Authenticity: A very Greek word in a complex European setting
Dimitrios Zygomalas
jim_zs@yahoo.comMinistry of Culture, Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Central Macedonia (Greece) (Greece)
Abstract
A focal point in present-day conservation terminology, authenticity comes from the ancient Greek word afthentikós, which in modern times has come to mean genuine and valid. Based on this interpretation, it entered the conservation agenda, through the Venice Charter, in 1964, received added attention, through the Nara Document, in 1994, and since then, has generated multiple debates among conservation specialists. Yet while a wide consensus on a definition and method of assessment of authenticity pends, other key players in the European setting, namely national authorities, separate bodies, public groupings, and individual owners endorse, and in many cases, assume action in opposite directions. Considering the practical impact of these contradictions, the overall issue needs to be urgently discussed, which is precisely the goal of this paper. Based on extensive bibliographic and archival research, it initially addresses the evolution of the term “authenticity” and its current standing in the conservation agenda. It then examines and evaluates the aforementioned opposite postures, with reference to characteristic examples throughout Europe, and concludes by outlining proposals for the necessary reconciliation.
Keywords:
Authenticity, Europe, Evolution, Contradiction, ReconciliationReferences
Anker, J. (2017, November 5). Potsdam hat keinen Platz für die DDR-Moderne. Berliner Morgenpost. https://www.morgenpost.de/brandenburg/article212442859/Potsdam-hat-keinen-Platz-fuer-die-DDR-Moderne.html (retrieved October 2, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.facebook.com/ArchitecturalUprising
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International [@arch_uprising]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.instagram.com/arch_uprising
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International. (2024, June 26). Architectural Competition. Help us reimagine the façade of a significant building on Madrid’s famous Gran Vía [Link] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ArchitecturalUprising/ (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International. (2024, July 7). Before and after in Bordeaux. The French like traditional architecture and build beautiful buildings! [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=122160323810057398&id=61551721954191&set=a.122096293190057398 (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International [@arch_uprising]. (2024, July 7). Before and after in Bordeaux. The French like traditional architecture and build beautiful buildings! [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/arch_uprising/p/C9IXe4HIyfe/ (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International [@arch_uprising]. (2024, August 16). A new school built in 2019 in Herrnhut (Germany) [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/arch_uprising/p/C-uQYo6ouH4/ (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architectural Uprising - International. (2024, August 24). New school in Herrnhut [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/ArchitecturalUprising/photos/new-school-in-herrnhut-before-an-unsustainable-modernist-school-building-now-rep/122166946628057398/?_rdr (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Architektoniki Epanastasi [@arkitektonikiepanastasi]. (2023, June 5). Metatropi acharou ktiriou se neoklasiko (Conversion of a graceless building into a neoclassical) [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/CtHJDVHowfw/ (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Arnóth, Á. (2019). The ethical problems of architectural reconstruction - Hungarian case studies. Protection of Cultural Heritage, 8, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.35784/odk.1021
Google Scholar
Doikas, S. (ed.). (n.d.). Afentis (Master). In LSJ Ancient Greek Dictionaries. Retrieved September 16, 2024, from https://lsj.gr/wiki/%CE%B1%CF%86%CE%AD%CE%BD%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82
Google Scholar
Evangelische Zinzendorfschulen Herrnhut. (n.d.). Der Schulneubau in Bildern. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://ezsh.de/neubau/der-schulneubau-in-bildern
Google Scholar
Evangelische Zinzendorfschulen Herrnhut. (n.d.). Ein neues Schulhaus für die Zinzendorfschulen. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://ezsh.de/neubau
Google Scholar
Ghelamco. (n.d.). Foksal 13/15. Retrieved October 8, 2024, from https://www.ghelamco.com/projects/poland/foksal-13-15
Google Scholar
Jerome, P. (2008). An Introduction to Authenticity in Preservation. APT Bulletin, 39(2-3), 3-7.
Google Scholar
Jokilehto, J. (1999). A History of Architectural Conservation. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Google Scholar
Kramer, H. (2023, September 4). Potsdams neue Mitte: Erste fertiggestellte Fassaden - aber auch Verzögerungen. Tagesspiegel. https://www.tagesspiegel.de/potsdam/landeshauptstadt/potsdams-neue-mitte-erste-fertiggestellte-fassaden-und-verzogerungen-10415020.html (retrieved October 2, 2024).
Google Scholar
Martins Architecture. (n.d.). Logement collectif: Immeuble type XIX. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.martinsarchitecture.com/fr/projet/33/immeuble-type-xix
Google Scholar
Motín Arquitectónico. (2024). Counterproposal - Competition. Madrid Gran Vía 19 [Design brief]. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iqzhu2oVOr9OBP_6scmjZNeCS8rGcbkT (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Motín Arquitectónico [@motin_arquitectonico]. (2024, June 18). Concurso. Por aquí tengo el placer de anunciar el primer concurso español de arquitectura neotradicional! [Photograph]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/C8Xf2XTNoGF/?img_index=1 (retrieved October 7, 2024).
Google Scholar
Neo-Gothic Building of the Royal Ministry of Finance in Buda Castle under Renovation. (2024, January 8). Hungary Today. https://hungarytoday.hu/neo-gothic-building-of-the-royal-ministry-of-finance-in-buda-castle-under-renovation (retrieved September 30, 2024).
Google Scholar
Papazachariou, G. (2024, July 4). To noima kai i istoria tis lexis: Afthentikos - Afentis (The meaning and the history of the word: Authentic - Master). Kamini. https://www.kamini.gr (retrieved September 16, 2024).
Google Scholar
PI55 Coworking Space. (n.d.). The Building. Retrieved October 7, 2024, from https://www.pi55.com/the-building/
Google Scholar
ProPotsdam GmbH. (n.d.). Integriertes Leitbautenkonzept Potsdamer Mitte. Retrieved October 2, 2024, from https://www.propotsdam.de/ueber-uns/unternehmensverbund/sanierungstraeger-potsdam-gmbh/alter-markt
Google Scholar
Redakcja Pressland. (2019, September 10). Foksal 13/15 - najpiękniejsze kamienice Warszawy odzyskały dawny blask. Ta inwestycja jest jak prezent dla miasta. Bryla.pl. https://www.bryla.pl/foksal-13-15-najpiekniejsze-kamienice-warszawy-odzyskaly-dawny-blask-ta-inwestycja-jest-jak-prezent-dla-miasta (retrieved October 8, 2024).
Google Scholar
Sarantakos, N. (2024, April 17). To afthentiko afentiko (The authentic boss). Sarantakos.wordpress. https://sarantakos.wordpress.com/2024/04/17/afentiko/ (retrieved September 16, 2024).
Google Scholar
Stamatakos, I. (1999). Afthentis. In Lexikon Archaias Ellinikis Glossis (Dictionary of the Ancient Greek Language) - (p. 193).
Google Scholar
Stovel, H. (2008). Origins and influence of the Nara document on authenticity. APT Bulletin, 39(2-3), 9-17.
Google Scholar
Várkapitányság Integrált Területfejlesztési Központ Nonprofit Zrt. (2022). National Hauszmann Program [Imprint]. https://nemzetihauszmannprogram.hu (retrieved September 30, 2024).
Google Scholar
Visit Poland. (2024, April 7). Poland is renewing itself, including its buildings! [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=370424022656179&set=pb.100090657513927.-2207520000&type=3 (retrieved October 8, 2024).
Google Scholar
Wenk, E. (2019, October 28). Potsdams Antlitz: Die FH ist weg - die Debatte bleibt. Tagesspiegel. https://www.tagesspiegel.de/potsdam/landeshauptstadt/die-fh-ist-weg--die-debatte-bleibt-7901329.html (retrieved October 2, 2024).
Google Scholar
Authors
Dimitrios Zygomalasjim_zs@yahoo.com
Ministry of Culture, Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Central Macedonia (Greece) Greece
Statistics
Abstract views: 38PDF downloads: 22
