Persistence and vulnerability

Contemporary strata in architectural heritage

Abstract

Architecture has always been characterised by superpositions and transformation over time, adapting to changes in its context and to the needs of use.  However, the moment a building is listed, a gap is created between past and present that creates differences in the way pre-existing heritage and contemporary interventions on it are interpreted and treated.

The manuscript presents a critical analysis of recent architecture’s listing in Europe and the situation of some interventions carried out between the 1960s and the present, to start a necessary debate about this topic so that the cultural significance of recent interventions can be taken into consideration in the development of heritage policy and guidelines in architectural conservation practice.