From the Charter of Venice to the Charter of Historic Cities, ICOMOS continues to develop action in a widening context. This implies reflection on the difficult problem of architectural integration of new construction into a historical townscape. For interventions on monuments, the Charter of Venice had cleverly succeeded in combining respect for the historical authenticity with skillful appeal to contemporary art. The same philosophy is implicitly supported in the Charter of Historic Cities. Its importance is enhanced by two factors: the notorious failure of modern town planning theories and, quite the opposite, the renewed emphasis on heritage from the past as a response to anonymity. If the Charter of Historic Cities is to be applied well, it will have to refer to a new code of architectural ethics, which strictly respects the qualities of heritage from the past and rejects all formalisms, even if they are historicizing. Indeed, this is the spirit which rightly seems to emerge in architectural education in many European schools; going back to the many proper traits in given situations in order to find the stimulus for urban renewal; mistrusting overscaled programs; observing and analyzing before imagining; acquiring awareness of the historical process in which the new architectural fact is to be inserted; giving priority to the modelling of public spaces, etc. From that viewpoint, ICOMOS is in the middle of an enthusiastic phase of architectural research. Undoubtedly a new state of mind is coming which places the city and its complex fabric, its symbolism, and its multiple secrets, in the middle of major cultural debates.