As long as there have been humans, architecture has been part of the development of our society. This is a cultural heritage that concerns everyone in society, a heritage that we literally live in the midst of.

They are called houses, buildings, settlements or architecture. These words cover a broad scope in cultural heritage. But they all have one thing in common: They are built by humans. Whether they are a wooden or stone construction, a few walls holding up a roof or a bridge over a stream. However, as well as practical functions, architectural cultural heritage also has aesthetic and symbolic meanings. It says something about the people who have built, owned and used it. It can reveal wealth and power or the opposite, poverty and powerlessness. Regardless of the builder's standing and resources, buildings are part of cultural heritage. This heritage reveals information about how people lived and worked, and about the cultures or social conditions that created it.

The older the buildings are, the more traces of human activity they may contain. If one time layer is stripped away, a story is lost. This is why all time layers must be respected and none should be stripped away without due cause. At the same time, new functions must be able to be added so that cultural heritage is usable and accessible in the present too.

Whether the buildings are privately owned or public, the practical work on them takes place in municipalities and counties, in associations and communities, at companies and among private people. The task of the Swedish National Heritage Board is to monitor architectural cultural heritage situation at the national level. We convey contacts, build networks and cooperate with others to create methods for knowledge development, information dissemination, building conservation and management. The Swedish National Heritage Board monitors society's buildings and other architecture and cooperates with the surrounding world, both nationally and internationally.

Society has various tools at its disposal to preserve architectural cultural heritage; financial contributions, legislation, archives, databases, knowledge bases, development and research. Everything is there to ensure that the architectural cultural heritage is as rich as possible and can be used be as many people as possible. Architecture and the stories that it contains are an important resource and a part of our material and intangible culture, an important part of society and its development towards a good living environment for everyone.