LEARNING OUTCOMES

The aim of the course is to provide students with the conceptual and operational information and tools necessary to consciously act on existing buildings and, in particular, on the oldest architectural heritage subjected to protection.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The laboratory aims to provide students with the basic knowledge and methodological preparation necessary for: - choosing and using in a concrete case the procedures and techniques of architectural analysis, direct and indirect, with particular regard to the survey, to the history , the archaeological analysis of the buildings, the examination of the architectural and construction components, the recognition and characterization of materials, the analysis of the degradation phenomena of materials and construction elements; - draw up the technical documents summarizing the analytical and diagnostic phases (thematic maps, diagnostic frameworks, reports, ...); - define and illustrate the general and detailed objectives of the restoration project, in the light of the disciplinary debate on restoration and taking into account the specific potential of the building, its current or planned function, its territorial and landscape context and the problems highlighted in analysis site, - identify the needs, priorities and possible methods of intervention, also taking into account the legislative provisions on the subject; - choose the most appropriate restoration techniques in order to preserve the parts subject to protection, consolidating, cleaning and possibly integrating them, and designing what is necessary to use the building safely and in a manner appropriate to its nature as a historic-artistic asset; - prepare the technical and administrative documents of the restoration project, from the illustrative report to the graphic drawings, up to the quantitative and economic estimates.

PREREQUISITES

Know the computer programs to write (like Word), draw (like Cad), process photos and graphics (like Photoshop), draw up an Estimative Metric Calculation (like Excel).

Learn about the history of architecture for the period between the Middle Ages and the twentieth century

Knowing the properties of materials and the role of construction elements normally used in historical buildings

Know the technical lexicon of architecture

Knowing how to survey and represent an existing architecture

TEACHING METHODS

The educational activities include:

1 - a set of ex-cathedra lectures, including by experts from the world of profession, business and institutions, aimed at providing a coherent picture of the tools and technical and operational problems of architectural restoration. In particular, the following will be illustrated: the methods of analysis and non-destructive diagnosis; the contents, forms and requirements of the restoration project;

2 - the actual laboratory activity, conducted by students usually gathered in small groups under the guidance of the teacher, which will be developed in the classroom and / or in situ and which will consist in the survey and and the state of conservation) of a historical artifact and in the planning of its restoration. The building, or an architecturally significant part of it, will be chosen with the teacher at the start of the lessons. Throughout the course of the Laboratory there will be revisions with the teacher and mandatory periodic deliveries of the progress of the work, in the form of written and graphic documents that will be subject to correction in view of their possible re-elaboration and the preparation of the final work to be delivered for the exam.

The activities of the Laboratory will be able to make use, in the times and methods indicated from time to time, of the services of the Laboratory for Analytical Methods for the Restoration and History of the Building (MARSC), of the Laboratory of Archeology of Architecture and of the external collaboration of the ''Institute of the History of Material Culture (in particular for carrying out analyzes on natural and artificial stone materials and for any mensiochronological dating).

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

The lesson plan provides for the illustration of the following topics for their subsequent application to the case studies proposed by the students

• The restoration project: methodological premises, themes and problems
• Inspections and preliminary investigations for the framing and contextualization of the building being restored
• Use of the simplified digital plan photo-straightening programs for the preparation of the basic drawings, with references to the longitudinal relief required
• Pre-industrial construction materials and techniques with particular reference to Genoa and Liguria: characteristics and processing of the main construction materials (stone, bricks, mortars); stone and brick walls; vaulted horizontals, wooden floors and roofs; plasters and coloring and decoration systems
• Methods and tools for the historical-archaeological analysis of architecture: stratigraphic analysis, absolute dating tools (mensiochronology, chronotypes, dendrochronology, dating of mortars, analysis and dating of masonry techniques ...), the use of written sources , cartographic and iconographic
• The degradation of materials: recognition of the phenomena of degradation, main agents and processes of degradation (rising water, washout, infiltration and condensation, biodeteriogens, degradation from pollutants ...), identification of the causes and diagnosis of the degradation
• Intervention techniques in restoration: removal, disassembly and reassembly, consolidation and pre-consolidation, cleaning and disinfestation, dehumidification, integration, protection
• Illustration of restoration projects and interventions (also through invited seminars)
• Technical-administrative documents and approval procedures for the restoration project

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

S.F. MUSSO, Recupero e restauro degli edifici storici. Guida pratica al rilievo e alla diagnostica. IV edizione aggiornata e ampliata, EPC, Roma, 2016.

A. BOATO, T. MANNONI, Archeografia del costruito. Tecniche e materiali della Genova pre-industriale (secoli XI-XIX), Istituto di Costruzioni - Facoltà di Architettura, Genova, 1998 (pdf messo a disposizione tramite AulaWeb)

C. ARCOLAO, La diagnosi nel restauro architettonico. Tecniche, procedure, protocolli, Marsilio, Venezia 2008.

A. BOATO, L’archeologia in architettura. Misurazioni, stratigrafie, datazioni, restauro, Marsilio, Venezia 2008.

S.F. MUSSO, Tecniche di restauro. Aggiornamento, UTET, Torino 2013 (con schede operative su DVD) o, in alternativa, B.P. TORSELLO, S.F. MUSSO, Tecniche di restauro, UTET, Torino 2003.

G. CARBONARA, Trattato di restauro architettonico, UTET, Torino 1996.

Given the vastness and complexity of the topics addressed, more detailed and precise bibliographic references will be provided during the course of the teaching activities, together with support materials that allow easy access to basic information.