Wide view of the Eames House surrounded by eucalyptus trees in Los Angeles

The Eames House as it appeared in 2011

A key tool of conservation management planning is a conservation management plan. A conservation management plan uses a values-based conservation planning methodology set out in international benchmarks such as the Australia ICOMOS Burra Charter, which emphasize the significance of intangible values as well as the physical aspects of the place. A conservation management plan for the Eames Foundation will help it in its ongoing care of this internationally renowned work of modern architecture.

Developing the plan followed a multistage process adapted to the Eames House site and the needs of the Eames Foundation. The process began with an intensive phase of gathering, analyzing, and assessing information about the place and its condition, history, and associations to identify both the tangible and intangible values, define cultural significance and, ultimately, based on this significance, organize all the necessary information to provide a strategic approach to the site’s conservation, management, and development.

The conservation management plan assessment took a holistic view. New research and the reevaluation of documentary evidence expanded the understanding of the site’s significance beyond the building complex to include its landscape and the collections of objects assembled during the Eameses’ lifetimes, as well as intangible values. This assessment resulted in the crafting of a Statement of Significance, used as a touchstone for the policies that followed. Understanding significance in this holistic way also expanded the project’s focus beyond building fabric conservation issues to examine the vulnerabilities and needs of the setting and collections as well as the building complex.

Armed with this information, the project team followed a collaborative process to develop policies and priorities for implementation to make sure that in preserving the site in the long term, the spirit of the place, often found in the small details, is not lost. These policies were carefully developed to provide the Eames Foundation with comprehensive management tools as it continues its stewardship of the site long into the future. The Eames Foundation Board has adopted the Eames House Conservation Management Plan as the governing document for conserving the Eames House, committing themselves to the policies it sets out as they continue to care of the site.

Along with the conservation management plan, the project included development of a separate Overview. This booklet provides a graphic summary of some of the management plan’s key points, including the site’s heritage significance and important conservation management policies, making them readily accessible to readers. This will serve to encourage the application of the methodology to other sites. The Eames House Conservation Management Plan and the Overview are available in the Resources section for use as models or educational materials.

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