Reconstruction (architecture)

Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady, opened in 2005) in Dresden, Germany, reconstructed after its destruction during World War II

Reconstruction in architectural conservation is the returning of a place to a known earlier state by the introduction of new materials.[1] It is related to the architectural concepts of restoration (repairing existing building fabric) and preservation (the prevention of further decay), wherein the most extensive form of reconstruction is creating a replica of a destroyed building.

More narrowly, such as under the Secretary of Interior's Standards in the United States, "reconstruction" is "the act or process of depicting, by means of new construction, the form, features, and detailing of a non-surviving site, landscape, building, structure, or object for the purpose of replicating its appearance at a specific period of time and in its historic location".[2]

  1. ^ "ICOMOS Burra Charter".
  2. ^ "Secretary of Interior's Standards for Reconstruction". Preservation Service of the United States National Park Service. April 2011.