"The Fragile Monument" is a study of the discourse of conservation and its effect on the notion and role of the monument in contemporary western society. Through a revisionist account of the history of conservation, the book explores how the monument has been transformed from an object that originally communicated permanence to an object that is perceived as fragile and in need of protection. The argument put forward is that the expansion and popularisation of conservation is bound to a narrative of loss and danger that reveals a paradoxical relationship between destruction and preservation. In a series of case-studies the book shows how spatial devices have been used to negotiate this paradox and how this use of space has contributed to the defining of the monument as an object of conservation. Throughout its history, conservation has been surrounded by a polemic dominated by concepts of authenticity, origin and authorship. By studying that debate in relation to the case-studies,...
