Effective Protection of Contemporary Heritage of Twentieth Century Architecture: The Case of Seville

This research addresses the effective protection of architecture built last twentieth century as one of the main challenges of heritage preservation for the twenty-first century. At this time, the concept of heritage is extensive, allowing us to consider this comtemporary architecture also as part of the legacy of our cities. In recent decades, the international heritage recognition and conservation of these buildings has been progressed. This fact has been made possible thanks to the record of twentieth-century architecture, as well as the publication of some international charters which have included recommendations about how to deal with this heritage. In the Spanish case, protection has been usually provided through the heritage catalogues including in urban plans. Nevertheless, contemporary legacy usually has less recognition and protection than buildings from earlier times. Therefore, many buildings have been demolished or extremely modified, losing their cultural heritage values consequently. So, it is necessary to articulate standards for the adequate preservation of this architecture according to society's current needs but preserving its authenticity. The research takes the Historic Settlement of Seville (Spain) study. It is the second largest one in Europe, being characterised by the importance and relevance of its heritage. Besides, it allows us to analyse how the insertion of a considerable number of modern buildings in a consolidated city has been.