This book is a revised translation of Living Ruins, Value Conflicts, which has played a fundamental role in Heritage Studies and has been published repeatedly internationally. Based on extensive theoretical as well as empirical research, Living Ruins: Conflicts of Values highlights for the first time the forces, ideologies, and conservation approaches that stem from aesthetic reflection as a philosophical direction but also as a poetic experience, in comparison between Greek and Western thought.

This work uniquely reveals the complex network of conditions that determine the perpetuation of ancient ruins across space and time. The value conflicts among them are presented as a central element of heritage studies. Furthermore, interdisciplinary approaches are explored regarding how monumentality, ruins, and restoration and preservation practices—including the construction of new museums like the Acropolis Museum, the shaping of archaeological landscapes, and new conservation efforts—affect the formation of today's reality, local and national identity, architectural progress, and national development, especially in a country like Greece.

Argyrou Loukaki is an Emeritus Professor of Art, Architecture, and Urban Planning at the Hellenic Open University (EAP), a chartered civil engineer of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and a PhD graduate from the University of Oxford. She also holds Master's degrees from the University of Sussex and Panteion University. She has received numerous doctoral and postdoctoral scholarships and awards. Languages spoken: English, French, German, Italian.

She created the Postgraduate Program “Art - Cultural Heritage - Development Policies” (TEP) at EAP and contributed to the establishment of others. She served as Director of the Undergraduate Program “Greek Culture” and of the aforementioned TEP. In her contribution to establishing new postgraduate programs, she developed five new thematic units. She introduced international biennial conferences at EAP on art and space, held at the Acropolis Museum, which lead to international publications curated by her.