When questioning the „relationship between con-servationists and architects“ in their activities of „preserving and designing,“ as is the topic of this volume, it is usually the professionals in these disci-plines that are meant. However, they only represent part of the complex operational framework of herit-age conservation, which includes many other par-ticipants such as residents, property owners, crafts-men, or community volunteers. The contribution argues that all of these participants may be thought of as adopting a careful approach towards the built environment, one that is characterized by co-cre-ation processes not only of knowledge, but also of preservation and design.
Drawing on archival sources, the essay inves-tigates these processes through a historical case study, inquiring into the underlying motivations and causalities as well as the relationships between participants against the backdrop of their respective roles. The aim is to expand both the range of actors involved in preserving and designing valued build-ings and the spectrum of their activities, and to do so from an historical perspective.