A Brief Interpretation of National Register Bulletin (Part I)
The propose of this survey is to explore the standards of American national historic place registration, could be a reference for national historic places registration standard for China. In the past decades, a large amount of meaningful and valuable historic heritages in this country have been wiped off due to urban development and the imperfect architecture preservation law system. In the meanwhile, from the central to local governments of China, a series of national heritages preservation standards and laws are largely revised and practiced. In the recent period, many significant historic heritage buildings and city blocks are reserved and well remolded under the preservation laws. One of the most essential historic architecture and places preservation activities is the evaluation, and this article will reference American national register standards published by the Federal Governments. The original publication is under the name “National Register Criteria for Evaluation” by the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service. The original contents of the bulletin are marked as Italic font.
考慮到中國近幾十年來的城市化運動，大量有相當歷史意義的文物建築遭到了拆毀而沒有得到保護，還有相當數量的建築物與場所由於沒有被認定為文物而缺乏保護，不是年久失修就是早已改為他用，甚為遺憾。當然，國家早已開始陸續出台了一系列的歷史文化場所與建築保護的法律法規，近年來大量的歷史建築與場所不僅免於被拆毀，而且得到了很好的維護。規範在不斷修訂與完善過程中，是可以借鑒西方國家的相關法規與操作方法，一個重要環節就是判定一座建築物或場所是否是屬於被保類別的準則。這裡，我們可以參考美國官方出臺由美國國家公園出版的法規《如何評估重要歷史遺產》。該出版物非常詳實、全面的解釋了歷史建築與場所登錄的評估方法和標準，包括特殊名詞的解釋。我們會著重分析C類別，即建築與構築物的評估方式。
There are four main criterion catalogs included in the evaluation: A-Event, B-Person, C-Design and construction, and D-Information potential. The evaluation catalog “Events” and “Person” are highly significant in the evaluation rules, which indicates the initial meanings of architecture-space of the architecture activities, the events happened in the spaces.
C-A. Event
e.g. Site of Battle. The building in which an important invention was developed. A factory district where a significant strike occurred. An archaeological site at which a major new aspect of prehistory was discovered, such as the first evidence of man and extinct Pleistocene animals being contemporaneous.
Requirements:
Association of the property with the events;
Significant of the association;
Traditional cultural values.
A類別，事件。例如戰爭的發生地，產生過重要發明的建築物。 發生重大罷工的廠區。 有重大新發現的史前文明考古遺址，如人類和已經滅絕的更新世動物的同時代證據。評估類別有建築物或場所與事件的關聯性，關聯性的重要性程度，以及事件的文化屬性類別。
C-B. Person
e.g. The home of an important merchant or labor leader; the studio of a significant artist, the business headquarters of ab important industrialist.Requirements:
Significance of the individual;
Association with the property;
Comparison to related properties;
Association with groups;
Association with living persons;
Association with architect/ artisans (their studios);
Native American sites
B類別，人物。例如，一位重要的商人或工人領袖的家，重要藝術家的工作室，重要實業家的業務總部。評估類別有人物的重要性，建築物、場所與人物的關聯，兩者之間的關聯度，和組織的關聯，與在世的人的關聯，與建築師或工匠（他們的工作室）的關聯，美洲原居民活動遺址。
C-C. Design/ Construction
This criterion applies to properties significant for their physical design or construction, including such elements as architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, and artwork. To be eligible under criterion C, a property must meet at least one of the following requirements:Embody distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction. Represent a work of master, Possess high artistic value, represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.
e.g. A house or commercial building representing a significant style of architecture; A designed park or garden associated with a particular landscape design philosophy; A movie theater embodying high artistic value in its decorative features; A bridge or dam representing technological advances.
C類別，建築或構築物。 此標準適用於那些設計或建造過程具有重要意義的項目，包括建築，景觀建築，工程和藝術品。 要符合C類別評估標準的資格，必須符合以下要求中的至少一項：獨特的建築風格，建於特殊年代（時間段），特殊的建造方式，或是大師的代表作品，或是具有很高的藝術價值，或者是一處重要而獨特的項目實體，只是其組成部分可能缺少鮮明特徵。比如，一座代表重要風格的住宅或商業建築，一座和特定的景觀設計哲學相聯繫的園林，一座在其裝飾上體現很高的藝術價值的劇院建築，一座代表技術進步的橋樑或大壩。
C-D. Information Potential
The property must have, or have had, information to contribute to our understanding of human history or prehistory, and the information must be considered important.
D類別，信息的潛在意義。該項目必須，或已經提供給我們認識文明史或史前歷史的信息，並且這些信息必須被認為是重要的。
How to define categories of historic properties? Here the Bulletin gives the explanations of the categories.
Building. A building, such as a house, barn, church, hotel, or similar construction, is created principally to shelter any form of human activity. “Building” may be used to refer to a historically and functionally related unit, such as a courthouse, and jail or a house and barn.
Structure. The term “structure” is used to distinguish from buildings those functional constructions made usually for purposes other than creating human shelter.
Object. The term “object” is used to distinguish from buildings and structures and structures those constructions that are primarily artistic in nature or are relatively small in scale and simply constructed. Although it may be, by nature or design, movable, an object is associated with a specific setting or environment.
Site. A site is the location of a significant event, a prehistoric or historic occupation or activity, or a building or structure, whether standing, ruined, or vanished, where the location itself process historic, cultural, or archaeological value regardless of the value of any existing structure.
District. A district possesses a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development.
這裡，該出版物用了“建築物(Building)”而非“建築”(Architecture)一詞，我們應當特別留意。建築物涵蓋的範圍要比建築大得多。構築物(Structure)作為建築或工程的構件、部份，特指非為人所庇護的部份。同時，要區分基地(Site)和區(District)的兩者不同和定義。
The full contents of National Register Bulletin will be found on bulletins
Image resource
https://www.flickr.com/photos/8621643@N04/7163650403
http://photowings.org/learn-more-us-library-of-congress/
http://keywordsuggest.org/gallery/291376.html
