Deconsecrating a Doctrinal Monument: Raymond M. Lemaire (1921–1997) and the Revisions of the Venice Charter

Abstract

Considering himself the ‘‘main author’’ of the Venice Charter, Raymond M. Lemaire was then one of the first (along with Piero Gazzola) to advocate for a revision of the document. As early as 1971, the two men—the first secretary general and president of ICOMOS, respectively—launched a debate, advocating for a better consideration of the social value of heritage. They also called for the development of specific principles for the preservation of historic cities, to be included in the Venice Charter. Lemaire’s experience in that field had convinced him that, contrary to the assertion of Article 14, ‘‘a literal application of principles valid for monuments, considered as such, is not always possible, nor desirable, for the ensembles.’’ The adoption of the Amsterdam Declaration did not put an end to his efforts. Despite his unsuccessful attempt to get a revised version approved by the ICOMOS General Assembly in Moscow in 1978, Lemaire always remained critical towards the charter and the application of its principles in the field. In the 1980s, he emphasized its shortcomings in terms of cultural diversity, and in 1996 one of his last texts articulated the negative effect of Article 9, leading to the idea that ‘‘the mere essence of a conservation operation is a modernist intervention on the edifice or neighborhood.’’ Beyond its interest for preservation history, an understanding of Lemaire’s early critical position toward the Venice Charter should inspire current debates and help us overcome our reluctance to challenge the sacred principles of what we consider a doctrinal monument.

Value as a Legal Tool for the Preservation of Monuments in Flanders and Wallonia: Between Conservation and Adaptation

“…50 The charter became the first internationally recognised guideline for the conservation of monuments and even continues to be interpreted as a doctrine for restoration work. One of the charter's co-authors was Raymond Lemaire (1921Lemaire ( -1997, 51 professor at the Catholic University of Louvain, who significantly influenced the debate in the twentieth century. Economically, the decline of Belgian heavy industry affected the once-dominant Francophone region and shifted power to the Flemish part of the country.…”

Upscaling Local Adaptive Heritage Practices to Internationally Designated Heritage Sites

“…CHICC's research areas of Denmark, Ireland, and Scotland do not have indigenous populations; therefore, the shift, although equally as slow, has been towards greater consideration of heritage's social value [31]. This is often put into practice through a citizen science approach which strives to include non-experts in research-crucially-as active researchers and not merely an audience for results.…”

World Heritage on the Move: Abandoning the Assessment of Authenticity to Meet the Challenges of the Twenty-First Century

“…But for the standards, for the principles, for the methods, approach of conservation, nothing... instead of anything from the Venice Charter" [32] (p. 89). Moreover, scholars have shown that both the Venice Charter and the Nara Document are far from perfect [33,34] and do not actually define "authenticity". The Operational Guidelines do not pin down what this term means either despite the many paragraphs dedicated to it [3] (paragraphs [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86].…”