The destruction caused by the fire, and the ongoing debates about the restoration of such a potent cultural icon, raise both technical and ethical considerations: before we respond, these considerations need to be brought into focus.

The conference will assess and discuss the values that have guided the restoration of such monuments for a range of historic and recent projects of similar significance.

Critical thinking about the values we attribute to the fabric of such monuments, both that which was lost and that which will replace it, will lead to better informed practice, and to better answers to the question posed by the conference.

Why attend:

• Hear a range of leading practitioners and historians discuss these issues
• Recognise the knowledge, skills, and experience required for conservation projects
• Assess the deterioration, and hence loss of value, wrought by nature, time, accident and man
• Review the cultural values we perceive in such monuments, including their structure
• Consider the ethical issues that bear on our response to such losses