C letter
Charter
A formal statement of the rights of a country's people, or of an organisation or a particular social group, that is agreed by or demanded from a ruler or government. It is also a formal statement of the intentions, professional work and rights in a branch of the profession in part or in whole, prepared and confirmed by professional organisations and councils. Charters are well known and used statements also in cultural heritage. There are several known and in use in most of the countries worldwide, for example Athens charter (1931), Venice charter (1964), Burra charter (1979) etc.
CIAV (ICOMOS)
The Scientific Committee for Vernacular Architecture at ICOMOS. CIAV is an international platform for the dialogue and cooperation between professionals, experts, academics and students of vernacular heritage through CIAV annual meetings and scientific conferences. CIAV fosters discussions and activities on national, regional and international levels.
Classical architecture (300 BC – 100 AD)
Common term for architecture of ancient Greece and Rome. Usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect Vitruvius. Although classical styles of architecture can vary greatly, they can in general all be said to draw on a common "vocabulary" of decorative and constructive elements. It can also refer to any architecture that employs classical aesthetic philosophy. The term might be used differently from "traditional" or "vernacular architecture", although it can share underlying axioms with it.
Complete record
Combination of all the data that are important for the object or structure or documentation that includes all prescribed and required elements. It is combined through different methods, for example documentation, measuring, drawing plans, taking pictures, photogrammetry etc. in all the possible media with needed data in technique, building, use and appearance, with technical drawings, schemes and simulations for interpretation of the detail, running devices and all the compositions.
Condition assessment
A record of the state of the critical aspects of the place or building at a given time. This should be suitable for developing options for future action and, as a record against which to judge change. The individuals who perform the assessment are typically architects and engineers and skilled-trade technicians. Engineering and architectural professional opinions as to the conditions observed are part of the assessment. Building diagnostics go beyond facility condition assessments to determine solutions to the problems found and predict outcomes of the solutions. This analysis can be done by walk-through inspection, modelling, or a combination of different methods.
Conservation
All actions aimed at the safeguarding of cultural property for the future. The purpose of conservation is to study, record, retain and restore the culturally significant qualities of the cultural property as embodied in its physical and chemical nature, with the least possible intervention. Conservation includes the following: examination, documentation, preventive conservation, reservation (possibility for future protection), treatment, restoration, and reconstruction. >> Architectural conservation >> Building conservation
Conservator
A professional whose primary occupation is the practice of conservation and who, through specialised education, knowledge, training, and experience, formulates and implements all the activities of conservation in accordance with an ethical code such as the AIC Code of Ethics and Guidelines for Practice. Professionals are responsible for treatment, preventive care, and research directed toward the long-term safekeeping of cultural and natural heritage. In most countries also special exams need to be done for the licence, to be able to deal with cultural heritage.
Constructivism (Constructivist architecture) (1920 - 1932)
A form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced many pioneering projects and finished buildings, before falling out of favour by politics around 1932. It has left marked effects on later developments in architecture.
Coordination
Harmonisation, organisation of different elements of a body. It is the process of organising people or groups so that they work together properly and well and making harmonious functioning of parts for effective results.
Criteria (plural), criterion (singular)
Standards of judgement in evaluating thoughts, texts, plans, projects, executions for making rules or principles in professional and scientific elaboration. Criteria are also used to select sites or buildings of outstanding universal value for inclusion on the World Heritage List, for example present a masterpiece of human creative genius, to exhibit an important interchange of human values, to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization, to be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history, etc.
Cultural diversity
The result of independent long-term developments and discoveries in different places, under different conditions and conditions, natural conditions. This diversity is embodied in the uniqueness and plurality of the identities of the groups and societies making up humankind. As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature.
Cultural landscape
Pieces of immovable heritage are cultural properties and represent the "combined works of nature and of man". They are illustrative of the evolution of human society and settlement over time, under the influence of the physical constraints and/or opportunities presented by their natural environment and of successive social, economic and cultural forces, both external and internal. >> Architectural landscape >> Landscape
Cultural property
Properties inscribed in the World Heritage List after having met at least one of the cultural heritage criteria and the test of authenticity are referred to as cultural properties. Under the term are covered tangible and intangible cultural elements after having met at least one of the cultural heritage criteria, important for all the parts of the culture, including authenticity.
Cultural significance
Aesthetic, historic, scientific, social, or spiritual value for past, present or future generations. Cultural significance is embodied in the place itself, its fabric, setting, use, associations, meanings, records, related places, and related objects. Places may have a range of values for different individuals or groups.
Cultural values
The meanings, functions, or benefits ascribed by various communities to something they designate as heritage, and which create the cultural significance of a place or object.