Membership

How To Join

It is a requirement of TheoPhilos membership that members remain active, and the Bureau has the right to dismiss any member who is inactive for more than three years without explanation. There are two main categories of membership for individuals, and a ‘correspondent’ status, as follows:

Correspondents are non-members who wish to be kept informed of events through our email bulletins. To become a correspondent, or to stop receiving notifications, please email theophilos[at]icomos.org.

Associate Membership is the initial category of membership, for ICOMOS members who wish to gain knowledge and build up expertise in the theory of conservation, restoration and preservation. Associate Members are entitled to attend and contribute to our annual meetings, but not to vote, and membership initially runs for three years. 

To apply for Associate Membership of TheoPhilos, please submit the following information via email to theophilos[at]icomos.org:

  • Curriculum Vitae;
  • Two references;
  • Application letter, to include:
    • Brief summary of your relevant experience;
    • Your interest in joining;
    • Your national committee of ICOMOS, with year of registration;
  • Biographical summary (maximum 100 words) for this membership page, if successful.

Acceptance of Associate Members is the responsibility of the Committee. Once received, your application will be reviewed by the Bureau; Bureau recommendations will be collected and presented to the next meeting of the Committee (alongside our conferences, at least once each year in Florence, details on the home page). Please be aware there will likely therefore be a delay between application and confirmation of the Committee’s decision.

Expert Members: Associate Members who have a proven involvement with the Committee can then apply to become Expert Members; this entitles you to attend, contribute to and vote at our annual meetings. Only Expert Members may stand for election to the Bureau.

In addition to Associate and Expert Members, we also accept Non-ICOMOS Members (who will be encouraged to apply for ICOMOS membership), Institutional Members and Honorary Members; we are also open to Institutional Partnerships. Criteria for all classes of membership, and for Institutional Partnerships, are set out in our Bylaws.

Ethical Statement

Please note that we expect all members of Theophilos to subscribe to the ICOMOS Ethical Principles, as adopted by the 18th General Assembly (Florence, 2014) and amended by the 20th General Assembly (Online, 2020). This document provides a useful statement of principles for ICOMOS members, clarifies ethical conservation standards and principles, and outlines our practical responsibilities toward both cultural heritage and our fellow members. All members and applicants should familiarize themselves with this document.

TheoPhilos Bureau

The current TheoPhilos Bureau was elected in March 2024; Bogusław Szmygin is President, Calogero Bellanca is Vice President, and Nigel Walter is Secretary General. The Bureau comprises the following Expert Members:

Calogero Bellanca is an architect, a PhD in Conservation of Architectural Heritage and a professor of Architecture Conservation at the Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome. He has carried out studies and research in various European Countries and has participated in the ICCROM fellows programme. He is Coordinator of the General Agreement with TU Wien University, Polytechnic of Krakow and Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. His practical work includes the study of restoration of palaces and churches in Rome and in other regions of Italy. He has been advisor in Germany (Landshut), in Spain (Sasamon) and in Corea del sud (Seoul). Among his publications there are many books and essays in the field of restoration, architectural history and adaptation of historical preesistence.  Contact: calogero.bellanca@uniroma1.it

Rosa Anna Genovese is full Professor of Architectural Restoration at the University of Naples ‘Federico II’. She is author of some 200 publications on Integrated Conservation, Restoration and Enhancement of Cultural Heritage. Since 2021 she has been Vice-President for Europe and Africa for the ISC ‘CIIC-Cultural Routes’. Member of ICOMOS Academy since 2009. Expert Member of the International Scientific Committees of ICOMOS: Theory and Philosophy of Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (TheoPhilos) and Cultural Routes (CIIC). Member of the International Executive Committee/ADCOM of ICOMOS (for the triennia 1999/2002, 2002/2005). She directed many yards of Architectural Restoration in Italy. Contact: rosaanna.genovese@tin.it 

Claudine Houbart is an architect and art historian specialized in conservation, with a PhD in engineering sciences. She is a professor at the University of Liège and heads the DIVA laboratory (Documentation, Interpretation, Valorisation of Heritage – www.diva.uliege.be). Her research focuses on the history of conservation since the Second World War, in particular the development of doctrinal documents, in relation to the players involved and their practices. She is also interested in the ethical, conceptual and methodological issues raised by the current challenges faced by heritage in the broadest sense. Link to publications: https://orbi.uliege.be/simple-search?query=author_authority%3A%28p087118%29&lang_code=en

Susana Mora Alonso-Muñoyerro, architect, PhD from the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid. Professor in the DCTA (Department of Construction and Technologies in Architecture) ETSAM (UPM). Author of Restoration Projects and director of the conservation works. Susana has written articles and essays about conservation of monuments, and her work “La restauracion arquitectornica en Espana” has won the COAM prize in Spain. Coordinator for Spain of SURE (Sustainable Urban Rehabilitation in Europe). Member of ICOMOS Spain, Academia del Partal, Hispania Nostra and of the Board of International Committee of ICOMOS. Foundational member of ReUso Congress. Contact: susana.mora@upm.es

Bogusław Szmygin:  prof dr hab.eng, Lublin University of Technology; head of Built Heritage Department; Dean of Civil Engineering and Architecture Faculty LUT (2005-12; 2016+); vice-rector LUT (2012-16). He specializes in protection and conservation of architectural monuments (theory of conservation, revitalization of historical towns, protection and conservation of architectural monuments, World Heritage issues, protection of historic ruins). Author of over 150 scientific articles (e.g monograph “Development of conservation doctrine in Poland in XX century”; “UNESCO World Heritage – Methodology and Management”); organizer of several scientific conferences, scientific and educational programmes; scientific editor of dozen proceedings; author of over 50 screenplays for educational films. President ICOMOS Poland (2008+17; 2021+); president of ISC TheoPhil (2017+); chair of WHC in Poland (2010+2014); member of Scientific Committee Architecture and Urbanism Polish Academy of Science (2012+).  E-mail: szmygin@poczta.onet.pl    

Nigel Walter is a Specialist Conservation Architect based in Cambridge, UK specialising in the care and alteration of historic churches. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (FRIBA) and a member of the Church Buildings Council of the Church of England. Nigel holds a PhD in Conservation from the University of York, where he is a Research Associate. His academic research focuses on living heritage, defined as the nexus – literally the binding together – of people and place; from this he has developed a narrative-based approach to conservation that addresses living buildings. Academic and professional profiles.

Dimitrios Zygomalas was born and is currently living in Thessaloniki, Greece. He holds a degree in Architecture and a postgraduate and doctoral degree in Architectural Conservation. He is the author of over 70 papers, articles, reviews, and entries in international and national conference proceedings, journals, and books, focusing, primarily, on the history, theory, and practice of architectural conservation. As of 2007, he is a permanent employee of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, acting, as of 2018, as deputy director of the Service of Modern Monuments and Technical Works of Central Macedonia. In addition, since 2003, he has been contributing to the undergraduate and postgraduate teaching of the conservation of historic buildings and sites in the Department of Architecture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is a member of ICOMOS, the National Trust (UK), the Technical Chamber of Greece, and the Hellenic Society for the Environment and Culture (Greece). Email: dzygomalas@culture.gr Website: https://ypppo.academia.edu/dimitrioszygomalas

TheoPhilos Board 2024, with Giora Solar

Advisory Board

Diane Archibald Ph.D. Architecture. Private practice: restoration, conservation, heritage resource management. Recipient of distinguished Killam Award for doctoral dissertation: “The Cultural Production of Space”. Specializations: Authenticity and integrity in  restoration and conservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage; architectural structures on archaeological sites, historic urban landscapes, cultural landscapes/ territories, nature-culture sites, indigenous built heritage. Teaching: architecture, urban studies in Canada, Italy. Honorary Research Fellow at British School of Rome. Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University, Rome. Founding curator of Canadian Centre for Architecture, international collection of architectural drawings and Conservation Laboratory for the conservation and restoration of architectural works on paper. Getty Architectural Drawings Group (ADAG). Current: Vice-President ICOMOS ISC TheoPhilos; Expert member ICOMOS Our Common Dignity-Rights Based Approach Working Group; ICOMOS SDG Heritage and Gender Equality Task Team. For publications and projects. Contact darchheritage@gmail.com

Giora Solar is architect, town planner, conservator and owner of private practice in Jerusalem since 1975. He is specialized in preservation of built cultural heritage. He was trained at ICCROM. Past director of the conservation department of the Israel antiquities Authority, of the Field Projects department at the Getty Conservation Institute (in Brazil, Central America, the USA, Czech Republic, Tunisia, Tanzania. Benin, China). Past president of ICOMOS Israel, officer of ICOMOS International (member of its executive committee and treasurer general), past liaison officer of ICOMOS to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, member and officer at scientific committees of ICOMOS, Chairman of Israel’s ICOMOS CIVVIH committee. Member of Israel’s World Heritage Committee and Jerusalem’s conservation committee. Author of master plans, conservation plans for towns and villages, urban renewal plans, conservation of individual buildings, adaptive re-use and additions to historic buildings. Contact: giorasolar7@gmail.com

Marko Špikić was born in Zagreb in 1973. He is employed as Full Professor at the Department of Art History, University of Zagreb, Croatia. His fields of interest: history and theory of architectural conservation, architectural reconstructions, transformation of historic towns in Europe. He published fourteen books and numerous scientific articles. He is vice chairman of the Croatian association of art historians. Between 2011 and 2016 he was chairman of the Croatian ICOMOS, currently serving as Secretary General. He joined TheoPhilos in 2013. Contact: mspikic@ffzg.hr

Expert Members

Associate Members