Time and Space of Heritage Preservation: Conservation Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

In this article, I discuss the categories of time and space in lightof heritage conservation. I demonstrate that heritage creation isthe simultaneous creation of human time and space and that thecritical treatment of heritage requires a more specific analysis ofthese terms. First, I look at how the creation of human space occursthrough objects, and how the objects of the physical environmentbecome things, i.e. parts of our living world. The world can only beunderstood through change. This is a fundamental finding that formsthe basis for both elementary senses and complicated philosophies.In order to explain the change in heritage-related space, I am usingthe terms artificialisation and heritage technology. Artificialisationmeans the anthropogenic transformation of the environment,which takes place mainly with the help of technological systems.Therefore, the environment encompasses physical, biological andgenetic environments, as well as the human culture with its past.In this environment, it is impossible to distinguish between thehuman and non-human, since they make up a single hybrid whole.Artificialisation is by no means a determined course in history; it isa human means of description, a metaphor that helps to explain theprocesses ongoing in nature and human society. According to thisapproach, the heritage process is one technique in the artificialisationof the environment.Although change is central to conservation theory, it is also aconcept that causes the greatest doubts and ambiguous interpretations.The reason for this is very simple: change is related to time, whichis a foundational concept. In this article, I use metaphysical timemodels to analyse the life course of things and their damage. Finally,I also refer to the conservation theories of Eugène Viollet-le-Ducand John Ruskin. The essential difference between the conservationtheories that are discussed here lies in their attitudes toward time,and the related problems of object authenticity and identity. In theframework of the presentist model, it is not possible to solve themain contradiction connected to restoration. Stylistic restorationruins the authenticity of buildings as historical documents; howeverwithout restoration, the objects would be destroyed and therebylose their historical value. However, a solution to this dilemma canbe found based on the eternalist time model, which helps connectheritage to contemporary time, and avoid its physical, legal, andmental separation from the everyday life of society. The fact thatincluding objects as a part of heritage may damage them instead ofpreserving them should not be overlooked. The authenticity of anobject is not related to any ideal state in its history but to a conceptual,factual and actual state in its wholeness.