 'modem heritage' conservation and addressing questions as to how the conservation of modem architecture differs from that of historic buildings and how it has challenged and redefined the established conservation ethic and philosophies that had been developed along with the preservation of historic buildings. To achieve an improved understanding of the above questions, the discussion of this paper is organised through five thematic sections. It begins with a brief introduction to heritage conservation and reviews its theoretical evolution over the past two centuries. The following two sections deal with the intrinsic characteristics and the inherent conceptual contradiction of modern architecture conservation. The last two sections go on to explore the practical implications of conserving 20th-century structures and synthesise the new conservation doctrines advocated and upheld by the mainstream conservationist societies in the past decade. Finally, the paper concludes with a call for a radical rethink of conservation ethics and suggests a higher degree of flexibility in striking the balance between authenticity and adaptability for modem architecture conservation practice.