Conservation of Heritage Building in Kuching

Conservation of Heritage Building in Kuching

Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Kuching

The Burra Charter, adopted by the Australia ICOMOS Charter for places of cultural significance on 19 August 1979 at Burra, South Australia define the word conservation as all the processes of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance, which is its 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. Heritage buildings are buildings inherited from the pass which has historical value and cultural significance. Kuching is the capital city of Sarawak state in Malaysia, situated at the banks of the Sarawak River on the North-Western part of the island of Borneo.

Conservation is a general process which includes preservation, maintenance, restoration, reconstruction and adaptation process. The Burra Charter defines them as follows. Preservation means maintaining the fabric of a place in its existing state and retarding deterioration. Maintenance means the continuous protective care of the fabric and setting of a place, and is to be distinguished from repair (restoration or reconstruction). Restoration means returning the existing fabric of a place to a known earlier state by reassembling existing components without the introduction of new material. Reconstruction means returning a place to a known earlier state by introduction of new material into the fabric. Adaptation means modifying a place to suit the existing use or a proposed use. Conservation of heritage buildings often involved most of the processes. There are not many buildings with only a type of conservation process, and Kuching has none.

The old courthouse, the astana, fort Margerita, the pavillion, the square tower, the round tower, the bishop’s house are some of the well-known heritage buildings in Kuching. Continuous...

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