Forever young or ageing naturally?

Abstract

Age and ageing can be felt as negative occurrences. For monuments, however, old age is traditionally considered to be a positive quality. Without a certain age, the designation "monument" hardly applies. Ageing can be seen as the work of time, which has always been valued: ageing was sometimes even artificially induced in the past. In this paper, we will discuss the meaning of ageing in monumental buildings. The fact that, in the case of interventions in monuments, a perpetual service life is strived for, but restoration ethics clearly put limitations on what can be done can lead to dilemmas and can make it difficult to make decisions. Cases will be discussed to derive some criteria to base interventions upon, seeking a balance between merely preventive conservation and rejuvenating practices.