Abstract: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the consequences on conservation theory and practice resulting from

m contemporary global trends, including the increasing involvement in the field by the general public and the broader social, economic and political roles that cultural heritage is being called upon to play in contemporary society. Design/methodology/approach Based on observations and discussions in various international fora, it is argued that alongside traditional heritage places, a new paradigm for heritage sites has emerged whose values no longer rest entirely on material culture, but on intangible concepts for which traditional conservation practice often is neither effective nor applicable. Findings Besides evidencing the evolution of the cultural conservation field as a continuous attempt to reconcile the conservation of cultural heritage and development, this paper reflects upon the role of the World Heritage Convention. It also puts forward several innovative ideas and potential research topics to bridge cultural heritage management and sustainable development. Originality/value The paper suggests how conservation of heritage sites fitting the characteristics of this new paradigm will require a re-examination and expansion of the field's theoretical foundations, as well as the development of a new set of tools for their adequate protection.

Vernacular Architecture
Most of the historic buildings in Georgiain its cities, small towns, and rural countrysideare vernacular in character. Vernacular architecture can be difficult to define and is often characterized by what it is not: it is not high-style design created by professional architects and based on academic or theoretical principles. Rather, it is the skill of traditional building construction passed from one generation of builders to the next in a practical hands-on way through the use of materials, form, and ornamentation. It is more accurately cataloged and described by building type than by style. Vernacular architecture tends to be commonplace and to reflect the everyday life and experience of people within a culture or region. Because these buildings are all around us and are very often plain in appearance, vernacular architecture is often
King Mill

taken for granted. Yet this is the architecture that reflects the daily experience of the broadest aspects of our culture, from Georgia's living places and peach-packing

sheds to its textile mills and villages. Folk Vernacular Architecture Georgia's vernacular architecture spans the history of the state and includes many cultural shifts in form and building technology. Examples of the folk vernacular include the log single pens (one-room houses) and dogtrots (two rooms with an open passage between them) of Georgia's early settlement periods. The timber for such structures was cut at the building site and the logs hewn with hand tools, usually by the people who would live in the house.

Greene County Cabin

As settlement in an area increased and local sawmills were built, heavy timber construction with pegged or with mortise and tenon joints replaced logs as the most practical way of building. But most of Georgia's buildings continued to be vernacular. The same traditional house types were built, and variations developed through practical problem solving rather than formal theories of design or style. Increased settlement also attracted itinerant craftsmen and carpenter/builders who followed the building boom. Even if they added stylish elements such as Greek revival columns, the overall form or house type tended to remain traditional, and the stylistic elements were often copied from practical building guides. More often than not, these stylistic elements would also be modified to accommodate local building materials and the carpenter's skill. Vernacular architecture often embodied a strong sense of craftsmanship and an understanding of building materials and techniques adapted to accommodate daily needs and experience. Industrial Vernacular Architecture After the Civil War (186165), the character of Georgia's vernacular architecture shifted with the new industrial era. From 1870 to 1940 the manufacturing process began to transmit and adapt architectural ideas rather than passing them along through oral tradition and demonstration. Millwork companies such as the R. D. Cole Company in Newnan produced standardized elements like porch posts and balustrades that the local builder would use, with his own discretion.

Mill House

The factory influenced the character of Georgia's vernacular architecture, but vernacular architecture also dominated the industrial landscape. Some of Georgia's most interesting vernacular streetscapes are found in textile mill villages from Augusta to Columbus as well as in Covington, Hogansville, LaGrange, and Newnan. Just as mill workers migrated from the countryside to the cities, vernacular house types did, too. For example, the familiar saddlebag double-pen tenant farmer's house was transformed into a mill village duplex. Roadside Architecture Georgia's vernacular architecture also found expression within a cultural shift of the early twentieth centurythe age of the automobile. Along highways, city streets, and backcountry roads, a new imaginative vernacular sprang up wherever cars passed bythe roadside store, gas station, and motor court.
Roadside Market

The roadside store and the log house stand far removed from each other

in form, materials, methods of construction, and time, yet they are both vernacular. The common thread in roadside architecture is that each structure's design is guided by function and the demands of usability and practicality. Suggested Reading Herbert Gottfried and Jan Jennings, American Vernacular Design, 1870-1940: An Illustrated Glossary (New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1985).

Dell Upton and John Michael Vlach, eds., Common Places: Readings in American Vernacular Architecture (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1986). Vernacular Architecture Forum, Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture series (Columbia, Mo., 1982 ).

Julie Turner, Georgia Heritage

Dr. Marcel Vellinga

Reader in Anthropology of Architecture Director of OISD: IVAU Acting Director of OISD: DOSSier Research Coordinator and Postgraduate Research Tutor (Architecture)

Profile
Holding a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Leiden University (the Netherlands), Marcel has extensive research and teaching experience in the fields of cultural anthropology and international vernacular architecture studies. Over the years he has taught and published on a variety of topics including vernacular architecture, the anthropology of architecture, rural regeneration, Minangkabau architecture, sustainability and tradition, and the ethnographic collecting practices of Edward Horace Man in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Marcel is author of Constituting Unity and Difference: Vernacular Architecture in a Minangkabau Village (KITLV Press 2004); co-author, with Paul Oliver and Alexander Bridge, of the Atlas of Vernacular Architecture of the World (Routledge 2007); and co-editor, with Lindsay Asquith, of Vernacular Architecture in the 21st Century: Theory, Education and Practice (Taylor & Francis 2006). He is also a Director of the Paul Oliver Vernacular Architecture Library, one of the world's largest collections of books, journals, theses, images, drawings, postcards and stamps focused on the vernacular architecture of the world, which is currently in the process of being housed in the Main Library of Oxford Brookes University.

Teaching interests
Anthropology of architecture; Vernacular architecture; Tradition, culture and sustainability; Rural regeneration; Ethnographic research methods

Research interests and consultancy expertise

Anthropology of architecture; vernacular architecture; rural regeneration and sustainable development; anthropology of Southeast Asia (especially Minangkabau and Nicobar Islands); mapping and cartography; Cyprus; the master class concept in higher education

Examples of recent projects

Towards a unified theory of architecture - in collaboration with Howard Davis (University of Oregon), James Davidson and Paul Memmott (both University of Queensland) Vernacular architecture, community participation and regeneration in northern Cyprus The Master Class Concept in Higher Education - Oxford Brookes Associate Teaching Fellowship Atlas of Vernacular Architecture of the World - funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council Cultural and historical context of ethnographic collections from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Examples of recent publications and conference papers

2009: Going beyond the mud hut and noble vernacular: The need for tradition in sustainable development. Space Magazine, vol. 493. 2008: 'Adjusting the popular image: Diversity and dynamics in Minangkabau vernacular architecture'. In R. Schefold et al. (eds), Indonesian Houses, vol. 2, Leiden: KITLV Press. 2007: 'Anthropology and the materiality of architecture'. American Ethnologist, vol. 32 (4). 2007: with Paul Oliver and Alex Bridge: Atlas of Vernacular Architecture of the World. London and New York: Routledge 2007: 'The inventiveness of tradition: Vernacular architecture and the future'. Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture, vol. 14 (2).