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, elected in 2021, comprises the following Expert Members:

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

Calogero Bellanca (1955), Full Professor of Architectural Conservation at the Faculty of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome. He specialized in theory of conservation, compatible reuse, museal adaptation and urban conservation. He participated in the ICCROM Fellows Program, serving as observer at the General Assemblies of ICCROM. He was coordinator of the General Agreement and visiting professor in Vienna, Krakow and Madrid. Member of Centro Studi di Storia dell’Architettura in Rome since 1984, he taught at PhD Courses in Rome and was a member of different commissions in Leuven, Madrid, Berlin/Cottbus, Vilnius. His practical work includes study and restoration of historic architecture in Italy and Europe. He published more than 150 publications in the fields of architectural conservation, history of architecture, conservation of archaeological sites and museal adaptation. He was elected Vice-Chairman of TheoPhilos in September 2021. Contact: calogero.bellanca@uniroma1.it

Susana Mora Alonso-Muñoyerro is architect graduated at ETSAM, Polytechnic University of Madrid and professor at the same University. She teaches Construction and Restoration of Historic Buildings. Her PhD on Restoration in Spain won an award from the National Council of Architects. She specialized in architectural conservation, consolidation and valorisation of archaeological sites and small historic centres, with grants from the Ministry of Public Works, Spain, “Academia de España” in Rome, School of Specialisation of Sapienza and ICCROM. Professor at Universities in Argentina, Ecuador, Venezuela and Spain; visiting professor in Krakow; researcher in Rome for consolidation of monuments in 2017. Member of ICOMOS Spain since 1981, of the national board (2010-2015), of CIVVIH (since 2019) and of TheoPhylos (since 2016). Contact: susana.mora@upm.es

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

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.