Using several examples from the Middle East, China, Africa, and the American continent, this paper surveys the visible protective systems in use in Third World countries. The difficult coexistence of new protective structures with architectural remains is stressed, especially in sites where raw bricks are the dominant structural element at the archaeological site. A number of protective measures concerning the development of a site, its display to the public and other facilities, its new constructions, are considered with special emphasis on the formal aspect of new installations, too often considered as temporary or simply disregarded. Protection and beautification do not contradict each other, they are complementary goals. Lastly, new ideas are presented concerning the total or partial roof covering of excavation sites as inspired from such large-scale structures as exhibition halls, sports arenas, hangars, etc. A project will be studied in more detail, that of a textile cover for the Temple of Ishtar at Babylon, whose design, emphatically contrasting forms and materials, is intended to enhance the authentic dignity of the ruins and their immediate environment. The key idea at the conference is to prove that it is at times admissible to prolong the life of vestiges from the past with quality contemporaneous architectural work that at once protects and respects a site. -- AATA