Valuing the intangible in our built heritage : a case study of the gardens of Villa Frere

Abstract

Heritage can be seen as an accumulation of layered meanings on spaces and materials through social processes and interactions. However, most of the time it is the simple aged nature of a material or space that gets valued when identifying sites as built heritage. More than 40 years ago the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter (1979), first introduced intangible heritage as associated with place, setting, and meaning. Since then, the intangible dimension of heritage has been explored as an additional layer to heritage conservation. The research investigates the local case study of Villa Frere through qualitative research methodology and makes use of two different analytical tools to extract data related to intangible heritage. These are presented as a Heritage-Value Matrix and a series of sketches and notes as a result. The discussion extracts key findings from the research and explores the role of intangible heritage through identified themes. The conclusion formulates an understanding of intangible cultural heritage as a complex landscape of relationships and a conduit to sustaining meaning through the heritage conservation process.