M letter
Maintenance
The continuous protective care of the object, contents or setting of a place. In technical terms maintenance consists of regular inspections of a monument or site and may involve small-scale treatments (e.g., surface cleaning, renewal of protective coatings, etc.). Preventative maintenance is a powerful tool to prevent decay and avoid large-scale conservation-restoration treatments. A suitable maintenance program implemented after the conservation treatment aims at preserving its improved conditions. These are routine, cyclical, non-destructive actions necessary to slow the deterioration of a historic place or building.
Manifesto
Comes from an Italian word derived from the Latin 'manifestum', meaning clear or conspicuous. Is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. In form the architectural manifesto is a product where the written word exists in heightened tension with visual rhetoric. Images, slogans, short texts, expressive typography all come together to build an image of conviction about a certain issue and to translate that conviction into strategies for practice.
Mannerism (1530 - 1600)
Is also known as Late Renaissance.Is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. The style is notable for its intellectual sophistication as well as its artificial qualities. It favours compositional tension and instability rather than the balance and clarity of earlier Renaissance painting.
Mesopotamian architecture (4500 - 2000 BC)
Ancient architecture of the region of the Tigris–Euphrates river system encompassing a number of distinct cultures. Among its accomplishments are the development of complex urban planning systems, building styles such as the courtyard house, and ziggurats, and stepped pyramids built as part of temple complexes.
Modernise
A term, with which we describe updating mostly of a building for future usage. Modernisation can also be necessary because of the law, usage necessity, safety etc. Lately increased modernisation is thermal modernisation of cultural heritage to avoid energetical poorness.
Modernism (1917 - 1965)
At the turn of the 20th century, a general dissatisfaction with revivalist architecture and elaborate decoration gave rise to modernist architecture, characterised by the idea that ‘Form follows function’. As the complexity of buildings began to increase (in terms of structural systems, services and technology), building design became a multi-disciplinary undertaking, with specialist designers for different types and different aspects of buildings.
Monitoring
Continual controlling. Site managers and local authorities continuously need to work towards managing, monitoring and preserving the World Heritage properties. States Parties have an obligation to regularly prepare reports about the state of conservation and the various protection measures put in place at their sites. These reports allow the World Heritage Committee to assess the conditions at the sites and, eventually, to decide on the necessity of adopting specific measures to resolve recurrent problems. The Periodic Reporting process provides an assessment of the application of the World Heritage Convention by the States Parties. It also provides updated information about the sites to record possible changes in the state of conservation of sites. The Periodic Reports – submitted by the States Parties themselves – are prepared on a regional basis and are examined by the World Heritage Committee on a pre-established schedule based on a six-year cycle.
Monument
Object of memorial or symbolic value; also, architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value from the point of view of history, art, or science.
Moorish architecture (711 – 1492)
The articulated Islamic architecture of North Africa and parts of Spain and Portugal, where the Andalusians (Moors) were dominant between 711 and 1492. Characteristic elements of Moorish architecture include muqarnas, horseshoe arches, voussoirs, domes, crenellated arches, lancet arches, ogee arches, courtyards, and decorative tile work known as ”zellij” in Arabic or ”azulejo” in Spanish and Portuguese.
Mothballing
The process of closing up a building temporarily to protect it from the weather as well as to secure it from vandalism. Mothballing measures should not result in permanent damage, and so each treatment should be weighed in terms of its reversibility and its overall benefit. The process consists mostly of:
- Securing the building and its component features to reduce vandalism or break-ins, providing adequate ventilation to the interior.
- Secure or modify utilities and mechanical systems.
- Develop, and implement a maintenance and monitoring plan for protection.
Mudéjar style (1125 - 1600)
A symbiosis of techniques of building and decoration, where Moorish and European cultures met. It is characterised by the use of brick as the main material, in particular for bell towers. Mudéjar did not involve the creation of new shapes or structures, unlike Gothic or Romanesque, but applied the elements of Islamic and Jewish art and architecture to mediaeval and renaissance Christian architecture.