Architectural heritage

Architectural heritage is a form of tangible and immovable cultural heritage centered around the documentation and preservation of the built environment of existing and past buildings and structures built for residential, commercial, industrial, defensive, governmental, and spiritual purposes.[1] These buildings and structures can vary widely in size, sophistication, and design based upon the resources and materials available at the time of construction and the cultural understanding of historical precedents and collective memory of architectural styles known to the architects and builders at the time of design and construction.[2]

Yinxu world heritage site, Xinzheng Province, People's Republic of China

These historic buildings and archaeological sites can illustrate the spatial arrangements and sociocultural interactions influenced by the built environments of historic times, and can vary in importance based upon the cultural significance or physical rarity of a particular type of architectural structure.[3] Additionally, the historic and prehistoric interactions between humans, the environment, land and sea usage, and interaction with other cultures can play a significant role in the development of stages of civilization and human history, including traditions, ideas, beliefs, and artistic and literary works that can display human creative genius and outstanding universal significance.[4]

  1. ^ United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (2024). “Global Strategy”. https://whc.unesco.org/en/globalstrategy/
  2. ^ Borges, R.F. (2001). “Evolution of architectural forms of historic buildings”. Penn State University. https://www.witpress.com/Secure/elibrary/papers/STR01/STR01058FU.pdf
  3. ^ English Heritage (2024). “Prehistory: Architecture”. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/prehistory/architecture/
  4. ^ Wang, Li (2022). “Evaluation of the Practical Effects of Environmental Measures in the Conservation of Architectural Heritage in Yan'an Based on Recurrent Neural Networks”. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9484901/