Image as a Heritage Value: Understanding its role in Twentieth-Century Architectural Conservation

This research investigates the role of image in the conservation of twentieth-century architecture, questioning whether practice preserves material substance or mediated representation. The image of modern heritage—often canonized through photography—has shaped recognition, guided conservation priorities, and sometimes substituted for authenticity. Recent reflections on conservation criteria, combined with values-based frameworks promoted by the Getty Conservation Institute and UNESCO, suggest that image and reception can be understood as heritage values in their own right. Drawing on case studies and student-led research in the ARURCOHE Master’s programme, including re-readings of the Madrid–New Delhi Document (2017), the article reflects on how visual identity competes with material authenticity, and proposes methodological pathways to integrate image within plural conservation frameworks.