Industrial heritage: conservation charters

Since the Unesco Charter (1962) industrial heritage has been included in conservation charters, gaining an exclusive document in the Nizhny Tagil Charter (2003). The Comittee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage (TICCIH) was created in 1978, followed by many national departments, the Brazilian not before 2004. In 1964 the iron factory São João do Ipanema in Iperó (São Paulo) was listed by Iphan, the gold mines of Ouro Preto are UNESCO world heritage.
There is a rapid increase in the recognision of historically significant sites. Heritage, according to Tunbridge and Ashworth (1996), “is what contemporary society chooses to inherit.” Our society seems to demand more and more heritage. The industrial heritage itself has increased its scope: today it includes, besides buildings, also industrial landscapes, infrastructure, machinery, as well as worker´s housing projects, churches, leisure etc.

The Nizhny Tagil Charter for the Industrial Heritage – Russia, July 2003

www.ticcih.org/

Charters adopted by ICOMOS

www.international.icomos.org/centre_documentation/chartes_eng.htm