THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE INFORMATION SYSTEM (SIPA) IN PORTUGAL.

Abstract

 In Portugal, the State’s central and local administration services, as well as each autonomous region, are responsible for keeping an inventory of the architectural heritage. However, several others organizations and associations linked to that heritage seek different inventories focused on themes or geographic regions, and who work with different criteria and methods, which results in the scattering of human and financial resources. Given that outlook, the SIPA (Architectural Heritage Information System), developed by the State and integrated to the DGPC (Cultural Heritage General Administration), comes forth as a unique information and documentation system in Portugal. SIPA has the only Portuguese inventory truly tailored to systematically gather the Portuguese architectural, urban and landscape heritage, both in Portugal and around the world, while also encompassing all definitions of heritage. SIPA develops its inventory closely linked with the documentation produced about the heritage. From very early on, SIPA focused on advertising the system, and it soon became the world’s largest digital repository of documentation on architecture in Portugal. Factors such as SIG and modern technologies allow the creation of innovative comparative and typological studies on the architectural heritage, from which we present two case studies, as well as the creation of culture and tourism byproducts, some of them are shown in the institutional website (www.monumentos.pt).