CHAPTER 2

2.1 International guidelines USA Heritage Documentation Program Secretary of the Interior’s Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering Documentation (USA) state the following guidelines on how to produce architectural and engineering documentation. The Guidelines are organized as follows: Definitions. The following definitions are used in conjunction with these guidelines: Documentation—measured drawings, photographs, histories, or other media that depict historic buildings, sites, structures, objects or landscapes. Field Photography—photography other than large-format photography (usually 35mm), intended for the purposes of producing documentation. Field Records—notes of measurements taken, field photographs and other recorded information intended for the purpose of producing documentation. Large-Format Photographs—photographs taken of historic buildings, sites, structures, objects, or landscapes where the dimensions of the negatives are either 4″ × 5″, 5″ × 7″ or 8″ × 10″ and where the photographs are taken with appropriate means to correct perspective distortion. Measured Drawings—drawings produced according to HABS/HAER/HALS guidelines depicting existing conditions or other relevant features of historic buildings, sites, structures, objects or landscapes. Written Data—inventory forms, data sheets, historical reports, or other original, written works of varying lengths that describe a building, site, structure, object, or landscape and highlight its historical, architectural, technological, or cultural significance. Photocopy—a photograph, with large format negative, of a photograph or drawings. Select Existing Drawings—drawings of historic buildings, sites, structures, objects or landscapes, whether original construction or later alteration drawings that portray or depict the historic value or significance. Sketch Plan—a floor or site plan, usually not to exact scale although often drawn from measurements, where the features are shown in proper relation and proportion to one another.

Goal of Documentation. The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) are the USA’s historical architectural, engineering and landscape documentation programs of the National Park Service. The goal of HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is to provide architects, engineers, scholars, preservationists, and interested members of the public with comprehensive information on the historical, architectural, technological, or cultural significance of a building, site, structure, object or landscape. Placed on permanent deposit at the Library of Congress, HABS/HAER/HALS documentation serves as a permanent record of the growth and development of the nation’s built environment.

As of November 2011 in accordance to the USA Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) where documentations produced through the programs constitutes one of the nation’s largest archives of historic architectural, engineering, and landscape documentation. Records on over 40,000 historic sites, consisting of large-format, black and white photographs, measured drawings, and written historical reports, are maintained in a special collection at the Library of Congress, available to the public copyright free in both hard copy (at the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Reading Room) and electronic formats (via the Library of Congress' website: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/).

HDP establishes the standards for the production of drawings, histories, and photography, as well as the criteria for preparing documentation for inclusion in the Collection currently recognized as the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Architectural and Engineering.

2.2 International guidelines Object ID In Europe, documentation guidelines are in accordance with Recommendation R (95) 3 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Member states coordinates documentation methods and systems related to historic buildings and monuments of the architectural heritage.Core Data Index to Historic Buildings and Monuments of the Architectural Heritage. Theoretical Framework Elements within the core data standard has been devised to four elements: The core data standard has been devised within a theoretical framework consisting of four elements: there are Archaeological Item, Archaeological Group, Physical Space, Physical Group. As the research of this paper involved 4 mosques in Melaka and belongs in the Physical Group, the particular framework element is further elaborated as: A physical group is a collection of physical spaces which form larger spaces within which archaeological items and groups may occur. Examples would include the areas of land that constitute a statutorily protected monument, or the group of excavation levels or contexts which make up a ditch and its fill. They need not be contiguous, as for instance where parts of a linear feature are divided by modern intrusions which totally destroy the archaeology.

2.3 The Importance of Historic Building Documentation

In a book commissioned by Getty Information Institute on behalf of Getty, ICOMOS and CIPA, entitled Documenting the Cultural Heritage (Robin Thornes and John Bold, 1988) documentation play a definitive role as inventories in the management of the cultural heritage. They are indispensable, for purposes of identification, protection, interpretation, and physical preservation of movable objects, historic buildings, archaeological sites, and cultural landscapes. They have a significant place in all the major international conventions relating to the protection of the heritage. The 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage included the provision that a World Heritage Committee be established, to which each party state would submit an inventory of its national heritage. Article 2 of the Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of the Architectural Heritage of Europe (Granada, 1985) states that: For the purpose of precise identification of the monuments, groups of buildings and sites to be protected, each Party undertakes to maintain inventories and in the event of threats to the properties concerned, to prepare appropriate documentation at the earliest opportunity. Similarly, Article 2 of the Council of Europe’s Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage (Valletta, 1992) requires each party to make provision for "the maintenance of an inventory of its archaeological heritage and the designation of protected monuments and areas."

2.4 History of Photographic documentation

According to Phyllis Lambert (1977), photographic documentation began in France in the 1850s and maintained the tradition already established by graphic artists of representing the stature of the country through its buildings. In a more romantic sense, but still based on national pride, lithographers and photographers in France contributed to ambitious publications describing historic monuments and remains as well as the landscape. Lambert asserted that The Roman ruins were the first subject of picturesque views between 1544 and 1577 initiated by the great print publisher, Antoine Lafrery. Early photographers, who continued this tradition, began to have their images widely distributed in the 1860s when developments of printing techniques permitted the manufacture of large quantities of uniform prints. She further explained that by the 1880s, such photographer-publishers as Alinari in Florence distributed large numbers of images of buildings as souvenirs for a modern version of the Grand Tour which now included many more people from a greater range of society travelling more rapidly to traditional and new attractions throughout Europe. These prints and albums, along with the more formal treatises, accelerated and broadened the national and international dispersal of architectural concepts while providing source material for scholars,especially architectural historians, who were becoming increasingly imbued with the notion of empirical evidence. Above all, this distribution of quite exact information through a popular new medium served to encourage an appreciation even beyond the scholarly community for the structures depicted. This growth of knowledge and thereby respect for buildings in turn stimulated further photographic documentation as a technique for accurate representation preferred above hand-drawn examples.

Photographic Documentation Equipment The following is a list of recommended equipment to produce large-format photographs that meet the Secretary’s Standards.

Camera: A large-format view camera with ample movement for perspective correction must be used. Acceptable film formats are 4x5, 5x7, and 8x10. The 5x7 size has long been preferred due to its ability to capture context and structures both long and tall.

Lenses: The minimal complement of lenses includes a sharp rectilinear wide angle, a normal, and a mildly telephoto lens. In the 4x5 format, this would translate to a 65mm, 90mm, 150mm and a 210mm lens. It is very important to choose lenses that will allow ample movement of both front and rear standards of the camera without vignetting.

Filters: Use of yellow, orange, and Polarizing filters are recommended in appropriate conditions because of their ability to clarify and reveal details and other information about the structures being documented.

Film: Use polyester-based film when producing HABS, HAER, or HALS photographs. Acceptable polyester-based films include those of medium and slow speed (100 and 400 ASA) produced by Kodak, Ilford, and others.