Deconsecrating a doctrinal monument: Raymond M. Lemaire and the revisions of the Venice Charter

Considering himself as the “main author” of the charter, Raymond M. Lemaire has been one of the first, together with Piero Gazzola, to plead for a revision of the document. As early as 1971, the two men, respectively first Secretary General and President of ICOMOS, tended to launch a debate in favour of a better consideration of the social value of heritage, and the development of specific principles for historical cities conservation, to be included in the Venice charter. Lemaire’s recent experience in that field had indeed convinced him that, contrary to the assertion of article 14, “a literal application of principles valid for monuments, considered as such, is not always possible, nor desirable, for the ensembles”. The adoption of the Amsterdam declaration didn’t put an end to his efforts. Despite his unsuccessful attempt to get a revised version approved by the ICOMOS General assembly in Moscow (1978), R.M.Lemaire always remained critical towards the charter and the application of its principles in the field, underlining, in the eighties, its shortcomings in terms of cultural diversity and, in one of his last texts, in 1996, the negative effect of article 9, leading to the idea that “the mere essence of a conservation operation is a modernist intervention on the edifice or neighbourhood”.

Beyond its interest for conservation history, the awareness of Lemaire’s early critical position towards the Venice Charter should inspire the current debates and help us overcome our reluctance to challenge the sacred principles of what we consider a doctrinal monument.