Műemlék lakóházak (Az Egri Nyári Egyetem előadásai 1994 Eger, 1994)

DARYL FLOWER: Living in Monuments, a British Perspective

shops, and occasionally back to houses again. Continual reuse and adaptation has not destroyed the character. Good conservation has come from compromise. A particular area where living in monuments is becoming much more popular and possibly much more feasible is in Scotland. The ruined tower houses have now become fashionable for conversion either to affices or even back to houses again. Rowallen Castle for example was once a ruin in state care and is now being passed back from the state to private ownership with appropriate controls. Dealing with the individual problems of conversion of historic buildings and monuments is a relatively easy occupation, conservation is after all about individual buildings. But there are times when we have to view it a much more strategic level. In Britain we have been carrying out a number of surveys called 'Buildings at Risk', the idea here is to identify within the heritage stock, which are the problem buildings and how is that problem distributed across the countryside. Rapid surveys are carried out in order to assess the scale of dereliction and the way the particular classes of buildings are being affected by economic policies, and changes in the affluence in various parts of the countryside. For example the buildings at risk surveys in Scotland have established that it is some 8 % of the top group of historic buildings that can be described as being 'at risk'. It is these buildings we then have to target with our central government policies, our local authority policies and in particular when financial aid and in centives are being provided. Coming down to the slightly smaller scale in what we call conservation areas or historic districts, there is frequently a need to establish the condition of the overall fabric. We have been carrying out iiist such a study in the historic town of Greenwich on the outskirts of London where we have been carrying out an urban audit of the built fabric of the conservation area. This will enable the targeting of funds to be much more precise to ensure that the criteria for grant aid has been successfully designed and that money that is coming not only from the local council, from central government but also from the European Union can be directed to achieve the maximum conservation effect. In my view there is no doubt that if our historic buildings are to have a future for the next generation, and the generation after, we have to find mechanisms whereby they can pay their way so they can have a meaningful place in our developing societies. Meaningful not only in cultural but also in economic terms.