US/ICOMOS leadership is committed to a sustained effort to attain the strategic planning goals set out at the Board of Trustee's Williamsburg retreat in March 1997. A far-reaching consensus to come out of this process is that the objectives of US/ICOMOS will be focussed on serving the professional needs of its members regarding international preservation issues. In practical terms this will mean enhancing our educational programs, professional exchanges and other activities. US/ICOMOS leadership recognizes that the organization needs to achieve financial stability and this means that leadership needs to be involved with fundraising and other program support. We have identified our strengths: the International Summer Intern Program has been very successful and should be expanded to include mid-career exchanges. Another area targeted for expansion is the Annual Meeting. Beginning in 1998, the Annual Meeting will include an international symposium. To shift away from the image of a Washington-oriented organization, the Annual Meeting will be held in other cities in alternating years starting in 1999.

Two other tools identified to be of primary importance are the specialized committees and the Internet. To help develop their full potential, Specialized Committees are focused on developing better work plans that involve their full membership. Regarding the use of the Internet, expansion of the US/ICOMOS home page and a more intense use of the e-mail list server have also been identified as initial steps in an increasingly effective electronic exchange and the dissemination of information on international preservation.

REPORT ON THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE CONFERENCE IN THAILAND

The ICOMOS International Committee on Vernacular Architecture (CIAV) met in Bangkok on May 13-18, coinciding with an international conference organized by the Thai members of the CIAV. US/ICOMOS was represented at the event by U.S. Vernacular Committee Chair, William Chapman. Mr. Chapman's attendance was made possible through a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in New York City.

During the CIAV meeting, members dealt with a number of issues, including the continuing refinement of the draft Charter for Vernacular Architecture, which is scheduled for circulation and full membership review next winter in preparation for its final approval at the 1999 General Assembly in Mexico. The Draft will be presented in this Newsletter to provide all US/ICOMOS members full opportunity to comment.

Thirty-four papers were presented to 150 participants as part of the Conference on Conservation and Revitalization of Vernacular Architecture. The abundance of Thai papers was an ideal opportunity to present to the world at large the richness of that country's vernacular traditions. Upon concluding, the Assembly issued recommendations for the conservation of the vernacular heritage, portions of which are summarized in the following paragraphs:

The Vernacular is a fragile heritage. Its preservation is dependent upon the maintenance of traditional lifestyles, the availability of traditional crafts and materials, and the curbing of threats posed by development.

It is necessary to provide for the future of this vernacular heritage whilst offering the inhabitants the modern facilities and opportunities to which they are entitled.

Accordingly, this conference calls upon governments.. to:

1. Recognize the invaluable resource provided by the vernacular heritage, and defend it from the threats to which it is now exposed.

2. Encourage the maintenance of traditional lifestyles, architecture and the environmental context, at the same time providing the people with modern facilities and standards of health, education and economic opportunity.

3. Prevent the destruction of such communities by controlling the inevitable changes due to industrialization and exploitation, such as tourism, mining, logging, public utilities and infrastructure.

4. Maintain the production of traditional building materials... and make them available for the maintenance and restoration of traditional and vernacular buildings.

5. Support and provide facilities for the training of craftsmen in the traditional building trades.

6. Survey and record the vernacular heritage on an ongoing basis, both to provide information for future restoration projects, and to provide a permanent record of any buildings and settlements which may be destroyed in the future.

he recommendations conclude with a call upon all nations of the world "to develop and promote housing forms which respect their own vernacular traditions, harmonic with existing settlements, use traditional materials in a sustainable way, and respond effectively to local climates and conditions."

STRUCTURES COMMITTEE MEETS

The second meeting of the new International Scientific Committee on the Analysis and Restoration of Structures of Architectural Heritage (ISCARSAH) met at the Engineering University in Rome from March 13-15. Thirty delegates attended the meeting, including Stephen J. Kelley, US/ICOMOS Board member and U.S. representative.

The new committee was founded at the Executive Committee meeting of ICOMOS in Sofia last October. A third meeting is scheduled for Santiago de Compostela in September. At the Rome meeting, the Committee stated its goals as follows:

1) to promote international cooperation in the establishment of a world body gathering the various specializations of professionals in conservation and restoration concerned with integrating the contribution of structural engineering into conservation knowledge, so that a full understanding of structural typology and behavior and of materials characteristics become an intrinsic part of conservation practice;

2) to establish guidelines and/or formulate general recommendations to be regularly updated.

3) to disseminate the knowledge acquired for the development of competency in conservation of historic structures in different countries.

Kelley reports that participants at the Rome meeting first shared experiences, techniques and different approaches to structures work in their country, then resolved to jointly develop a document with guidelines for structural intervention on a monument. It was generally agreed that it is best to perform the least intervention possible.

The newly elected President of the Committee is Prof.Ing. Giorgia Croci of the Ordinario di Tecnica delle Construzioni, Rome. Prof. Koen Van Balen of Catholic University in Leuven, Belgium, is the new Secretariat of the Committee; and Christiane Schmuckle-Mollard, architect, is the new Treasurer. Schmuckle-Mollard is a Vice President of ICOMOS.

Kelley is on the Managing Group of the Committee. His US/ICOMOS alternate is Melvyn Greene, a seismic engineer of Melvyn Greene and Associates, Inc., in Torrance, California.

Kelley says "This is a first for ICOMOS -- it will mean that more engineers and scientists will want to become involved. I feel certain that we will see a U.S. committee drawn up in the future."

PRESERVATION LAW IS FOCUS IN WEIMAR

Over 30 international ICOMOS experts on preservation law convened in Weimar, Germany, last April to analyze legal structures of private sponsorship and participation in the protection and maintenance of the cultural heritage. The event was hosted by ICOMOS Germany and organized by Werner von Trützschler. The occasion also marked the launching of the ICOMOS International Committee on Legal, Administrative and Financial Issues. US/ICOMOS was represented by Stephen N. Dennis, Chair of the US/ICOMOS Committee on Preservation Law, whose attendance was made possible though a grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation. US/ICOMOS member Bonnie Burnham, Director of The World Monuments Fund, also attended and presented one of three papers on the U.S. experience.

The Seminar dedicated two full sessions to the analysis of legal forms in 19 different countries. Prof. von Trützschler reports that participants held an exhaustive, comprehensive and comparative discussion of both the real issues and the legal framework of public participation in the protection of heritage, and unanimously approved a number of resolutions, on such topics as the need to study the tax treatment of heritage organizations, projects and beneficiaries under national laws; a legal and fiscal environment that favors transborder giving, receiving and cooperation; the establishment of an international comparative glossary of legal terms in the field of the protection of cultural heritage.

In addition to the above recommendations, the Committee established a draft work program to be presented for approval to the ICOMOS Executive Committee.

With the support of the Kress Grant, Mr. Dennis was also able to attend a panel of legal experts convened by the World Bank in St. Petersburg, Russia, to develop conservation and re-use strategies for the historic districts of the old imperial capital.

CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE

On June 10, the House Committee on Resources held Full Committee Hearings on H.R.901, the bill that would curtail the participation of the United States in the World Heritage Convention. US/ICOMOS presented oral testimony opposing the imposition of further limits on U.S. nominations to the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger. Citing articles iv and vi of the Convention (those that guarantee the protection of national sovereignty), the testimony also sought to dispel unfounded fears that participation in the Convention diminishes U.S. national sovereignty over our sites.

The Department of the Interior (National Park Service) and the State Department both testified orally in opposition to the bill. The George Wright Society, The National Trust and The Society for American Archaeology submitted written testimony in opposition.

Readers who subscribe to the free US/ICOMOS electronic list server witnessed and participated in the lively information exchange that surrounded the bill, including the written testimony of US/ICOMOS and the National Parks and Conservation Association, and even some hate mail that was sent to US/ICOMOS Executive Director, Gustavo Araoz.

The overwhelming support for the bill on the part of those invited to testify by the Committee focussed sharply on the diminishment or loss of private property rights caused by the federal government's conservation of natural resources in internationally designated sites. The supporting testimony also made evident that there is a growing mistrust of the Executive branch's ability to steward public land. After the first panel, Chairman Young made this mistrust explicit, commenting to his supporters that he had "yet to see an example of good land management by the Federal Government."

Other parallel legislative initiatives have appeared: Representative Tom Coburn of Oklahoma's amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill, which prohibits expenditures on the World Heritage Convention and the Man and the Biosphere Program, passed with the support of the representatives of states where U.S. World Heritage sites are located.

On the Senate side, a bill very similar to Young's H.R.901 has been introduced by Senator Frank Murkowski of Alaska. S.691, "The Public Land Management Participation Act of 1997," states that no U.S. World Heritage site will become effective until approved by an Act of Congress. It further requires that the United States object to the listing of any U.S. sites on the List of World Heritage in Danger without explicit approval by a joint resolution of Congress.

There is one welcome portion of this Senate bill. It calls on the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to develop regulations that will allow federal, state and local governments and the public to comment and participate in the World Heritage Listing process.

CALENDAR

Borderlands Landscapes, a U.S./Mexican border conference on "Urban Settlement Patterns and The Human Dimension", will be held in Laredo, Texas, Sept. 5-7. For more information, contact Nina Mendez, City of Laredo Planning Department, P.O. Box 579, 1110 Houston Street, Laredo, TX 78040, tel: 210-791-7441.

The Association for Preservation Technology International (APTI) 29th Annual Conference in Chicago from September 25-28, 1997, on the theme, "Less is More"; US/ICOMOS will host a session on the specialized committees. For information: William B. Rose, tel: 217-333-4698; fax: 217-244-2204; e-mail: w-rose1@uiuc.edu

International Symposium on the Use of and Need for Preservation Standards in Architectural Conservation, organized by ASTM, in Atlanta, GA, on April 18-19, 1998. For information: Lauren B. Sickels-Taves, Ph.D., Biohistory International, P.O. Box 597, Natchitoches, LA 71458, tel: 318-352-5747; fax: 318-352-6619; e-mail: taves@cp-tel.net

VOLUNTEER SUPPORT

US/ICOMOS is grateful for the invaluable contributions of several dedicated volunteers: Moya B. King, Svetlana Popovic and Jody Cabezas

US/ICOMOS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Officers: Ann Webster Smith, Chair; Robert Wilburn, Vice Chair; Roy E. Graham, FAIA, Secretary; Arlene Fleming, Treasurer. Members: Sarah S. Boasberg, Adele Chatfield-Taylor, William S. Colburn, Henry Hoffstot, John T. Joyce, James P. Kiernan, Norman L. Koonce, FAIA, R. Randolph Langenbach, Spencer Leineweber, AIA, Margaret G.H. Mac Lean, Richard Pieper, Constance W. Ramirez, Peter H. Stott, Thomas Schmidt, Michael R. Taylor

Ex officio: Robert P. Bergman, American Association of Museums; David Roccosalva, American Institute of Architects; Darwina L. Neal, American Society of Landscape Architects; Mark Meister, Archaeological Institute of America; John C. Poppeliers, National Park Service; Peter Brink, National Trust for Historic Preservation; Francine C. Berkowitz, Smithsonian Institution; Tobi Brimsek, Society for American Archaeology; Maria P. Kouroupas, USIA; Pauline Saliga, Society of Architectural Historians; Elliott Carroll, past ICOMOS Vice President; John M. Fowler, immediate past Chairman

ICOMOS OFFICERS

Ann Webster Smith, ICOMOS Vice President; Hisashi B. Sugaya, Chair, ICOMOS International Committee on Cultural Tourism

US/ICOMOS SPECIALIZED COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Hester A. Davis, Archaeological Heritage Management; A. Elena Charola and Blaine Cliver, Brick Masonry and Ceramics; Hugh C. Miller, FAIA, Cultural Tourism; Maribel Beas, Earthen Architecture; Ronald Lee Fleming and Raul Garcia, Historic Towns; Charles Birnbaum and Robert Page, Historic Landscapes; Stephen N. Dennis, Legislation; Roy Eugene Graham, Training; William Chapman, Vernacular Architecture; Hiroshi Daifuku, Wood.

US/ICOMOS STAFF

Gustavo F. Araoz, AIA, Executive Director; Ellen M. Delage, Program Director;

Accounting: Nonprofit Management Services

US/ICOMOS FELLOWS

1983: Ernest A. Connally, Hiroshi Daifuku, Robert R. Garvey, Jr. †, Richard H. Howland, Robert Thayer †.

1984: J. O. Brew †, Carl Feiss, FAIA, James Marston Fitch, Frederick Gutheim †.

1985: Eduard F. Sekler.

1986: Barclay Gibbs Jones, Robert E. Stipe.

1987: William J. Murtagh, Paul N. Perrot, Ann Webster Smith.

1988: Charles E. Peterson, FAIA.

1989: Russell V. Keune, AIA, Terry B. Morton, Hon.AIA, W. Brown Morton III, Hon.AIA, John Poppeliers.

1991: Robertson E. Collins, George Scheffer.

1994: Elliott Carroll, FAIA, Hugh C. Miller, FAIA.

1996 :Marvin Breckenridge Patterson, Mr. and Mrs. J. Bennett Johnston.

CERTIFICATES OF SERVICE

1991: Barbara Bowen, Randolph Kidder, Erin Muths.

1992: Dorothy Carroll, M. Burton McVernon, Thomas Richards, Hiroshi Daifuku

1993: Barbara Timken.

ICOMOS INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEES: Archaeological Heritage Management* Photogtammetry Cultural Tourism* Rock Art Economics of Conservation Stained Glass Earthen Structures* Stone Historic Gardens and Sites* Structures Historic Towns* Training* Inventories* Underwater Cultural Heritage Legislation* Vernacular Architecture* Wood*

* Corresponding US/ICOMOS National Specialized Committees

ICOMOS NATIONAL COMMITTEES

US/ICOMOS MISSION STATEMENT

US/ICOMOS fosters heritage conservation and historic preservation at the national and international levels through education and training, international exchange of people and information, technical assistance, documentation, advocacy and other activities consistent with the goals of ICOMOS and through collaboration with other organizations.

US/ICOMOS membership includes professionals, practitioners, supporters and organizations committed to the protection, preservation and conservation of the world's cultural heritage. US/ICOMOS is the U.S. National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the international nongovernmental organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the world's heritage.

US/ICOMOS NEWSLETTER

The US/ICOMOS Newsletter is published by US/ICOMOS six times a year. Members are encouraged to submit articles, illustrations and editorial items for inclusion in the Newsletter. Contributors are solely responsible for the facts and opinions stated herein, and publication in this Newsletter does not constitute an official endorsement by US/ICOMOS.

Please send submissions and any inquiries to the Editor, US/ICOMOS Newsletter, 401 F Street, NW, Room 331, Washington, DC 20001-2728.