What future for the land of the wooden civilisation? Vernacular architecture from maramures as subject of a long standing debate

Abstract

Maramures Land is a Romanian historical and ethnographic region known as "the land of the wooden civilisation" due to high concentration of vernacular architecture in wood and remarkable virgin forests. Preservation of the architectural heritage has a long standing history as debate subject: authorities and stakeholders recognise its endangered status and complicated evolving paths. Therefore, this paper looks at the specifics of the discourse regarding vernacular architecture in Maramures - heritage sites and common structures - in order to outline the preservation strategies developed along the last twenty years, focusing on policies, programmes, local initiatives and impact. The main result is a multi-scale analysis on a geo-database with the traditional buildings in the rural area of the region. In addition, the timeline revealed the milestones of the debate on wooden architecture, in respect with two case-studies: UNESCO and a Local Action Group.