LOGGIA Nº17

ENGLISH VERSION or aesthetic merit of the winning projects The Europa Nostra / European Union and works. Their main value resides in the Awards for Cultural Heritage strive, then, to

Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán constant encouragement they provide to preserve old works of our culture, and EUROPA NOSTRA / EUROPEAN perform exemplary interventions, which integrate them, while keeping their essential UNION AWARDS FOR CULTURAL will provide guidelines for many others in values intact, in the life of the successive HERITAGE AND THEIR IMPORTANCE a field like cultural heritage, where, generations. This is their main importance, unfortunately, there is more confusion than as an expression of the principles of Since 1978, the Europa Nostra Awards of clarity nowadays regarding the criteria for protecting the cultural legacy of our past, the European Union for works performed in intervention, the methods used and, worse which today constitute a fundamental part of Spain have been an important cultural event. still, the objectives to be achieved. a civilised view of the world, aware of the In the first place, for Hispania Nostra, which In the opinion of Hispania Nostra, there is a possibilities of human beings but also of co-operates in the organisation, but no less great risk all over Europe of trivialising or their limitations and obligations. for all those who strive to conserve, restore, exploiting the real deep historical and refurbish, manage and promote the cultural sometimes artistic meaning of the assets that heritage of Spain. constitute our heritage, above all when Of the Spanish works presented at each dealing with important monuments and Marco Dezzi Bardeschi edition, which are more and more historical buildings. CONSERVATION, NOT numerous each year –forty-seven in 2003– Spain is no exception. For that reason, it is RESTORATION. HUGO, RUSKIN, BOITO, DEHIO ET AL. the merit of only a few is acknowledged. worth rigorously re-formulating the A BRIEF HISTORY & However, although the competitors are current conditions of the development of CONSERVATION SUGGESTIONS aware beforehand that is very difficult to cultural tourism as a phenomenon of FOR THE NEW MILLENNIUM win, because of the small number of growing social and economic importance. awards granted each year, they also know The aim would be to produce authentic, This article proposes a new, condensed that the fact that so many enter the lasting cultural gratification based on solid examination of International Restoration competition is a token of the abundance, information and education that would Charters from the point of view of Italy’s variety and quality of both public and become lodged in people’s memory rather contribution to the disciplines that have private works carried out in Spain in the than mere passing entertainment, which countered the unjustifiable correctness of field of restoration and refurbishment of requires constant renewal and change. so-called “restoration” practices with the monuments and scientific studies and We must not forget that the real value of alternative of a virtuous practice based on master plans concerning architectonic the assets that constitute our cultural respect and care for the heritage. Thus each edition of the Europa heritage resides in the fact that they are a monument/document. Camilo Boito’s Nostra Awards is a precise indication of the testimony of human memory, based on motto “Conservation, not restoration” goes activity in this sphere in Spain, and this in how they were created and how the a step further in the radical European line itself is one of its greatest achievements. generations that went before us saw and anticipated by Victor Hugo (“Guerre aux The solemn award-giving ceremony for mentally and emotionally recreated them. demolisseurs”, 1825-1832), John Ruskin Spanish projects and works in the last Knowledge of the history of monuments, (“so-called ‘restoration’ is the lowest form three editions, 2001, 2002 and 2003, took cities, artworks, the testimonies of of destruction accompanied by a false place under the presidency of Her Majesty civilisation, not to be confused with the description of the object destroyed”, 1849) Queen Sofía, Honorary President of aesthetic pleasure they arouse in us, is and William Morris’s Anti-Restoration Hispania Nostra, held at the Palacio Real therefore essential in order to conserve Movement crusade (from 1877 onwards). It del Pardo last June. A few days earlier, the and use them properly. is a motto taken over and invoked over a ceremony proclaiming the recipients of the A great thinker of the 20th century, unjustly century ago by Georg Gottfried Dehio awards in all European countries in the almost forgotten today, the Germano-Italian (“Conservieren, nicht Restauriren”, 1901) 2003 edition had been held in Munich, Romano Guardini, summed up the essential and value protection theory of Alois Riegl under the presidency of His Royal content of the modern notion of Cultural (“Denkmalkultus”, 1905) and his disciples highness Prince Henry of Denmark, Heritage when he said, “The destruction of (Max Dvorak, Clemens), still valid today. President of Europa Nostra. At that an old work of culture is a crucial loss. Such This essay takes a special look at the first ceremony, it was announced that a medal a work is the expression and the life Italian Charter (Boito, 1883), the Athens of honour and six diplomas had been ambience of ‘human’ man and cannot be Charter (1931) and the text by Gustavo granted to Spanish projects, some of produced by those who came afterwards... Giovanonni (1931), an absolute must to which are analysed in detail in this issue this man needs the old works and forms. understand the evolution of the restoration of Loggia, published under the auspices of They bring back to him the memory of debate until the Venice Charter (Robert Hispania Nostra. himself. They help him to reach himself. If Pane, Ignazio Gazzola, 1964). However, the importance of these prizes they are spoiled, it not only means the loss A rereading of the discipline in Italy is transcends the acknowledgement by the of an aesthetic or ancient resource, but an extremely suggestive, if we examine it different juries of the scientific, technical existential loss.” carefully: 1) The ICOMOS-IFLA Florence

128 ENGLISH VERSION

Charter (1981) with the Italian alternative at the beginning, “will not be turned into “patina” to be a really “precious” quality, a version of historic gardens; 2) the an object of desolation or extermination”. sign of the value of the antiquity and Declaration of Amsterdam (1975) and the This was in 1839 and we can already authenticity of the work, the result of the great restorations of European cities with the anticipate, after reading the battle against action of that “venerable old gentleman Neapolitan school’s insistent allusion to vandalistic restorers waged by Victor called Time, who works on it with very fine integrated conservation (Francesco Forte, Hugo in 1825, the solemn denouncement brushes at an incredibly slow pace” and Roberto Di Stefano); 3) the open formulated by the neophyte Ruskin ten who, “mixing the colours imperceptibly, declinations of the notion of “authenticity” years later (1849) in his Seven Lamps of makes them more muted and delicate”. And (material or formal) underlying the Nara Architecture: “So-called restoration is the in 1756, Luigi Crespi, the abbot from Document (Lemaire, 1994); 4) the objectives worst form of destruction, accompanied by Bologna, precisely in two of his letters to (and the subsequent putting into practice) a false description of the object Algarotti, actually speaks out for the justified by the Burra Charter (1979, 1999) destroyed.” And from that time forward, virtuous theory of non intervention without or the Cracow Charter (2000). It is very apt everyone who has wished to join the ranks making any fuss about it: to avoid the that the debate raised by ICOMOS about the of those who cry out against the perverse havoc wreaked by “restorations” of reasons (and methods) of CONSERVATION effects of the discipline will dismissively paintings, it is preferable to observe “intact should delve into these and other essential use the expression in inverted commas (so- the little that remains pure and immaculate matters, crucial for the future and urgent called “restoration”). rather than enjoy the discordance produced renovation of the discipline. by retouching.” To content oneself, as 1. The rejection by conservationists of the From Restoration to Conservation: The Vasari suggested, with preserving the work deceit involved in so-called “restoration”. Sensitive Thermometer of Quatremère “from the abuse of time (when it is The long, meandering road in defence of de Quincy feasible) or the weathering of the seasons the liberation (and ensuing autonomy) of If we wish to gather testimonies in favour [...], frost in winter, too much heat in CONSERVATION from the overwhelming of conservation (and against restoration), it summer” and prevent “damp from oozing spiral that represents the carefree might be useful to go back to the first half from the walls and vaults”, that is, rebuilding typical of the discipline of of the Age of Enlightenment in Italy. In effectively to avoid the causes of possible RESTORATION starts in Italy precisely 1728, Jonathan Richardson spoke out decay, watch over it carefully and, at the with the discovery of the betrayal of the against Maratta’s unfortunate interventions end of the day, appreciate “things created latter’s expectations and the need to on Raphael’s frescoes, because “instead of by excellent men,” in Crespi’s words, guarantee respect and protection of the restoring the work of Raphael, faded with “better half faded than touched up by material document (as opposed to the loss the passage of time, he did it more damage someone less knowledgeable”. With this we of identity and irreversible falsification). than time has done or could ever have have come, at least as far as pictorial For some time now, as we know, the done”, and criticised those gaudy colours documents are concerned (paintings, material document is the essential, “that hit one in the eye”. And he was soon decoration or frescoes), to an awareness of fundamental point of a discipline whose followed by Mr Bottari, who assured, in the respect due to the material authenticity field of action is precisely the safeguard of 1730, that the work “has lost a great deal of an autographed document. an ASSET recognised as the inalienable with the renovation”; and then by an The evolution of over half a century’s HERITAGE of everyone (monument, exacting traveller like President De Brosse debate about the discipline in the transition single building, block, city, territory), a (1739), who said, “the colour is very poor, from the Old Regime to the Restoration can RECOURSE we believe should be handed reddish and all wrong”. Therefore protests clearly be seen –in spite of the assertive down to future generations in all its unique about the absurdities of restoration began tone of the vocabulary– even in the testimonial richness. For some time I said, with the criticism of interventions on the meaning of the very word “restoration” in because the demand or lesson in this sense work of important painters (1753: William Quatremère de Quincy’s Dictionnaire transmitted to us by great masters of Hogarth, on behalf of all the critics, alleges d’Architecture (published in France in 1832, European civil thinking like Victor Hugo, that it is absolutely impossible to and translated into Italian later, about mid John Ruskin or William Morris already “recuperate” the original colours), but, century). At the beginning, the author, constitutes (or should constitute) common thanks to the cultivated and refined lesson appointed perpetual secretary of the heritage and at the same time an imparted by the mundane, cosmopolitan Academy in 1816, a staunch classicist and unrelinquishable cultural and ethical intellectual that was Count Francesco defender of ideal beauty, does not seem to referent. And, as we shall see if we reread Algarotti, this opinion is expanded to harbour the slightest doubt: restoring is, to the most significant points in the evolution include architects, with the discovery of the him, according to the tradition of of the debate, especially so in Italy. The ageing of materials and the added value dictionaries (see for example the word in deceit of restoration is already present in placed on the skin of an artwork by the Filippo Baldinucci’s “Vocabulary”), Carlo Cattaneo’s contribution “about the effects of time. Rather than a shameful sign “remaking in an object the parts that are restoration of some buildings in Milan” in of decadence and degradation (which damaged or missing either because of age the first issue of his multifarious magazine should therefore be eliminated), Algarotti or some other accident”. And considering Politecnico: “so that restoration,” he writes –long before Ruskin– considered the that “architecture is made up necessarily in

129 LOGGIA Nº17 its works of similar parts that, by means of The former faced the destiny of the old favourite, obviously) and speak up for the precise observance of the measurements, symbol of freedom of the republican City selection of stylistic adaptation, can be copied or reproduced in an identical Hall sculpted by Marzocco. What should appreciating, for example, the work of manner, there is no room for inventiveness be done? Should it be conserved where it people like Pizzigalli in the Carmine in an operation of this sort, since it can be stood in the square, at the foot of the church in Milan, who “demolished the reduced to a simple mechanism”. However, Palazzo Vecchio, in its historic materiality exuberant cornucopias added in the in successive editions and additions to this in spite of the lamentable state it was in Baroque period to restore the original term, it is not difficult to note a perceptible from the aggressions of time or should it parts of this beautiful Gothic work”. This semantic shift from the thesis of mechanical be replaced with a copy to avoid its being solution was also favoured for San remaking to the opposite one of total respect lost forever? Finally, they decided to Simpliciano, where he proposed to for the monument. Thus, after affirming the conserve the original in the museum and “complete the temple harmoniously with a diffusion of the new “mania generated by to substitute a copy in a more weather- beautiful gallery in the same style” rather the supposedly picturesque system of resistant material like bronze. The latter than inserting “a scholastic mass of marble irregular language”, with the effect that defended the need for change: and bronze fashioned in modern style”. “from that time forward, any refurbishment “Architecture should not be limited to In spite of many witty remarks (the same project of an old monument in ruins has met imagining new works or beginning them precocious attention to the patina, defined as with the disapproval of the followers of the but should even know how to complete “venerable opacity” deposited by time), picturesque”. In the first place, Quatremère them and conserve them with timely many of the contradictions still persist, de Quincy believes “that a compromise can restoration works”. Cattaneo had a clear although all the disciplinary issues are under be made” that contemplates respect “for idea of how to make a distinction (which discussion. How can we identify the genetic old buildings more or less in ruins” and Boito echoed) between conserving and law of the characteristic features of the “not restoring the remains” and, in the creating “new works”: “in a land like Italy “type” and the “model” based on the second place, guarantees that a clear [...] that has the multiform mark of the important distinction between both notions distinction be made between the existing passage of the centuries in its buildings, already put into words by Quatremère de parts and the new additions. “Details can the conservation of monuments becomes Quincy? What is the monument’s sphere of be succinctly eliminated so that the an all the more necessary art as cultivated influence, its aura? How should one behave spectator can distinguish between the old Europe’s study and respect for our ancient towards the superfetations (a term first used, work and the part added to complete the buildings in comparison with modern ones I believe, by Cattaneo) or towards additions ensemble”. For him exemplary restoration increases”. The echoes of Victor Hugo’s declared non organic, incongruent and, in would be Valladier’s contemporary “Guerre aux demolisseurs” (1825, 1832) any case, unsought for? intervention on the Arch of Titus in Rome and the recently created Conservators But it is above all at the level of the (1821), where, in order to make it easier to Commissions are very much present “at a precocious awareness of the unity of read, the added parts are made of time when all of cultivated Europe cries inherited urban stratification (and the Travertino marble instead of the original out against the restoring vandals and in consequential need for its absolute kind. And at the end he even goes so far as France and Germany societies and protection) that Cattaneo’s contribution is to suggest the magnificent practice of the committees have been set up to protect valuable, like in that beautiful intuition about slightest possible preventive intervention, in monuments... [...]”. Cattaneo warns the Piazza del Duomo, where we see him a passage that was immediately against destructive interventions, against repeat (Victor Hugo’s) comparison of the appropriated by Ruskin: “A mere prop “restoration or its complement not city with a book: “if any part of that would often be enough to ensure (the becoming an object of devastation and architectonic combination fortuitously monument) many more years’ subsistence”. extermination”. And yet he ends up created over the centuries were removed, trapped in the web of an indefinable spirit would it not be like taking a syllable away Restoration in Italy before Unity: Martelli of the time and place. And when he should from a word or a string from a harpsichord?” & Cattaneo express the objective (what and therefore For this reason, in spite of his many Meantime, however, the heated protest how to conserve?), he refers to an all too contradictions, Cattaneo’s contribution to a against Victor Hugo’s restorations and vague and ambiguous “personal and conservative disciplinary stance is restorers in a mass medium like Notre native” notion of a monument so as not to fundamental and its legitimacy is Dame de Paris made a strong impact on arouse hackneyed temptations to return to acknowledged all over Europe although its public awareness. And in Italy, among the one’s origins. Thus, after singing the character will differ depending on the nation. first to defend the thesis of an intervention praise of the layers of time (the that respected the physico-matteric “multiform mark of the passage of the The First Europeans to Defend the Culture testimonial datum, as early as the nineteen centuries”), instead of aligning himself to of Respect and Protection after Victor thirties we find a cultured architect like safeguard specifically the material Hugo: Merimée, Ruskin and the S.P.A.B. Giuseppe Martelli in Florence and a document as a whole, we see him slide The incipient debate in Europe is known to staunch Europeist and militant critic like towards the venture of re-establishing the have been polarised between the two Carlo Cattaneo in Milan. original configuration (medieval was the opposite lines of thought inaugurated, on the

130 ENGLISH VERSION one hand, by Viollet-le-Duc (publicised in not a historico-philological operation but Camillo Boito and the Change Brought Italy by Pietro Selvatico Estence a re-projecting on conjectures of a about in the First Italian Restoration particularly) and, on the other, by Victor potentially unitary and complete state, Charter (1883) Hugo and John Ruskin. perhaps only imagined and never realised: It was thanks to the urgent act of It is the year 1840 and in France the first we are at the moment of decline that has denouncing so many unforeseeable state run body for the protection of gone down in history with the name of excesses in monuments by the “English” architectural heritage has just seen the “stylistic restoration”. members of the Antiscrape or light. Prosper Merimée, together with On the other hand, precisely the surprising Antirestoration Movement that a radical Ludovico Vitet, behind the first intolerance and arbitrary, negligent change was brought about in Italy. The campaigns regarding the restoration of valuation generated by this theory arouse prelude took place in 1882, when the national monuments, again speaks out in an increasing amount of reactions all over minister Giuseppe Fiorelli sent the prefects favour of the respect that should be Europe, voiced no less by the Society for and chairmen of Conservation shown to the monument. “It cannot be too the Protection of Ancient Buildings Commissions a circular letter (21st July often repeated that, as regards restoration, (S.P.A.B.), an association founded in 1877 1882, nº 683 bis), which contained the the first, inflexible principle consists of and particularly active in England and provisions for restoration “in order to avoid not innovating, even though this Italy, with the solicitous support of mistakes that are often made by making innovation may arise out of an admirable William Morris and his friends, to fight non essential reconstructions, which often desire to complete or enhance: it is wiser against the destructive character of show no respect for either the form or the to leave what is incomplete or imperfect “restoration”. Its manifesto makes a substance of the old monument”. The incomplete or imperfect. It is not crusade of repeating and publicising the intentions were good but, as had happened necessary to correct irregularities or thinking of Ruskin, its chairman and with Cattaneo, the proposal was off-course. rectify deviations, because deviations, prophet, “We are convinced that these last Instead of conserving the original state, it irregularities and defects in symmetry are fifty years’ knowledge and attention have tends to describe and therefore support historical facts of great interest that often wreaked more havoc that the preceding refurbishment of the lost original state that provide archaeological criteria to centuries of revolution, violence and is defined as “normal”: “confronting the determine a period, a school, a symbolic folly”. In fact “the really strange idea of normal state with the current one, point out idea.” And to conclude, he coins a healthy the restoration of ancient monuments the differences and the damage suffered, motto. Restoration? “Neither additions arises in the mind of men, a very bizarre that is, the perversions, demolitions, nor demolitions.” And in this line, he and obviously fatal idea whose very name additions, reconstructions, structural paves the way for a very promising young implies that it is possible to strip this or variations”, inferring from them the works architect: Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le- any other part of history –that is to say, that must be performed, which will strive Duc. But since his first interventions, the life– of fabric, etc.” “to eliminate the differences between the latter’s ardent passion for medieval And after a campaign criticising many current state and the normal one, in other monuments develops a positivist project “exemplary” cases, the century ends with words, recovering and maintaining as far as of rational knowledge (he is a disciple of W.B. Richmond’s accusation in “The possible the normal state of all the parts Comte’s) during the restoration works Impossibility of Restoration” (1891) in the that must be conserved”. with exuberant reinventions and Society’s Annual Report, where he Fiorelli, as a good archaeologist, invokes morphological and stylistic re-writing of theorises, Ruskin-style, “Restoration is a the opposite process, with the intention of the building. Victor Hugo’s serious falsehood. History cannot be brought back reviewing the original project and building recriminations are soon forgotten and it is to life. No man can repeat the thoughts of process: “These provisions must be precisely the monument that symbolises another [...] Above all, believe you me, the applied while warning that, in order to his historical novel (Notre Dame de Paris, ‘restorer’ does not exist.” Which is acquire good knowledge of a monument, 1831) that first receives the stigmas of the tantamount to saying: it is pointless to it is necessary to go back over all the work strange new theory (“Restoring a building create illusions; no retroactive action can be performed by the mind that created it”. is not maintaining, repairing or rebuilding performed: the clock cannot be turned This muddled situation caused Camillo it but re-establishing in it a state of backwards. We can only act diligently and Boito to react on the occasion of the Fourth completion that may never have existed at tempestuously to conserve with care the Congress of Engineers and Architects of a given moment”: definition of surviving architectural heritage, which still Rome (January 1883), where he started the “Restoration” in his Dictionnaire exists and speaks to us. But this is a task well-known debate about the character of raisonné de l’architecture française du that requires exceptional technical and additions that would lead him to draw up XIe au XVIe siècle, 1867). For Viollet, social commitment, a cultural challenge the first Italian restoration charter and self-elected prophet of the newborn that is too much for the poor strength of an immediately submit it for approval. discipline, immediately hailed as a model individual. The battle for the preservation “Should architectonic restorations,” he for coming generations of interventionist and conservation of built heritage will only asks, “particularly in the case of medieval architects, restoring is not conserving or win the day if it becomes a collective monuments, imitate the style, form, work, even rebuilding “com’era e dov’era”. It is sensitisation and action. aged materials in the parts to be completed

131 LOGGIA Nº17 or added to, in such a way that the new thinking, in spite of quite a few oscillations In Boito’s multifarious critical career, work looks like the original or, on the that remain unresolved in the “dialogue” unfortunately always open to mediations and contrary, is it better to clearly show the text, is affirmed as the specific Italian compromises with his possible opponents, added or completed parts?” restoration method. Its decisive fate derived there are at least two basic precepts that This is a Copernican change from his early from the fact that he treated (and respected) represent a qualitative step in the debate in works (Santa Maria di Torcello in Venice or the monument as a document. Let us recall favour of conservation, which the author Porta Ticinese in Milan), where the the start of the 1883 charter: “The himself does not hesitate to point out in a greenhorn Boito is greatly influenced by monuments of the past are not only valuable poem, whose translated version appears Viollet’s stylistic restoration and that of his for studying architecture but serve as below: direct and faithful Italian follower, Marquis essential documents to clarify and illustrate “I must conserve in monuments Pietro Selvatico Estense (restoration project all parts of the history of times and peoples The picturesque and venerable; for the Gothic palace in Piacenza, the new and should therefore be respected with Shunning additions and complements facade of San Pietro in Trent). The excuse religious fastidiousness, as documents As far as I am capable. used to discredit stylistic adaptation (from where even a slight modification that may I must proceed in such a way new to old) is the matter of the character of look like the original work can deceive and That the modern part is on display.” the additions, which Boito forcefully lead little by little to mistaken deductions”. distinguishes from the ambiguous model of And Boito uses Victor Hugo’s (and Riegl: The Theory of Values and the First stylistic submission, exalting its autonomy: Cattaneo’s) metaphor: the monument is a Preservation Bill (1903-1905) restoration should be limited to a correct book, a testimony made of stone. “I repeat At the turn of the century the debate about conservation of the existing work, whereas your comparison,” says one of the two restoration came to a head. In the additions should follow the rules of the protagonists to the other, clearly a Viollet Denkmaltag Congress in Dresden (1900), contemporary project. Admitting that the disciple, “the monument is a book, which I many art historians, such as Paul Tornow, monument is a testimony open to the future want to read without abridgements, additions still vigorously defended the thesis of (not subject to an inverted short-circuit or manipulations; I want to feel sure that repristination and style completion. Georg towards an improbable past to be everything written there has come from the Dehio was against it, and invoked Boito’s resuscitated), the intervention is reopened author’s pen or style [...] and just as I would motto (“Konsierveren, nicht Restauriren”, to dialectic confrontation between the be happy to send forgers of old medals to 1901), thus initiating a polemic against the varied contributions of different cultures forced labour, I would condemn forgers of authors of the mimetic reconstruction of and generations. Restoration must not lend an old building or part of it to rot.” Heidelberg Castle (Bodo Ebhard). And it is itself any more to mutation, but must Conclusion: “everything is therefore reduced not surprising to find, a few years later, that guarantee the permanence of the text to to keeping the monument standing, ensuring a great pioneer and a protagonist of the which it is applied: in short, it must be it has a long life by means of the Modern Movement like Hermann identified (and must conclude) in the reinforcements suggested by science and Muthesius echoed Boito and Dehio’s motto. conservation project. But, since in order to practice; any other type of work becomes a At European level, the great novelty in the keep the monument-document alive it is falsehood on a public monument. new century is no doubt the preservation necessary to ensure it is used with “One can affirm, in general, that a bill drawn up for the Austrian government minimum consumption, it will be in the monument has its stratifications, just like the by the art historian Alois Riegl in 1903 and necessary addition that the new project is earth’s crust,” Boito continues, “and all of which was unfortunately never put into expressed as compatible with the existing them, from the deepest to the most practice, perhaps due to the author’s object. “Additions or renovations must be superficial, have their own value and untimely death (1905). It is a project based made according to contemporary methods, deserve respect.” on an original idea about values making sure that the new work does not But if the monument is a book, it is a hand- (Denkmalkultus), which appear in eternal take away very much from the appearance written document that is open to the writing dialectic confrontation with each other. The of the old building.” of future generations, a writing that does decisions of the operator/restorer constitute The thesis of dialectic confrontation not eliminate the one that went before it but the result of a conflict between opposing between the old and the modern was knows how to fit in between the written refutations: thus historical value tends to divulged, in the form of a dialogue between lines of the palimpsest. Here lies Boito’s complete the text and energetically the author’s two alter egos, the following main merit, even among so many “strange demands the reintegration of the missing year (1884) at the Congress of Engineers contradictions” (the expression is his), in parts or components, whereas the age value and Architects of Turin (where the architect having restored a legitimate future to the speaks out for non intervention and in Alfredo D’Andrade made a new monuments of the past that “restoration” favour of conservation. But the enemy of “medieval” town in Valentino Castle), and wanted to invert in a short-circuit towards the good conservator is the novelty value to the text was included in the collection of the distant time of their uncertain origins, be found in the most tragic mimetic essays published under the title of reopening them to the need (and the reconstructions, in detriment of the “Practical Issues of Fine Arts” (Hoepli quality) of new written contributions by the testimonial value of the original. publishers 1894). At that time, Boito’s architects of the future. Meanwhile the use value makes an

132 ENGLISH VERSION appearance, a value necessary to guarantee reconstructions and shifts the objective to more detailed set of regulations drawn up the monument’s survival. An important the persistence of timely periodical by the Superior Council for Antiquities and contribution to Riegl’s theory was later maintenance works. “It confirms the Fine Arts (still active since Giovannoni’s made by Max Dvorak, his direct disciple, in predominance in the several states time), which is published in the Art Bulletin his text “Catechism” (1916), a veritable represented of a general tendency to (January 1932) in the form of “Rules for the handbook for a good conservator. abandon integral restitution to avoid risks Restoration of Monuments”, in order to And simultaneously in Italy the first by means of permanent regular “enhance the unification of intervention Sopraintendencias are created by the maintenance to ensure conservation.” methods and criteria”. Commissions of Conservators, while The other major points in the new charter The term “restoration” in the Treccani Boito’s presence, with reports and opinions consist of guaranteeing permanent use Encyclopaedia (Giovannoni, 1936: “the appearing almost every day, is affirmed as (“maintaining the occupation of purpose of restoring monuments, whether to crucial, especially because of his tireless monuments ensures their continuity”) consolidate them by repairing the damage mediation between opposing arguments and provided that in any case “the modern use caused by the passage of time or to choices. So much so, that that not a word of should respect the historical and artistic reestablish an active function for them, is an criticism can be found in his enormous character”; making sure public interest absolutely modern concept, parallel to the production against the exuberant prevails (“it is a right of the community as attitude of the thinking and culture that find hypermedieval interventions by his friends opposed to private interests”); making sure arguments of respect and preservation in and colleagues from so many Commissions the project is preceded by “a scrupulous built artistic testimonies of the past, (such as D’Andrade, Rubbiani and investigation of the pathologies to be regardless of the period they belong to”) and Sacconi). The good cause of conservation remedied” (hence the comparison between the ulterior Instructions sent to the does not become as well established in Italy a good conservator and an attentive Sopraintendentes (1938) contribute to shift as it should have, in spite of Giacomo doctor); supporting in the consolidation a attention to the materiality of historic Boni’s Ruskinian beginnings and Corrado “judicious use” of all the resources “testimonies” and, therefore, consolidation Ricci’s organising and proselytising skills afforded by modern technology (and techniques of the building organism and (he was the first Sopraintendente in materials) and “especially reinforced physical conservation of materials. The Ravenna from 1989 and Director General concrete”, particularly “in cases where problem of the restoration of a building of the Ministry from 1903). The latter elements can be preserved in situ, avoiding starts with the manifestation of the first signs waged the first battle (Riegl-style) in favour the risks of destruction and of structural deterioration and material of tolerance and safeguarding the “diverse” reconstruction”; suggesting, in view of the degradation, accelerated by neglect or (the Baroque decoration of San Vitale’s new problem of urban contamination, the improper use. The novelty of these dome in Ravenna). collaboration of “monument conservators” documents is clear to see: the main with technicians in physico-chemical protagonists and the people scientifically in Giovannoni: from the Athens Charter disciplines, and the “removal of pieces charge of the preservation work are now the (12931) to the Instructions (1938) from the context for which they were technicians (the architect and the structure The task of leading operative restoration created” is considered totally unacceptable, engineer, but also the material physicist and decisions now passes on to a diligent particularly for exterior sculptures. chemist) rather than the art historian young engineer-cum-architect Ministry The motto now is to care for and divulge (whereas in Boito’s opinion, “the restorer inspector, Gustavo Giovannoni, whom (“the best guarantee for the conservation of should be an artist and an archaeologist”). Boito appointed his coryphaeus and sole monuments and works of art must stem In a word, from now on respect for the heir after the Congress of the from people’s affection and respect”); to historic monument must prevail over the Sopraintendencia Inspectors in Palermo in this end, “educators must do their best to (always subjective, incidentally) aesthetic 1912 (Boito died two years later). make children and teenagers used to arguments proposed by the art historians The document known as the Athens Charter refraining from any act that may degrade who would like the replacement of the and drawn up by the participants in the monuments” and increase their interest “in whole work. The great battle between the International Conference of Experts for the the protection of the testimony left by all technico-scientific culture of engineer-cum- Preservation and Conservation of civilisations”. As we can see, the document architects (like Giovannoni) and the Monuments of Art and History (Athens, is praiseworthy for its support of respect formalist culture of art historians and critics 21st-30th October, 1931), of whom and care for architectural assets that form (like Venturi, Toesca or Salmi), who were Giovannoni was one, confirms the validity the community’s common heritage and are the authors of great visual encyclopaedias of of the 1883 Italian Charter and, even in the of supranational interest, for whose the artistic manifestations of each era, where words chosen for the declaration safeguard, for the first time, the greatest monuments are accredited by front views (“safeguard”, “protection”, “conservation” determination and the mobilisation of from the Alinari saga of photographers, as instead of the ambiguous “restoration”), international cooperation is invoked at all presumed suprahistoric icons frozen the year constitutes an important disciplinary stages (from examination to intervention). they were born and insensitive to the clarification. To begin with, it staunchly As far as Italy is concerned, the Athens passage of time, now occupies the centre forbids repristination and conjectural Charter is subjected to the preparation of a stage of the disciplinary debate.

133 LOGGIA Nº17

And, in any case, after so much talk about The second postwar Period: Vandals at scholars: the history of architecture is still preservation and conservation in Athens, it is Home and the Protection of the the prevailing study of monuments and easy to see how, afterwards, the same Landscape individual personality [...] The results of protagonists of the historic encounter, even The birth of the ICR also owed a lot to the aesthetic resonance that so enthusiastically evoking their conclusions, go straight back to contribution of Robert Pane, a young man taught the difference between poetry and practising an intolerant restoration method of trained in the sphere of Benedetto Croce’s non poetry, eliminating from the work of art substantial reinvention. In this sense, the case culture who was not long becoming one of everything that is not lyrical ecstasy.” of Torres Balbás, appointed “conservator” of the most energetic representatives of the It was in fact Pane, also in 1956, at the the Alhambra in Granada in 1923, is crusade for the protection of the landscape meeting of the Istituto Nazionale di symptomatic. But also the case of Giovannoni (against indiscriminate building in coastal Urbanistica (INU) in Turin, who, in a speech himself, who, with the plans of municipal areas in the peninsula of Sorrento and the with a title worthy of Giovannoni (“Città expansion, signs operations with great impact villas on the Vesuvius). The years of antica, edilizia nuova”), addressed the on the consolidated urban structure in Rome, Reconstruction and the development boom question of whether “there is an seconding (with Munoz and other are also in fact the years of great unsurpassable incompatibility between old archaeologists) the fascist esventramientos for environmental abuse. There was an attempt and new town planning”, as Brandi said. And the expansion of the Forum made “on State to confront restoration culture and the new he concludes, “This invoked intangibility orders” to articulate the Palazzo Venezia urban planning culture (Olivetti, Astengo). represents a perfect absurdity”. The beauty of visually with the Coliseum at the cost of the Attention shifted more and more from a city consists of “its value as an organism via Alessandrina quarter and the historic isolated monuments to the context (with and not its extraordinary monuments” and agglomerate of Velia hill. Giovannoni) of urban construction both values are in constant evolution. considered as a single unit to be Therefore “the atmosphere must be seen as a Italy: the 1939 Preservation Laws and the safeguarded. In the early nineteen fifties, collective work to be saved as it is”, knowing, First Experiments in the Conservation of while the Neorealist cinema was drawing in any case, that urban scenes cannot be Matter attention to obscure areas on the outskirts frozen to achieve an ahistoric physicalness. After legislative torture that had lasted over of the city, the problem of precarious There can be no caesuras in historic thirty years, on the eve of World War II, marginal shanty towns on the limits of continuum: the new architecture can cohabit Italy finally managed to establish both two human survival came to the fore. The with the old because that is the way it always fundamental laws about the safeguard of “national disgrace” of the Matera cave- has been: one relates to the other expressing monuments (1089/39) and natural beauty dwellings was turned into a laboratory for the lifestyles of a society that evolves with spots (1497/39) and the law of urban urban planning policies, but the problem temporal continuity. Boito’s point about planning to put some order in urban was not solved until the inhabitants were additions is reformulated on urban and development (1942). obliged to leave their shacks and move to territorial scales: it is better “to create a good Meanwhile in Florence a young engineer new rural districts: the recuperation of the contrast (Pane’s words again) than a false from the Sopraintendencia, Piero ghost town was delayed for at least fifty imitation”. And even inside the historic centre Sanpaolesi, started to revise the old years and the expected success of the of a city it is permissible “to replace an old experiments in silicatisation, in other words, solution adopted is far from clear. building with a new one” as long as “the pre- chemical treatment of stones, and carry out In view of the growing pressure of land existing relationship between masses and hardening tests (with fluosilicate of silicic, speculation that broke up the old weft of the spaces” is not altered, that is to say, the calcium and magnesium) on stone (the city, Antonio Cederna’s campaign against existing height and volume must be easily frozen serena stone, sandstone, “the vandals at home” (the title of one of his respected. The confidence in the culture of the marble), which he later applied to his first heated pamphlets) gave rise to a great contemporary project is possible under these works in Tuscany (the lantern of polemic. The devastation did not so much conditions, contrary to what Ernesto Nathan Brunelleschi’s Old Sacristy in Florence, affect monuments (which the “restorers” Rogers claims from the pages of Casabella, Donatello’s marble pulpit in Prato). The first looked after) but the poorest, defenceless prognosticating for the new architecture the collaborators in material treatment are born part of the historic city, whose character is theory of the “acclimatisation to the pre- for the occasion. And in Rome the minister not in its main monuments but in the existing state” without special restrictive Bottai, who signed the two preservation laws complex context of streets and buildings, the conditions (the star example being his Velasca at the request of some art historians (Argan, organic articulation of the streets, houses, Tower in Milan). Bianchi Bandinelli, Lionello Venturi, squares, gardens, the compact succession of Brandi), creates the Istituto Centrale per il styles and tastes, the continuity of “minor” Countermand: One Step Backwards Restauro (ICR), which actually started out as architecture, which in each old city nucleus At the moment when the disciplinary pointer a clinic for the research and care of works of constitutes the tone, the necessary network, is visibly inclined towards conservation (and art (and was directed by Brandi for over the connection element, the “lifestyle”, in a there are more and more testimonies in thirty years). The crusade for the word. Cederna says that unfortunately “a favour of the legitimacy and autonomy of a conservation of matter entered its phase of great deal of the destruction threatening our new building standing side by side with the direct experimentation. cities can be attributed to art history old), Italian history goes back a step because

134 ENGLISH VERSION of the theoretical contribution of several to resort to fantasy (!) to refashion the added uses” with a view to re-establishing subjects that slow down disciplinary missing parts or reproduce the concealed the supposed “pertinent original clarification. Here are some of them: ones and finally discover the complete appearance” of the urban organism. - Sopraintendente Alfredo Barbacci’s unity of the work”. For their part, legislators also, taking up the “official text” (printed by the Poligrafico This point is the very antithesis of suggestions of architects like Benevolo or dello Stato in 1956) about restoration history conservation: the aim of restoration is to Cervellati, contribute to the confusion: and theory reintegrate the complete image of the work, article 31 of law 457 for the safeguard of the - The term “restoration” in the Universal Art reestablish the supposedly original physical consistency of the historic city is a Encyclopaedia written by Renato Bonelli expressive lectio. If Bonelli theorises about veritable boomerang, with its intervention and Cesare Brandi and the latter’s “Theory “critical restoration” (which is totally categories that approve ever increasing of Restoration” (both dated 1963) submitted to subjective interpretation and degrees of removal of the built object, from - The good fortune of the theory of therefore criticises also the conservation of “extraordinary maintenance” (which admits Typological Restoration that ensures the the historic status of the text to be the substitution of roofs, walls, fenestration forced success of Muratori’s “Studies for an manipulated), in a substantial agreement and frameworks) to “urbanistic restoration”. Operative Urban History” about Venice, in Brandi directs the restorer’s intervention the first place, and later about Rome. towards the “reintegration of the image” Renovation of University Didactics In spite of showing an unsuspected (title of an essay of tribute by the young And meanwhile, also due to the effect of so chamber of historical horrors (with the Giovanni Carbonara to his master in 1978). much destruction carried out in the name of proposal of comparing pictures of “Restoration,” writes Brandi in his “restoration”, the debate about the discipline “before” and “after” intervention), “Theory”, and pay close attention to the grows and university studies are renovated: Barbacci calmly redirects the discipline terms he uses, “should seek the the first University Institutes for Monument towards Baldinucci’s or Quatremère’s reestablishment of the potential formal Restoration are set up (in Florence: definition (restoration is “any operation unity of the work of art, as long as this is Sanpaolesi, from 1960) with archives and carried out on a monument to conserve, possible without pronouncing an artistic laboratories for the conservation of materials reintegrate or integrate it to its proper falsehood or a historical falsehood and where methods for treating the stone used in form, that is, the form intended by its without eliminating any sign of the passage historic buildings are experimented. The author or authors”) and re-propose of the artwork in time”. It is clear that this necessary relationship between chemistry awkward category binomials, justifying is an obvious paradox, as it is impossible to and restoration comes to the fore. “recomposition, liberation, reintegration, reestablish the original formal (albeit Sanpaolesi’s works seek the chemical integration or reconstruction or potential!) unity while respecting the traces hardening of the “architecture stone” (title of completion” restoration works. of the hand of man and of time. an essay of 1966): the stone in Bartolini- Considering the pulpit from which the In Muratori’s studies about the process of Salimbeni and Rucellai palaces in Florence, sermon is delivered, this stirs up great the historic formation of the city, in the the marble from the Apuan Alps in the Arch confusion among the parishioners. “civic type” we can identify the of Alfonso of Aragon in Naples, the As far as Brandi is concerned, his training characterising (and so far unknown) key to sandstone already reduced to compressed as an art historian caused him to draw up a assuming even as an “a priori synthesis”, sand on the facade of San Michele in Pavia, restoration theory directly modelled on the an expression of society’s “constructional where, in order to make the chemical stone (idealist) theory of the artwork. Hence his spirit” and a reflection of “formal and hardener penetrate deeper into the stone, special insistence on the “indivisible link collective intuition”: the architect is powerful aspirators were used at the back of between restoration and aesthetic and, identified then with “the one who finds, the facade to help the consolidant seep in. particularly, the prevalence of the aesthetic discovers, underneath the multiple forms, In Italian works then a virtuoso conservation aspect over the historic”. Bonelli echoes the first form, the not historic but (and consolidation) practice on the matteric this and, in his new vision of the substantial origin”. The analyst becomes a palimpsest of the work became more and “progressive” history of the coming of age judge. The first municipal promoters of more widespread with the ensuing reduction of the discipline (going from Viollet’s the urban recuperation of Bologna, of the parts of the stone considered “stylistic” restoration to a “historic”, Brescia, Gubbio and Vicenza like the “irretrievable”. The aim of prevention “philological” or “scientific” kind), exalts method. But above all the spirit of the against degradation takes the place of contemporary restoration as a “critical geometry of the Roman castrum in Como “restoration”, which becomes a more and process and creative act” (the echoes of attracts the typologists’ attention: in 1968 more exceptional practice. “A fundamental Gentile can clearly be seen). The closeness Caniggia, a disciple of Muratori’s, is requirement,” stated the text of the to the Reine Sichbarkeit movement is commissioned by the City Council to Instructions issued by the Ministry of the immediate. The aesthetic perception is carry out historico-typological research Sopraintendencia in 1938, “must be timely given clear (almost exclusive) priority: into the walled city, which led to an prevention by means of painstaking when the artistic image is dimmed or exhausting campaign of repristination maintenance of all the causes of “interrupted by destruction or visible followed by “the liberation of the original deterioration in monuments and works of obstructions, the critical process is obliged civil units of volumes and aspects and art; the activity of administrative offices,

135 LOGGIA Nº17 with the participation of all the public and And he denounces the Charter’s sleight of But such conservation works can only be private institutions in any way involved must hand in “completely ignoring the successful if it is part of a more general pay special attention to this preventive identification of restoration in the critical intervention on an urban and territorial action, intended to conserve the historic process and its integral translation in a trial scale. In 1975, the year of European datum in its integrity.” based upon the principle of assigning architectonic heritage, the Council of prevalence to the artistic value over other Europe organises a Congress about From the Venice Charter (1964) to aspects of the monument; it does not value European architectonic heritage in Integrated Conservation the consequences, when restoration takes Amsterdam to decree that this invaluable “The conservation of monuments requires on the task of rediscovering and liberating common cultural asset “must be considered above all systematic maintenance,” the work, giving it back its unitary image, not as a marginal problem but as the main according to article 4 of the Venice Charter even if this involves destroying the added aim of urban and territorial planning”. The drawn up by Pane and Gazzola and parts”. Conclusion: the new Charter Declaration of Amsterdam, drawing approved on the occasion of the second represents “a serious threat” and the reason attention to the processes, strategies and international fair of monument restoration for its unforgivable deficiencies depends on technical and financial modalities for the in Venice. Starting from the basis that “in the fact that its authors are architects and management of planning and urban the restoration of a monument all not scientists, critics or art historians. restoration intervention, gives contributions that define the current In spite of these attempts to disavow it, the responsibility to the local authorities and configuration of a monument must be Charter is accepted as a fundamental calls for the strengthening of the necessary respected, regardless of the period they reference in the discipline at international legislative and administrative measures. In belong to”, it states that restoration is “a level. At Gazzola’s request, the ICOM order to create a new policy of integrated process that must be given an exceptional became the ICOMOS and in Italy the protection and conservation, of which it character”. The authors aspire to distinguish debate about conservation was continued mentions the points of the programme, the clearly, both from a conceptual and an in 1972 with the diffusion, in circular document ratifies the timely co- operative viewpoint, between conservation letter no. 117 from the ministry on 6th protagonist’s role of the culture of the (covered by articles 4-8) and restoration (in April of the new Italian Charter which project. “Since today’s architecture will be the remaining articles, 9-16). The aim of strives to state the merit of the contents of tomorrow’s heritage, the necessary steps restoration consists of “conserving” but the Venetian Charter in greater detail by must be taken to guarantee high quality also, they add, and here we can see the resorting to several specific annexes: contemporary architecture.” compromise reached by the two factions of instructions for the safeguard and In apparent organic syntony, in Italy, the Congress (the technicians, architects restoration of antiquity (Romanelli, 1969); specifically in Naples, a new school of and engineers on the one hand and the art for the correct procedure for architectonic research is developed, whose referent, with historians and critics on the other), restoration (Barbacci, 1969); for the the motto of integrated conservation, is the “revealing the formal and historic values of execution of painting and sculptural economist Francesco Forte, on the one hand, the monument”. Restoration “is based on restoration (Brandi, 1969); for the and Di Stefano’s School of Specialisation respect for the old substance and the preservation of historic city centres. At and Doctorate Studies in Restoration, on the authentic documentation”. As in the distant this time, the list of operations “forbidden other. In the annual seminars at Ravello, medieval debate between “matter” and without exception for all works of art of where national lecturers on the subject meet, “haecceitas” between Saint Thomas and the any period in the broadest sense” grows. the common aim divulged by the ceaseless Franciscans (Duns Scoto), the word The following are completely banned, activity of the magazine Restauro is “substance” is used instead of the term without any possible misunderstanding: specified and strengthened. “matter”, which is shunned by many, in “stylistic or analogical completions; order to reach an agreement between the removals or demolitions that conceal the Historic Gardens, 1981: Two materialists and the followers of the Reine work’s passage through the different eras; Confronting/Opposing Charters Sichbarkeit movement. removal, reconstruction or relocation in At a meeting in Florence on 21st May 1981 The fact that restoration should be places other than the original; alteration of presided by the Belgian Raymond Pechére, considered an “exceptional” act causes the secondary or environmental conditions the International Committee of ICOMOS- Bonelli to react and say heatedly, “This in which it has come down to us; and the IFLA brought out the Historic Gardens statement is quite out of place, deficient alteration or removal of patinas” from the Charter, with the title of Florence Charter in from any point of view and incapable of historic document. The restorer is honour of the host city of flowers. The further development [...]; an incredibly conceived as an attentive conservation Italians participating in the round table poor and insignificant result”. In particular, technician in a white coat who makes sure organised on 12th September at the Academy he finds it really unacceptable that it says he does not remove matter from the of Drawing Arts did not like this dedication, (in article 11) that “all contributions that context and guarantees permanence with and they suggested the Italian Historic define the monument’s present an investigation project followed by a Gardens Charter instead. configuration should be respected, localised intervention and respectful Here we have two opposing views of regardless of the period they belong to”. treatment of materials. restoration. For the first group, a historic

136 ENGLISH VERSION garden is only “an architectonic and plant that refers to a sequence of physical gestures sterile) subjective question about which of composition”, that is to say, something that leave tangible signs, material traces. the “two arguments” should prevail (the “alive, and therefore subject to deterioration “Authentic” is a term from late Latin that artistic or the historical) in a false problem and renewal. An expression of the close circulated in protomedieval times and makes that Riegl had brilliantly resolved at the relationship between civilisation and nature reference to the autentes, self-employed dawn of the last century when he wrote [...], the garden,” it goes on, “acquires the craftsmen, authors who work to produce one precisely that “an artistic value is also a cosmic sense of an idealised image of the material document or another (which they historical value”, but also “and vice versa, world, which may be the object of earnest autograph), about whom other operators every historical value represents an artistic repristination.” In the event that it should (historians, analysts, scientists) ask questions value (with the respective demonstration by have “completely disappeared” or never in a ceaseless exercise of reduction to absurdity). We sincerely believe existed, the intervention “will have the certification/verification with the intention of that nobody today can really want to turn character of evocation or creation”. validating the authenticity of the source. back the restoration clock to before 1903. Whereas the Franco-Belgian document Every work, or rather every fragment and completely shifts the problem of restoring tangible component of it, as an object of the The Future of Conservation between gardens to the field of redesigning and attention of those who enjoy it, is liable at all Doctrine and a New Type of Work: the architectural re-projecting more antiquo, the times to authentication tests (historical, Sponsored Role of Guarantor and Italian Charter puts it in the line (congruent philological, autographic, etc.). Authenticity ICOMOS Reference with other sectors of intervention) of is therefore a notion inseparably linked to It Italy the recent renovation (1999) of old safeguard and matteric conservation. The the speaking presence of a physical fascist laws about preservation established garden “represents a polymatteric testimony. And it cannot do without a by Bottai in 1939 and still in force (one of ensemble”, a “material artefact” that “like material referent, a text to certify. All the which, law 1089, was about monuments, any other asset, constitutes a limited, more so in architecture: authenticity is only another, 1497, about the environment and perishable, unrepeatable unicum” that “has the part of masonry and the matteric landscape), regrouped in the Single Text for its own development process, its own components that bear the mark of man’s the Preservation of Cultural Assets, history (birth, growth, change, degradation) hand and the passage of time. represents perhaps the most recent sign that reflects the society and culture that We proposed precisely this reflection in the revising the aims of the discipline in favour have created, built, used and in any case meeting about the theme “Authenticity and of permanence. The legislator too, after been related to it. So, to comply with the Monumental Heritage” promoted by Di twenty years of pillaging our architectonic indications of the Venice Charter and the Stefano and the magazine Restauro in heritage due to the badly formulated 1972 Provisions, the restoration works Naples in 1994, in view of the ICOMOS application of Law 457 (particularly article “should respect the historic process of the Congress at Nara on the same subject. This 31), seems to have finally listened to the garden, since this process materialises the led us to refute the argument of “formal chorus of voices calling out for restorer evolution of the structure and the authenticity” taking the notion exclusively to architects dedicated to the task of safeguard. evolutionary configuration that it has an abstract immaterial plane of the ideas, In particular, with article 34 of the new assumed over the years”. In consequence: that is, the iconic image considered as an Single Text declaring that the aim of “Therefore, every operation that tends to invariant, safe from any scratches caused by restoration is “to maintain material integrity give priority to an individual stage acquired time. A hypostatic notion, not a process , that and ensure the conservation and protection at a certain historic period and re-create it ex ill adapts to the continuous evolution (and of cultural assets.” novo ignoring posterior phases would take characterisation) of the testimony of We now trust that these words will be away from its richness and would be architecture, which does not constitute an followed by deeds. A new season of reductive and decidedly anti-historic·. easily reproducible alographic art, but quite intervention on architectural heritage has the opposite, autographic and irreproducible. opened, in which new responsibilities will The Authenticity Debate (Walter Benjamin had already written, in be required for a new specific demand and In the Franco-Belgian document, the notion 1936, “The hic et nunc of the original therefore new integrated professions, of “authenticity” is addressed and forms the constitutes the content of the notion of beginning with all those that can make basis for a new debate. “It concerns both the authenticity”; and still more, “the crucial contributions to an in-depth project design and volume (?) of the parts and its authenticity of a thing integrates everything of knowledge. Among the new sectors of the decoration or the choice of the vegetable or transmissible about it: because of its origin, discipline that, as an indispensable premise, mineral elements that form it.” Authenticity its material duration and its historical are required to provide the necessary then will be reduced to a project problem testimony that rests on materiality”.) foundations for correct conservation works, (design, volume, etc.), essentially of a formal As we can see, the litmus paper of we can include: nature. It has nothing to do with etymology authenticity becomes crucial for the future of 1. Recourse to a nouvelle histoire or material culture or the uniqueness of the our discipline: either it is invoked for the evenementielle (quantitative and document. Authenticity and autographs are sake of the cause of conservation of the comparative, rather than subjectively two notions that have a great deal in singularity and irreproducibility of the built qualitative) of the construction work, the common. The Greek root (“autos”, per se) asset or it goes back to the fluctuating (and changes of use undergone by the building

137 LOGGIA Nº17 and its successive restorations, to be carried Andrea Schiattarella have come from the brilliant pen of out with the help of first-hand sources (the THE RESTORATION OF VILLA Professor Occioni, except for one line building, archives); DURANTE IN ROME from Horace, which I will allow the reader 2. All fast and useful forms of elevation to guess” followed by these lines in Latin: (photographic and manual) as a first Historical Introduction “Ingenuas testor studio quo prosequar examination of the current state of the masonry. The construction of the building artes; Non simulata quies renovat cum 3. A detailed elevation of the (structural and commenced in 1889 according to a project corpore mentem; Valeat posesor –oportet– matteric) pathologies, an essential basis and designed by the architect Giulio Podesti si comportatis rebus bene cogitat uti; Late an integrated part of the documents that (1857-1909) for Francesco Durante (1844- prospiciens meditor que magna fuere.” form the conservation project; 1934), an internationally renowned One enters a richly decorated and spatially 4. The vast field, currently in expansion, of surgeon, considered to be one of the fathers suggestive central hall through a narrow preventive diagnosis, physico-chemical of modern surgery. Born in Letojanni entrance covered with a coffered barrel analysis, load tests or preliminary non (Sicily), Durante moved first to Naples and vault. In an almost Baroque effect of destructive research; then, at 22 years of age, to Berlin. In 1870 intensity, from this narrow vestibule one 5. Expansion of the analysis of the context he was military doctor at the cruel Battle of goes into a double height space on which and the conditions of the medium, research Sedan. He followed the Prussian army from light beams down from above on a series into the environmental situation and the there to Paris, where he worked for three of successive frames around the external causes of degradation in relation years. In 1873, Rome University offered monumental staircase in the background with environmental contamination: the state him a course of Surgical Pathology and and the painted vaults above it. of the air, the ground (geotechnical tests) and thus he initiated his brilliant teaching “The atrium and the staircase are a actions of superficial and deep waters. career. At 33 years of age, he became masterpiece of design and good taste, These points should characterise a correct director of the Surgery Clinic in Rome. where we can admire beautiful (although never too exhaustive) examination He travelled around Europe and the conchiferous marbles that would delight project. As regards the posterior United States and his name soon became both naturalists and lovers of classical intervention, restoration should opt for the known on an international scale: he magnificence: there is also a great deal of clinical cure of the material document and invented the “Durante clamp”, an alabaster. The parts of the columns and the the drawing up of a detailed project of instrument still used in operating theatres walls that are not made of marble are physico-chemical safeguard of the status and today. He experimented and consolidated perfect imitation or chemical marble, existing material stratification, capable of his prestige in operations never before polished in such a way that it is guaranteeing ulterior palimpsests centuries performed. He became the doctor of the impossible to distinguish between the real of life and conveying to coming generations Savoy royal family and the Emperor of and the chemical.” the commitment to undertake timely Austria, whose daughter’s life was saved In the centre there is a great Hellenistic periodical maintenance safeguard works. by his ministrations. style two-colour mosaic, while a large With the absolute conviction that this In 1889, Francesco Crispi, head of the skylight takes the place of the impluvium conservation programme can in no case be Italian government, offered him the post of the Roman atrium. At the back, two carried out without a parallel responsible of senator for life for his scientific merits. bas-reliefs symbolise Sicily and Rome, participative project that responds (in forms This was the high point of his career. In that is, Professor Durante’s homeland and and in methods suitable for the culture of a those years, Durante became promoter of adopted city respectively. contemporary project) to the satisfaction of the large project of the design of the the necessary maintenance techniques with Polyclinic in Rome. And it was just Paintings the least possible consumption of the around the area of that building, in the The paintings inside the building are integrity of the built asset (adaptation of all vicinity of what had once been Villa especially important. “A lover of the arts sorts of installations, equipment and Patrizi, that he decided to have a new and a friend of artists,” Francesco Durante compatible fixed furniture). This obligation house built, also in 1889. “commissioned some of the latter to paint probably goes beyond the discipline of a the frescos in the inner rooms.” Thus good conservator and specifically involves Description of the Villa works by the Sicilian Giuseppe Sciuti the culture and the modus operandi of the The facade with a Neo-Renaissance (1834-1911) and Salvatore Frangiamore architect designer and the new project, structure is divided into two orders. In the (1853-1915) are mixed with those by the which is destined therefore to be compared centre there is a pronaos with four two Romans Giuseppe Ferrari (1845- in an autonomous, transparent manner, as Taormina marble columns supporting a 1922) and Enrico Coleman (1846-1911). the ulterior parallel autograph, with the balcony with a balustrade on the first In 1891, shortly after the villa had been historic document to which it has been floor. The cladding of the facade is false completed, the latter was commissioned to added, producing a looked-for and authentic bossed Travertino, larger in volume on the paint frescos on the twenty-nine lunettes added (cultural and economic) value. ground floor and on the corners plates. of the first floor loggia. Most of these Upstairs a large cornice runs over the paintings have his beloved Roman frieze, where these words are inscribed: “I countryside as their theme.

138 ENGLISH VERSION

Giuseppe Sciuti is also the author of the For that reason it was necessary from the of this was found in a planimetry of the tempera painting, signed and dated 1892, on start to study and understand the Villa Patrizi neighbourhood dated 1904 the cistern vault in the first room on the architectonic work we had before us in naming the proprietors of the villas, such right, representing the four seasons, the order to discover its real consistency. The as, on the one hand, artists like Sciuti, ballroom, representing dawn, and the attitude adopted in the restoration was one who, as we mentioned above, made many magnificent cycle on the staircase vault on of the utmost respect for the obvious of the frescos for Villa Durante, but also historical and scientific themes. In the first quality of the preexisting building and our Ximenes, a friend of Senator Durante’s, room on the right, which used to be the objective was to attempt to restore it to its Koch, Nicholini and, on the other hand, library, an anonymous painting that could original condition. outstanding exponents of society, possibly be attributed to Sciuti, representing The preparation of the works went in three including, apart from Professor Durante architecture, astronomy, music and painting, directions. The first, historical in character, and Piaggio, the Orsinis, the Rufos, the is a sort of tribute to all those who had to do with the configuration of the Savellis and even the Levis, the Saaduns participated in constructing the building. villa, but also the participation of and some eminent representatives of the The works and techniques used in important figures of late nineteenth century international community in Rome: the decorating the villa deserve special Roman culture and the reconstruction of the Mayors and the Kauffmanns. This group attention. We know how particular vicissitudes and the role they played in belonged to the ruling classes that were Durante was about choosing his master Italian and international history during aware of their role and prepared to lead craftsmen, many of whom, especially those years. This phase was developed in the destiny of a country that was about to stonemasons and plasterers, were from the Capitoline Archives, where the take its first steps. Sicily. The skill put into the bas-reliefs, building licence was found, but also in By comparing the floor plans with the the capitals, the marble and plaster work other sources like the Academy of actual building, reflected in the detailed in the central space and the workmanship Dramatic Art, Letojanni Council and metric mapping, variations in the layout of of the stuccoes in the soffits and the private collections, which brought to light the villa were revealed, of which an friezes in the reception rooms are on a par iconographic material that was very important instance is the room situated over with the work of the cabinetmakers in the useful in reconstructing the original the facade giving onto the garden, replaced walnut doors and jambs. There is such decorative motifs. by an octagonal vaulted room beside the attention to detail that the cast bronze The second, of a cognitive nature, consisted ballroom, and the insertion of the lift which handles were especially designed and of drawing up an extremely rigorous metric first appears in a 1939 cadastre. made and bear the letters F.D. inscribed on chart, which included the most insignificant Our initial concern during the first study the pieces that form them. elements of the decoration in order to get visits had to do with the possible loss of an overall picture of the building, the the original appearance of the decoration The Restoration Project relationship between the different parts and of the villa, which could have disappeared In spite of the neglect and the great the alterations. or been altered in the successive alterations undergone by the villa in recent The third was investigative, and consisted refurbishment works performed. For this years, on our first visit as architect of performing tests on the walls by means reason, the documentary analysis was restorers we were quite overwhelmed by of stratigraphic examinations to discover followed by tests and essays to verify the its extraordinary quality. Behind the traces of the original treatments and quality and consistency of the original facade, whose austerity we had noticed on materials and, once they had been found, to materials, their state of conservation and our arrival, a marvellous space was verify their state of conservation and entity. the possibility of recuperating them. These concealed, formed by sequences of wings The first results were so surprising that we early studies yielded promising results. and perspectives in all directions, which continued along these lines of research. The following elements reappeared out of revealed the handiwork of an extremely The investigation carried out in the the past almost intact: alabaster stucco skilful author. Capitoline Archives brought to light the treatments of the ground floor walls; the We were still not familiar with its history, original floor plans and sections of the surprising midnight blue of the loggia walls but from the outset we realised that we 1889 building licence. Later, in Letojanni on the upper floor; the first female figures on were about to recuperate a building whose Town Hall, a perspective was found among the staircase vault and the ballroom, whose excellent quality could be intuited, in spite the plans of the project. This material was naked figures had triggered the decision to of a few faux pas that might have been the a privileged source of information which, cover up all the paintings; the traces of the result of a flaw in the project or rather, as together with other contemporary original mosaic and terrazzo flooring under we later discovered, interventions made at documentation, permitted us to understand the carpets, very badly deteriorated because a later date. In fact, some situations the building systems of the area and other of the glue; and a surprising soffit of stucco resulted in a decrease of quality: specific features of Villa Durante. coffers over the room leading out to the foreshortening of perspective finishing in The urban context where the villa stands garden, which had disappeared when the undecorated vaults or insignificant walls, was conceived as a residential area for room was divided in three smaller rooms disconcerting colour schemes or bays with both intellectuals and the new ruling covered with gypsum and wattle vaults. unbalanced proportions. classes of the Kingdom of Italy. Evidence These discoveries and their state of repair

139 LOGGIA Nº17 confirmed the possibility of restoring most the stucco vaults also disappeared, and only with beautiful naturalist style details and of the old nobility to Senator Durante’s traces of the section designed by Podesti figures. The building of this wall would residence. At the same time, the names of remained. In this case, as it was a necessarily have meant an unacceptable fragmentation the protagonists that had contributed to innovative intervention and there were no of the decoration and an inappropriate making the building (Durante himself, graphic documents or photographs to deformation of the preexisting architecture. Podesti, Coleman, Sciuti) reminded us of its consult, we deliberately decided to make a The solution arose precisely thanks to the enormous documentary value. contemporary work. There are two vaults, proximity of the lift. A 3 m high wall of Once the extraordinary worth of the villa one barrel and one cistern, made in an opaque glass, later dematerialised with the had been confirmed, the refurbishment abstract way, over the side walls, rising installation of perimetral lighting, strategy went from the caution exercised in slightly at the crown of the two rooms progressively more transparent towards the the initial approach to the most rigorous reproducing the original form. top, affords an almost complete view of the respect for the original values of the The same attitude was adopted at two other decorated frieze. context, reducing the interventions to a important points. In the late nineteen minimum, restoring the spaces to their thirties, a lift had been inserted in a room Recuperation of the Decoration original functions with the greatest possible for cleaning equipment on the first floor, The most complex and significant part of transparency. The options for the layout and beside the service staircase, connecting the the works was the scientifically rigorous the use of each of the rooms could not but three floors of the building. The heavy wall recuperation of the interior and exterior follow the same logic: repristination of the that closed the bay of the lift blocked the decoration. The most delicate and original spaces where possible and a non- light, creating a sensation of demanding operation was the recovery of invasive use of them. The semi-basement, marginalisation and degradation in the two frescos that had been covered over with originally used by the servants, now houses area, with the lift as a negative catalyst of cement mortar in the nineteen sixties. Of the staff offices, while the ground floor and the the context. Not wishing to relinquish this first of these, located on the stairwell vault, first floor are used for representation, element, essential for the new use of the three preparatory cartoons of the original external relations and management. villa, we inverted the relationship four still existed in the Galleria Nazionale converting this technological and linguistic d’Arte Moderna, which afforded at least a The Works innovation into an element to re-qualify the partial foretaste of the iconographic After obtaining the authorisation required, surrounding spaces. The central ideas of repertoire we were going to discover. the works began at the same time on the this choice of design were a sense of Of the second, however, we had no first and ground floor in September 2000. vertical permeability accentuated by knowledge whatsoever, although later we In fact, it was urgently necessary to widening the bay of the lift to permit a found out that the cartoon titled Allegoria waterproof the roof to protect the shared view from one floor to the next, the con figure feminile (Allegory with Female decorated vaults and repair the skylights recuperation of the sources of illumination Figures), also at the Galleria Nazionale so as to prevent the frescos from suffering using the bathroom windows that were d’Arte Moderna, was probably the damage due to the entry of rainwater. already present when the nineteen thirty preliminary sketch for it. Meanwhile, on the ground floor of the works were performed and the reuse of the We had trustworthy documentation of both villa ascending damp caused by capillarity linguistic value of technology. in the form of photographs taken in the was dealt with, secondary walls were For these works it was necessary to use nineteen forties, discovered in the archives demolished and air chambers were structural glass on vertical glazed-steel of the Academy of Dramatic Art in Rome, enlarged to hold the equipment for heating supports, which transform the lift block whose headquarters at that time was Villa and air conditioning, according to the into a large glass unit that runs through the Durante. The photographs depicted most of precise indications of the technicians from whole volume of the building. the major rooms in the building and showed the Ministry of Culture. The other solution that does not renounce the good state of conservation of both the Apart from hygienic services, installations blatant contemporaneity was the result of frescos on the vaults and the flooring. We and paintwork, intervention on the walls an unpremeditated choice that the were of course very interested in seeing the was reduced to a minimum except in the vicissitudes of the works suddenly made parts that had since been lost. In the image semi-basement. Here the plaster was necessary during the course of the on the vault over the staircase, the side removed to reveal tuff and brick bonding, refurbishment. The intention was to locate dedicated to the Vespri Siciliani could clearly whose quality was such that we decided to toilets inside a room beside the lift that had be seen, and in another among the arches in leave it naked to document the palimpsest originally or in the course of the historical the loggia, the fresco of the Scoperta della of building techniques as though it were a works been divided in two, one part acting stella (Discovery of the Star) could be made historical finding. as a corridor and the other as a servants’ out. In the ballroom, there was a fresco The only important works on the other living room. The idea was to reconstruct a dedicated to Dawn, the decoration of the floors had to do with the repristination of the wall to permit a filter and distribution area. fresco that acted as a cornice and the mosaic separating wall between the bay situated at For this reason, a false plaster-and-wattle floor completely lost today. Finally, in the west corner of the villa and the one over ceiling was demolished, to reveal an another picture of what was then the dance the entrance hall. On demolishing that wall, unexpected vault completely decorated room, we saw for the first time the coffered

140 ENGLISH VERSION soffit and its frame decorated with cherubs, On the other hand, from the first Francisco Mora, who, influenced by which at the time of the elevation was three examinations made under the carpet, we had Catalan Modernist architects like rooms with false plaster vaults. found that the original multicoloured Domènech i Montaner and Puig i It was extremely valuable documentary Venetian style terrazzo floors with mosaic Cadafalch, among others, designed a large material, because the frescos had been inlays in the reception rooms and the rooms longitudinal space with three naves of found to exist during the tests performed, on the first and second floors had been badly metal trusses, closed at the ends by two but we did not know their state of damaged by the adhesive used, which had brick and stone portals abundantly conservation or the possible gaps in them. almost completely spoiled the surface, and decorated and coloured like triumphal According as the layer of cement covering the channels opened up to install electricity. arches. The building was inaugurated on the murals was removed, we discovered The original plan to recuperate these floors Christmas Eve 1916, to the delight of the that, underneath a sort of glaze that by filling in the gaps was abandoned in society of the time. reduced the brightness and expressive view of the results of the physico-chemical force of the colours, the painting was analyses made on the underlying layer of The Premises of the Work intact and could be almost completely lime, which was sulphated and had come The need to carry out restoration works on recuperated by means of a painstaking loose in several places. With the passage the monument due to its precarious state cleaning process. For that reason, hardly of time, the state of the base layer had of repair was added to the need to provide any reintegration was necessary because caused instability spread by the stone parking lots and the wish to find a new there were no important parts missing, grain, with faulty adhesion in the use for the market space, more in keeping with the exception of the decorative preparation layer and faulty cohesion of with the times. the old market had cornice in the ballroom and the coffered the mortar causing loss and erosion of the practically stopped being used as such room. In the former, in view of the very superficial material and the ensuing gaps when new food stores and shopping poor state of the cornice due to the of different size and depth. centres opened in the area. These initial aggressive action of the layer that covered In this way, we reached the conclusion that premises led to the decision of performing it, the inscriptions and main elements of the only intervention that could safeguard the a global intervention on the building, the cornice had to be reconstructed, using rooms and the decoration of the whole villa which we shall describe below. At the first the photographs taken in the nineteen consisted of a philological reconstruction of stage, dealt with in this article, apart from forties as documentary testimony. this flooring in form and material. the restoration of the building, it was The room located under the first floor After dismantling the mosaic to repair it in decided to build three basements for terrace had suffered serious leaks over the the workshop and performing tests on the parking and a store in the semi-basement. years. The state of degradation of the roof terrazzo to mark and identify the marble In the second phase, the building was and frieze decoration was probably so bad pieces, the base layer of terrazzo was conditioned as a commercial space. that the previous owner had decided to relaid and repristinated. The work carried ignore it and make a false ceiling to cover out by a specialised company achieved a The First Phase of the Work it over. Large areas of the painted or practically perfect result, restoring the The first phase of the project concentrated preparation parts of the frieze decoration floors to their original splendour. on three aspects, very different as regards were missing or had come loose. These The restoration was completed in July complexity, dedication and sensibility. The gaps were filled by reintegrating the 2001, after only ten months’ work, carried first action consisted of reinforcing, plaster and then the original images using out with great passion and professionalism consolidating and readapting the existing slightly softer shades of colour to permit by all those concerned: the promoter, the foundations to permit the excavation of historical identification. project designers and the workers. four floors underneath street level; the second consisted in the recuperation of the The Flooring historic nave, which had undergone Inside the building, the most important settlements and serious rusting at the technical problem was the state of repair of Enrique Martínez joints of the basic iron structure; and the the original flooring. The mosaic floors were THE RESTORATION OF COLÓN third stage that was to rehabilitate the in a relatively passable condition. Although MARKET brick masonry of the portals and the tesserae in some places had been re- recuperate all the elements that had been stuck or had come loose, our intervention Situated in the first expansion zone of lost or replaced so as to restore the consisted of removing the loose pieces, Valencia city, between Cirilo Amorós, building to its original appearance. cleaning them and putting them back in Conde Salvatierra, Martínez Ferrando and The first part of the intervention entailed place, injecting a hydraulic-action adhesive, Jorge Juan street, Colón Market, with its the difficulty of having to work on the removing the treatments applied in the past, surface of 4,337 m2, is at the heart of one whole building without being able to impregnating the joints with mineral of the busiest shopping area in the city disassemble any of the main pieces of the reinforcement and filling them and finally which is the very centre of the city today. existing metal structure. Besides, the need polishing the whole surface with non The project was entrusted at the time to to maintain the Modernist portals intact traumatic methods. the former municipal architect of Valencia, made it necessary to create a new structure

141 LOGGIA Nº17 that would permit the excavation of the it was necessary to leave a metal profile the joints, which had been affected by the basements, for which interesting and inserted in the pile. Thus the piles were filled roof drainage system, whose leaders ran complex excavation and reinforcement with concrete up to –14 m, and from this down the middle of the wrought iron techniques were put into practice. level to ground level the space between the pillars. In heavy rainfall, the outlets of the Once the results of the tests were obtained profile and the perforation diameter was gutter overflowed and the pillar acted as a and taking into account other considerations filled with gravel. This procedure made it leader, a circumstance which had caused such as the depth of the excavation, which possible to build the final pillars before the structure to corrode and sections of the should be at least 15 m, the proximity of the excavation took place, and all the works joints to come loose. Besides, the rust adjacent buildings and the situation of the were then performed upwards. increased the actual section of the screwed phreatic level, it was deemed necessary to or riveted plaques producing an increase build, before starting the excavation, screen The Upward-Downward Method of stress that made the rivets keep falling walls that would also serve as final walls for The complexity of the operations carried out into the street. the parking basements and whose last prior to the excavation of the parking Therefore, taking advantage of the fact stretch would prevent water from entering basements can be summed up precisely in that the corbels giving on to Martínez the building and thus facilitate the drying of the method used for their execution, based on Ferrando and Cirilo Amorós street had to groundwater during building. Once the the building of the definitive frames in two be disassembled in order to build the screens were built, the bottom would be stages, one downwards and one upwards. screen walls and on account of their poor paved with slabs, which would have to have Once the screens , the reinforcement and state of repair, which had required them to enough of a border to counteract the piles had been made, the frame of the be propped for years, cleaning was subpressure and guarantee that the ground floor was built in situ, which made initiated on one of them, causing it to basements would be watertight. it possible to tie it to the heads of the disintegrate as a result of the advanced screens to prevent horizontal movements. rusting of its profiles. Reinforcement of the Portals The next two frames (for the semi- For that reason it was necessary to The reinforcement of the facades involved basement and the first parking basement) dismantle a joint both at the central bay replacing the foundations by others that were excavated and the intermediate frame and the end bay (the one supporting the would permit the excavation of the of all the basements was executed at –7.5 corbel), which were the problematic joints basements. The critical moment of this m, staying the screens in the intermediate where the rainwater leaders were situated. operation was when the building stopped zone. This frame was made without By disassembling them, we hoped to being supported by the old foundations having to resort to water extraction pumps determine efficaciously and safely what and changed to the new. because it was over groundwater level. intervention and execution method was For that reason, foundations were Then the other two basements were necessary to repair it, because all the joints designed by “sewing” the existing excavated with the aid of pumps to drain were believed to suffer some degree or loadbearing walls in order to transfer the the groundwater, down to –15 metres, other of the same pathology and, loads to the new foundations with girders where the foundation flagstones were laid. consequently, it was essential to plan the and piles. This new process required At this stage the removal of soil was intervention very carefully in advance. meticulous workmanship with manual performed by means of a skip elevator that From this point onwards, repair works methods and systems of cut and extracted the earth from the bottom and were started by mending every second perforation avoiding percussion. poured it into trucks waiting to collect it joint in order to cause as little movement Apart from being difficult and toilsome, on the ground floor. as possible in the structure. To this end, these works involved continuous Once the first downward part had been little scaffolds were set up all along the monitoring, as the state of repair of the brick finished, the upward metal pillars were put central nave to permit workers to move masonry was worrying to say the least. in place in order to build the last two frames along as fast as possible if a problem arose to complete the structure of the market, during the intervention. Pile Pillars making these pillars coincide with the The end joints were the first to be repaired Before finishing the perimetral screen original structure. After the structure had because of the added facility of having the walls, the piles for the first phase of the been completed, the weight estimated to corbel dismantled. For this purpose, project were made. These piles of concrete avoid syphoning of the flagstones at the connectors and tie beams were designed with metal profiles were made to permit bottom had been counteracted, so the use of with steel profiles to support the vector the downward process that characterised the pumps could be decreased. At the same stresses that converged there and the excavation, and they were completed time, the exactness of the calculations was prevented the joint from shifting. Once the during the upward phase with metal pillars checked and found to be correct. joint was fixed, the plates that formed it that coincided with the axes of the were dismantled and a templet was wrought iron pillars now in existence. Works Performed on the Metal Structure designed showing the screw and rivet These piles were imbedded in the resistant One of the first considerations to be taken orifices in order to make a plate with the layer of the muddy clays. Because of the into account about this operation was the same characteristics and slip it into place order of the building process (downwards), poor state of the structure and particularly perfectly, since each joint had the orifices

142 ENGLISH VERSION in a different position because of the Stonework in Colón Market The different joints where the original assembly system and the deformation that Both in the socle of the monument and the mortar had been lost or damaged and the existed in the structure. outside fence, Colón Market has a sort of joints grouted with modern mortars and Once the end joints had been repaired and stone typical of the area known as added cements were repaired and replaced reinforced, work was initiated on the inner Moncada stone. The cleaning process with mortar made with fat lime and stucco joints in the central pillars supporting the included the steps necessary to consolidate and a flexible latex component to avoid arches of the central nave using a system and afterwards clean this stone. cracking or with the same mortar used for of tensors that fixed the arch from one end Before cleaning the stone, elements the substitutions. to the other, preventing it from opening separated by cracks were stuck. The external To adjust the colour, a superficial patina of and permitting the dismantling of the joint sealing of the cracks was performed by natural pigments made with lime water without creating unnecessary stresses. using vinyl and sand polyacetal and then and mineral clays was applied to the stone The structure was completely repaired injecting the consolidating product through a elements that had lost their patina and did when all the mending plates, rivets and hole made for that purpose. not fit in with the rest of the ensemble. screws had been replaced in the joints. The process followed the phases below, Finally the masonry was waterproofed in The original evacuation system was depending on the piece: such a way as to leave the rock permeable respected improving the interior - Preconsolidation consisting of injecting to gases but not liquids. channelling with PVC pipes instead of the vinyl polyacetals into the chinks and old zinc one, protected on the outside by a cracks and impregnating them with a Mosaics and ceramics in Colón Market low retraction mortar where the gutter general consolidant with silica acid ester The building has a great deal of ceramic meets the also new roof, to which a to enhance the resistance of the rock and elements in its ornamentation: mosaics, waterproof coating was applied. thus prevent loss of the original volume. trencadís, tiles, friezes, enamelled reliefs, - Mechanical cleaning with soft root or etc. Although the state of conservation of The restoration process nylon brushes so as not to damage the rock the mosaics and tiles and vitrified The historic-artistic importance of the with the aid of scalpels, spatulas or similar ornamental pieces could be described as Colón Market building as part of the instruments in areas where the dirt offered good, an accumulation of dirt, pollution and cultural heritage of the city and its more resistance. The elimination of crusts, dust was detected on the surface, which location in the centre demanded a specific carbonates, sulphates with mechanical concealed the original colours and forms. treatment for each piece of the elements like dentists’ drills, dental descalers During a preliminary inspection, there conservation and restoration of the or the projection of glass microspheres. were found to be no deformations caused sculptural and ornamental elements of the - Chemical cleaning and neutralisation of by damp, which might have been principal facade according to the material stains and resistant dirt or dirt that had expected because of the nature of the of which it was made (Moncada penetrated a long way into the rock, where material, but there were some volumetric limestone, Borriol limestone, artificial compresses containing bicarbonates, changes and cracks as a result of the stone, mosaics, metal objects, wood, neutral strippers, etc. according to the contractions and dilations between the ceramics, etc.) and its state of repair. nature of the dirt (oxides, greases, ceramic and the adhesion mortars and The facade ensemble is basically made up cements, graffiti...). Then the remaining even some gaps in places. However, the of: Mobile or Norwegian pine woodwork, part was neutralised with demineralised number of these gaps is very limited metal work of wrought iron, dolomite water and a suitable reagent. thanks to the excellent adhesion between limestone from Moncada, socles of Borriol - Consolidation by injecting vinyl the bisques and the mixed mortar of sand, limestone, artificial stone sculptural elements polyacetal and epoxy resin, with or cement and lime, which was verified by made from mixed mortars, mosaics with without a tyxotropic load, depending on percussion. some volumetric changes and vitrified tessaras, ceramic mosaics, trencadís the depth and the size of the cracks. cracks as a result of the contractions and mosaics, ceramic building elements made - Volumetric reintegration and regrouting. dilations between the ceramic and the with lustre ceramics, naked brick on the At this stage moulds were made with adhesion mortars and even some gaps in main walls, polychromy, ornamental friezes, expanded polystyrene, plaster or greasy places. However, the number of these tempera painting and lime sgraffito work. pastes, and moulds with polyester resin gaps is very limited thanks to the The restoration methodology applied was and fibreglass and latex, depending on the excellent adhesion between the bisques based on the analysis of the state of sort of problem involved. Reproduction by and the mixed mortar of sand, cement and conservation of each of these elements, an modelling in situ was used and also by lime, which was verified by percussion. investigation of the causes underlying the pouring. The material used both for Apart from these gaps, the grouting of the pathologies and a search for the most modelling and for straining is an artificial mosaics and trencadís, which was in a poor suitable intervention procedure for each material made with acrylic resins and state of repair in places, was found to have case. This process was a painstaking but modified mortars. Finally to attach the disappeared, as had the vitrified layer and interesting task which provided good reproductions to the original adhesives and the enamel of some pieces. Metal pieces understanding of the deterioration process of rods of fibreglass set at an angle of 45º were inserted in different areas of the these elements. were used. surfaces. Rusting of the metal parts and the

143 LOGGIA Nº17 ensuing increase of volume had caused different covered areas of the buildings Sculptural elements of artificial stone breakage in the mortars and ceramic pieces. were used by birds, mostly pigeons, for From the different inspections performed, This problem was worse in the cupolas nesting. This involved areas with a great it was verified with absolute certainty that bearing the lightning conductors. accumulation of excrement that segregated the sculptural elements in artificial stone For that reason, the following procedure hydrochloric acid which attacked the were in a worse state of repair. The was applied. The first step was taken to different components of the masonry. artificial stone or architectural mortar eliminate excess superficial dust, for Different metal elements had been inserted elements in Colón Market’s portals which soft brushes and an industrial in the brick masonry by means of comprise one or several pieces, reinforced vacuum cleaner were used so as to permit perforation and had rusted over the years with steel rods on the inside. a proper examination of the work and at with the ensuing increase in volume. This The rehabilitation process of these the same time ensure correct execution of change of dimension of the metal elements elements was based on the same criteria the following steps like the consolidation imbedded in the masonry had caused as were applied to the rest of the of the piece and not of the dust lying on breakage and some very large cracks, such materials, beginning with the top of it. as the imbedding of the canopy on the elimination of algae, excrements, etc. Cleaning of the joints was begun with Conde Salvatierra facade. Apart from with soft root or nylon brushes so as not chisels and brushes so as to free the joints tensions and breakages, oxidation had also to damage the mortar. The removal of and alleviate the pressure exerted by some caused rust marks to appear on several crusts (carbonates, sulphates, etc.) was elements on others. Natural sponges very parts of the facades. performed with dentists’ drills, spraying slightly dipped in deionised water were Once the intervention axes had been of glass microspheres and manually used used to complete cleaning of the vitrified clarified, the cleaning process of these scalpels. ceramic pieces in successive applications elements began with an initial jet of hot Demineralised water at low pressure and until the pieces were left as free as water applied to the whole building. The 60ºC was used in general cleaning tasks. possible from dust and soluble salts appearance of soluble salts on the cleaned For resistant stains and dirt compresses crystallised in the form of efflorescence. bricks was then observed. In view of this made with bicarbonates, neutral strippers, Volumetric reintegration was performed situation, a Turco brand stone cleaner was etc. were used, depending on the with the same techniques and colour applied (sodium hydroxide), a powerful classification of the dirt. schemes as the existing ones. The pieces non abrasive cleaner for natural or The most delicate point to avoid future to be replaced were fired in a reduction or artificial stone surfaces that is applied with problems of deformation and breakage in oxidising kiln depending on the a brush and left between 15 minutes and 2 these pieces was all the non ornamental vitrification characteristics and marked hours to act and is then washed off with metal elements that secure them. These “R” to facilitate identification. abundant hot water and cleaned with elements, both visible and invisible, were These pieces were set in place with acetic acid. This procedure yielded extracted with the aid of a magnetic wave mortars made with lime, acrylic resins apparently good results. Even so, some detector. The pieces were later reinforced and cements, making sure that the parts of the facade still presented salt with fibreglass pins at an inclination of dilation contraction coefficient was efflorescence, which was cleaned with 45º over the horizontal plane, using epoxy inferior to the ceramic to avoid future deionised water applied with sponges, resin as an adhesive and filling in the loosening problems. The pieces to be avoiding excess wetting, and the result of holes with lime mortar to prevent replaced in delicate spots were fixed with this process was finally satisfactory. ultraviolet radiation. fibreglass anchors. The procedure concluded with the Within the tasks performed in the application of the water repellent called restoration of the market, it is necessary to Brick masonry Tegosivin, sprayed at a distance of at least cite the recuperation of all the ornamental The brick masonry in Colón Market is 5 cm from the masonry and used to elements that had disappeared, thanks to very important both for its volume and its waterproof porous surfaces. This material the historic documentation such as old composition in the two large portals endows the masonry with waterproof photographs. These elements are the string giving on to Conde Salvatierra and Jorge properties once the solvent evaporates after of garlic hanging on the Conde Salvatierra Juan street. All the brick used in the application, when the active substance facade, the goat’s head and the crowns on restoration is solid ceramic brick, mostly penetrates in the material hydrolysing in the little cupolas on the towers on the rectangular pieces, although there are also pores and capillaries by condensing and same facade. pieces made in a special mould, such as creating a waterproof area. These pieces were moulded by the the ones in the pavilions and towers at the This application managed to reduce the restoration team on the basis of graphics ends of both portals. absorption of water, protect against and sketches and then fashioned out of The state of conservation of the naked deterioration caused by humidity in the greasy pastes. In this way polyester resin brick masonry was defined as quite work, avoid efflorescence, reduce and fibreglass moulds were made, filled acceptable in general and each part was thermal conductivity and thus increase with Parrot mortar for restoration, attached classified according to its natural and thermal insulation and allow the wall to to the masonry by means of fibreglass mechanical pathologies. Besides, the breathe perfectly. rods, suitably coloured and waterproofed.

144 ENGLISH VERSION

Timberwork qualities because of their emblematic scale The first restoration works were very Most of the original timberwork, in a good appearance, their colour and their texture. poor because of the scant means we had state of repair and free from insect attack, “Eternit” asbestos cement plaques were at our disposal and year after year we saw was treated and recuperated. The pieces used, similar to the existing ones as ruin advance at the same pace as were stripped and filed by hand, and regards size and texture and guaranteeing restoration in some zones. The where necessary a Xilamon treatment was the stability of the system thanks to a new determined stance of the Aragón applied and then the whole piece was method for applying the pieces that Government after it had purchased the consolidated with Paraloid B-72, an ensured that they were properly whole monastery in 1998 revived the acrylic resin that has been used in the overlapping and watertight. process thanks to which it was possible restoration of works of art since the last year to inaugurate the works nineteen fifties as an adhesive for performed to date, so that practically all the consolidation and varnish. Numerous tests medieval rooms can now be visited and the indicate that it is the most stable resin for Javier Ibargüen buildings have been turned into a hostel in this type of intervention and the essays THE CISTERCIAN MONASTERY keeping with their monumental category. and tests performed allowed us to choose OF NUESTRA SEÑORA DE the degree of concentration and the most RUEDA & ITS RESTORATION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND suitable solvent for the success of the Rueda monastery is one of 59 operation, permitting an adequate When we started to work on the Cistercian monasteries for monks built in Spain in penetration of the resin and a sufficient monastery of Rueda fourteen years ago, the Middle Ages by the Cistercian order, consolidation of the object, using low we came up against a distressing image of founded some 900 years earlier by St concentrations and repeating the operation neglect common in many monasteries in Robert of Molesme and several of his several times. Spain since the disentailment that took followers, whom, as a reaction to the place in the early 19th century, and relaxed observance of the strict Roof of the market aggravated in this case because of its Benedictine monastic lifestyle, retreated The existing system used for the roof of physical isolation in the municipality of to the quagmires of Cîteaux in Colón Market comprised three 40 x 40 Sástago, Zaragoza, to which it belongs Burgundy, France. They were joined by cm asbestos cement hips at each side although it is several kilometres away the Englishman Stephen Harding, who with two chamfered edges, secured with from it. The absolute lack of summed up the ideas of this reformation button hooks at one end and wires at the infrastructures, services and any kind of in the Charity Charter. But the real force top. The original asbestos cement pieces private or institutional attention had behind the Cistercian order was St were in very poor condition and they caused it to fall into oblivion except in Bernard, under whom the order were not suitably overlapping to prevent specialised circles. But we also had the underwent a period of great expansion, water leaking in. sensation from the outset that, underneath so that on his death in 1153, there were During the examination of the roof, the apparently irreversible state of ruin, 343 monasteries for monks, 742 at the warping of the pieces in the South- there lay an exceptional Cistercian end of the Middle Ages, and over 700 Southeast facade due to solar radiation monastery one of whose virtues might convents for nuns. was detected: insufficient overlapping for well be the fact that it had been abandoned La Ferté, Pontigny, Morimond and the existing hips; a need for for over one hundred and fifty years. Clairvaux were the four abbeys from complementary waterproofing; insufficient Indeed one of the most outstanding which new communities sprang up. The superposition of pieces; holes caused by features of this monastic order is that its monastery at Fitero is considered to be the the button hook system; broken protruding monasteries were built according to a strict first one founded in Spain, around 1140. crowns; difficult maintenance by design, with the spaces necessary for the In Aragón, monasteries for monks were overlapping due to replacement of pieces white monks’ lives. In the case of Rueda, Veruela, Piedra, Rueda and Santa Fe. The (pieces nailed back on and superficial the fact that its constructions had not been origin of Rueda monastery dates from mastic applied. As regards laying and used since had preserved its integrity, and 1152, with the foundation of Nuestra fixing, the pieces were not prepared to be only the elements built over them Señora de Saltz Abbey by the monks from fixed with wires; chipped perforations and throughout the monastery’s history, made Gimont, who in turn came from the head pieces broken while being secured; out of poorer materials than the robust house at Morimond. In 1162, the abbey at deficient adherence (since the movement ashlars of the medieval fabric, were in a Juncería was founded on donated lands in of the plaques was not curtailed); and state of ruin, a situation which partly Burjazud (Villanueva de Gállego), insufficient support in the crossbeams concealed not only one of the best immediately before Rueda. (angular edge) that needed to be modified conserved monuments of the 13th century In 1182, King Alfonso II donated the lands so as to be able to screw or nail them on. but probably the Cistercian monastery and castle of Escatrón, on the banks of the The condition of the pieces was improved whose medieval design most clearly shows Ebro River, for a monastery to be built to by means of a material that guaranteed the layout of the rooms and the hydraulic house the Juncería monks. On completion both their functionality and their aesthetic infrastructures used by the monks. of San Pedro Chapel in 1202, Rueda

145 LOGGIA Nº17 monastery could be considered decree on 16th November 1835, at a time into an old sacristy that had been added on, inaugurated. Building took place when the community was made up of and to make the alabaster windows and the throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, and thirty monks, twenty lay brothers and door into the church. the basic medieval part was made around twenty servants. The grounds of the 1248 and included all the rooms of the monastery were sold at several auctions, RESTORATION architectonic organisation of a Cistercian and the State received a total of 6,137,800 The intention of the Master Plan was, in monastery, where the rooms are arranged reales de vellón** for it all. The purchaser principle, to schedule the restoration in canonical order around the cloister, with of the main part, called “the Rueda farm”, works thanks to an initial general the only variety in symmetry in relation to was Esteban Lacasa, with the lawyer diagnosis. But lack of funds prevented the church. In this way, the following were Francisco Royo y Segura as a figurehead the long process of restoring the built: the church, the sacristy, the cloister, who bought the property from him a few monument from being carried out with the armarium, the chapter room, the months later. the necessary decision and expediency. locutory, the passage leading to the In 1929 the property was purchased by the The works performed in the early years orchard, the scriptorium, the calefactory, company Electro Metalúrgica del Ebro, concentrated on priority tasks such as the the refectory, the kitchen and the granary, which used it exclusively for agricultural restoration and refurbishment of the in this case a little removed from its usual purposes. On 11th December 1990, the reception area of the monastery located in location in the west wing of the cloister. postmedieval building and the inner the abbot’s palace, adding toilets and On top of the chapter room lies the orchard were handed over to the provisional infrastructures. At the same medieval dormitory, with its two Diputación General de Aragón, although time, rubble was removed from other staircases, one leading to the church and this conveyance was not entered in the areas and archaeological and petrological the other to the cloister. Civil Register until 1998. The medieval tests were performed. At the end of the 14th century, the zone of the monastery, which still The first excavations revealed the monastery entered into a period of belonged to the State, was taken over by medieval hydraulic infrastructure of the decadence that lasted until 1558, when, on the Aragón Government shortly monastery, which consisted basically of a the appointment of Brother Miguel Rubio afterwards, on 4th September 1998. main water distribution channel that ran and with the restructuring of the Very few works were carried out on the through the kitchen, refectory, calefactory monastery’s economy, important monastery between the disentailment and and monks’ common room. Pressure pipes renovations were initiated and continued the drawing up of the project; among the were also discovered, mainly the lead pipe throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, with most important of these was the inserted in an ashlar base that ends in the the addition of the monumental Plaza de reconstruction of the roof on the medieval fountain pavilion giving onto the orchard. San Pedro within the medieval monastery, dormitory, with the elimination of the An important fact was the appearance of the new abbot’s palace, the porticoed remains of the Baroque vault built in the an architectural probe in the old gallery that connected the abbot’s palace 17th century, restoring in brick the form of calefactory vault, concealed over a to the medieval buildings and the hostel. the original diaphragm arches. plastered brick vault underneath the At the end of this period, the large But the most important of all were the modern calefactory. This room was dormitory nave was built on the other side works supervised by the architect believed to have disappeared in the of the medieval complex, connected to the Fernando Chueca Goitia for the Fine Arts refurbishment in which the passage cloister by an open passage in the space Department, starting in 1970. The main connecting the cloister to the new Baroque occupied by the calefactory. purpose of these works was to repair the dormitories was made. Its discovery The monastery’s hydraulic infrastructures, church, whose roof had collapsed as 80% completed the canonical design of the built at the beginning, are a very of the cladding had disappeared and the Cistercian monastery with an element that interesting feature not only because they ribs and keystones were in very poor has been eliminated from most Cistercian are unique but because of their excellent condition. The vaults were reconstructed, monasteries to build a staircase leading up state of conservation. They start with the the foundations reinforced and the flooring to a new floor added to the cloister. water wheel built in the Ebro River to replaced. To build the new roof with Among the initial priorities, the concrete divert water along a canal to a chain pump concrete trusses, the side walls were floor laid in the cloister in the nineteen that worked until the first decades of the thickened forming two single slopes. seventies was removed, as it prevented 20th century and probably gave the General repairs were carried out on the the soil from breathing, thus causing monastery its name*. This pump poured vaults and walls of the cloister and a damp to accumulate by capillarity in the water from its scoops into the ashlar concrete floor was laid in the galleries and sandstone tracery. In the years that aqueduct, from where it was distributed central courtyard. followed, the works continued with the around the monastery through Later, in 1989 after the Spanish restoration of parts of the chapter room, underground canals. Autonomous Communities has come into the refectory roof and interior and the The expulsion of the monks from Rueda being, some tasks were performed in the Monastery took place when the minister church by the General Heritage Department * Rueda in Spanish means “wheel” [N. de la T.] Mendizábal brought out the disentailment to consolidate the chancel, spoilt by a door ** Ancient Spanish copper coin [N. de la T.]

146 ENGLISH VERSION cloister terraces. When the works were underneath, the pilasters of the first two money was still being allotted to pay for renewed, it was decided to repair two sections were found and a platform the works, with the contribution of the important elements in grave jeopardy: the flooring was created on the areas free House of Híjar, to judge from the coats of tower and the granary. from remains. arms in the second last section of the In 1999 a global project for the church. Some years earlier the tombs of The Mudejar Tower restoration of the medieval part of the Don Pedro Fernández de Híjar’s wives The octagonal Mudejar tower, added to monastery was drawn up, including all its had been made and his own was the south chapel in the chancel in the rooms, and of the monumental Plaza de completed in 1402. 14th century, has an unusual belfry with San Pedro outside, which completed the The Santo Cristo Chapel, located opposite 32 little pointed openings over eight restoration and refurbishment for the the entrance into the cloister, is the only large mullioned windows, and was in Hospedería de Aragón in the abbot’s medieval one, and it can be related to the serious danger after the belfry roof and palace and the Corredor building, which burial of Aragón Justice Juan Gil Tarín (
floor had collapsed, causing severe I shall discuss below. 1290), which would mean it was one of damage to the roof around it when its the last tasks carried out in the 13th cornice fell. The Church century. The other postmedieval chapels in During the restoration, among many The church, with its canonical east-west the church are San Bernardo Chapel and other tasks, the original mullioned bays orientation, closes the whole north side of Santa Bárbara Chapel. The former, of the belfry, which had been covered the medieval monastery buildings. The together with the third section at the end, over in the important aesthetic floor plan consists of three five-section is dedicated to Saint Bernard and was built transformation of the tower involving naves, has no transept and the chapels that during Abbot Redorad’s second rule, the addition of a body in the late 18th serve as a chancel to the naves have a between 1652 and 1657; it has a square century, were recuperated. straight front; in other words, it floor plan and is covered with a lantern corresponds to the most austere models of cupola decorated with stucco. The Granary Cistercian architecture. On the other side of Santo Cristo Chapel, In Rueda, the granary, a space dedicated The illumination of the chancel is by near the chancel, is Santa Bárbara Chapel, to storing food, is a free-standing means of round arched windows, which commissioned by Abbot B. Capilla during structure located in the south of the were closed over to house the magnificent his rule, which started in 1712, including complex near the kitchen. It consists of alabaster altarpiece made by Master the golden altarpiece. This Baroque chapel two storeys with a rectangular floor plan. Esteban and Domingo Borunda in the first had a lantern, which is no longer in The first storey, built entirely of ashlars, decade of the 17th century, situated since existence, and was profusely decorated is made up of two parallel naves with the 19th century in the parish church of with stucco, of which a few old sections five sections separated by polygonal Escatrón, which had two side doors still remain. pillars and covered by groined vaulting leading into a sacristy that no longer exists After the works performed by Fernando with large bead moulding. Its that was built behind the chancel during Chueca on the church, the restoration architectural characteristics are very the same period. tasks to be carried out focused on its similar to those of the monks’ common In the walls over the roof of the lateral completion and resolving the room or scriptorium, another of the naves there is a series of skylights and modification made at that time by oldest rooms in the monastery, located in rose windows with a system of translucent building a continuous pitched gable roof, the chapter room wing of the cloister. alabaster and plaster lattices, some for which the lateral naves had been The second storey has brick in its interior Mudejar and some Gothic, with 14th and expanded, thus concealing the Gothic and fabric. It is covered by a timber roof frame 15th century motifs. All the sections of the Mudejar windows in the central nave and on brick diaphragm arches. In the south church are covered with simple fan covering their eaves with bricks. bay, there is a cut in the fabric with a wall vaulting. Most of the structural system In consequence, the tiered roof has been containing two arches, leaving a back (cruciform pillars with semicolumns recuperated and the metal roof and space for drying food that must have been attached, ribs and most of the walls) are expansion of the walls have been uncovered originally. made with ashlars, whereas most of the eliminated to restore the illumination of The roof of the second floor of the granary cladding is brick. This material is the nave. The ashlar front in the chancel, had collapsed, so it was necessary to generally used practically from the which had been mutilated by former rebuild its wooden structure on diaphragm chancel at window level. works, has been completed. In the interior, arches. Downstairs the mud accumulated According to the monastery’s Lumen as in all the other spaces, the stone walls during the long period of neglect was Domus, the current church was begun were treated, the sandstone flooring and cleared away to reveal the rock face and a around 1225 and designed by the architect carpentry was repaired and the decorative network of little channels and remains of Friar Gil Rubio. It was consecrated in elements were restored. Finally structures used to make wine and oil. Two 1238, when the chancel zone was illumination was provided by lights large barns added after the disentailment completed and the design of the whole embedded in the floor, a criterion applied of the monastery were demolished; building had been started, and in 1412 to the whole monastery.

147 LOGGIA Nº17

The cladding of walls and vaults not made The cloister galleries were built according were performed on the artistic elements: of ashlars and that were completely to the functional necessities of the the numerous capitals, the tracery, the plastered in olden times and the monastery. Thus the chapel wing, keystones in the vaults, the portals, the reconstructions carried out by Chueca and fundamental to get to the chapter room, remains of mural paintings and finished in cement mortar were all covered the scriptorium, etc., with a prolongation postmedieval plaster decoration by the Al- with one coat of mortar, following the into the toilets and the refectory, was the Mulk team of specialists. criterion applied to all the walls of the first part to be built, completed in the mid monastery that were restored. 13th century. Then the Collation side was The Lavatorium built beside the church, with a function of This is an essential element in the cloister, The Sacristy liturgical organisation. located opposite the refectory. The one in The sacristy is next to the chancel on the The completion of the west nave of the Rueda Monastery is very beautiful and epistle side. It has two separate spaces; in cloister in the second half of the 14th well proportioned and although the central the first place, the old sacristy, with a century suggests that building was fountain is missing the excavation carried rectangular floor plan and a pointed barrel interrupted during the archaeological out revealed a most interesting set of pipes vault, altered in the successive excavation on discovering a planked plaster on different levels, whose position was refurbishment works. It has plaster wall running from north to south parallel to worth leaving visible. ornamentation from a later date with the nave probably as a provisional fence to For that reason and taking into account pilasters with striated shafts, Corinthian permit life to go on in the cloister until the the importance of this space and the capitals and a dog-toothed fascia. There works were completed. sound of water from the fountain, we are traces of important settling in the The decoration and moulding on the decided to build a new fountain in a ashlars near the chancel wall, because of different naves of the cloister are a plain design, which, resting on the floor overloading produced when the tower was compendium of decorative evolution beneath, holds a glass platform running built on top of the apsidal chapel beside throughout the Middle Ages, from motifs around the perimeter of the pavilion on the church. Near the entrance there are in Romanesque tradition with elements of which visitors can walk and see the old four ashlar niche cupboards and opposite Islamic origin to an evolution of Gothic hydraulic infrastructure. the entrance are the remains of the vaulted decoration from the earliest motifs until niche where the holy water font used to the 14th century. Nevertheless, others are The Armarium be. The other room is an oratory built at a repeated, endowing the ensemble with a Occupying the first section of the chapter later date, taking advantage of the gap certain internal unity, such as the diamond wing in the cloister, behind the sacristy, between the sacristy and the projection of fret on the cloister walls or the sober we find the armarium, a little space used the chancel in the central nave of the moulding on the vault ribs. as the monastery’s library. It was altered in church. It has a barrel vault with sgraffito There was a second storey in the cloister, the 17th century and turned into a chapel, stucco on a grey background. of which the only remaining traces are and its pointed arcosolium-type vault was Once the initial dimensions had been the round arched gallery giving on to the transformed into a semicircular vault, recovered by removing the brick prop west plaza and the remnants of putlog whose intrados still bears some sgraffito, wall and it had been reinforced at the top, holes in the dormitory that was built which was restored during the works. the work performed on the sacristy and when the archbishop of Zaragoza, Don its oratory was a compromise between Alonso de Aragón (U 1520) was abbot. The Chapter Room the badly deteriorated decoration and Around the same time the cloister arcades Next comes the chapter room, a space superposed refurbishment, maintaining must have been closed with ashlar where the “chapter” meeting or assembly the elements conserved and showing the partitions up to the capitals and of the whole community called by the evolution of the spaces. The arcosolia translucent alabaster in the arches, abbot took place every day after prime. and the little splayed window in the skylights and tracery, some remains of All important events took place here: sacristy facade that had been covered which can still be found in the west wing. appointments, ordinations, etc., so that it over were recuperated. The rim and top of a barrel vault tank was usually a space with especially stand in the centre of the cloister. This was refined architectural features. The facade The Cloister the first water collecting system in the of Rueda chapter room giving on to the The cloister maintains the usual layout of monastery, before the complex hydraulic cloister is particularly rich, and follows Cistercian monasteries, attached to the network that we can see today was built the traditional design of a central nave of the church and giving access to and it was also built before the lavatorium doorway and two lateral windows, from the main rooms, in such a way that it was pavilion, whose fabric blocked the pipes the separations between which spring the an element that articulated the monks’ into the tank. corbels of the cloister ribs, finished in lives. Its apparent uniformity contrasts After several partial repairs in the cloister cul-de-lampe. with the reality of the analysis of the such as removing the paving, laying the The floor plan is rectangular and divided building’s evolution, which can clearly be central garden, restoring the parapet and into six sections covered by groined seen from the exterior arcade. upstairs terrace, the most delicate tasks vaulting, with two central octagonal base

148 ENGLISH VERSION pillars on which rest the eight little The Passage to the Orchard surface and connected to the dormitory, a columns of the shaft, which are a The passage to the orchard is a narrow new calefactory was built, crowned with a prolongation of the vault ribs. On the east corridor parallel to the chapter room, small dome with a fireplace and chimney wall there are three long narrow windows covered with a pointed barrel vault in the centre. The restoration aimed to with the same decorative motifs as the starting with a corbel. Near the entrance make the original space legible while portal although plainer. from the cloister and to one side is the compatible with the alterations practised, This room, like the other rooms in the entrance to the monks’ common room. especially the passageway to the Baroque chapter wing, had been affected by the Under its rectangular shape runs the lead dormitories or noviciate. structural problems arising as a result of the pressure pipe that supplied the fountain collapse of the east wall of the dormitory pavilion with water, whose two ends have The Refectory upstairs, giving on to the old graveyard. been left visible by means of glass paving The refectory is one of the most After the wall had been reinforced by embedded in the floor. interesting rooms in Rueda Monastery. Its loading the “kidneys” of the diaphragm solidity and purity of line are similar to arches in the dormitory and trussing the The Scriptorium Santa María de Huerta (built later than flooring, the displacement of the voussoirs The monks’ common room or Rueda but altered afterwards to increase in the arches and the many cracks in the scriptorium closes the east wing of the its height) and Alcobaça in Portugal. The surfaces of the vault were corrected. cloister. With similar proportions to the monks’ refectory is a large room The rest of the steps taken were isolated chapter room and with two central pillar transversal to the cloister, with a items like the replacement of parts of the also, it is covered by six groined vaults. rectangular floor plan, illuminated by two perimetral ashlar benches and the same Its conception is older than the former, rose windows at the ends and large general items as in all the rooms, such as but the fact that it was built during the windows at the sides. It has a barrel vault laying the flooring and putting alabaster same construction phase suggests that like the adjoining rooms and it is divided on the windows, the illumination and the the differences are due to the different into six sections by means of five sandstone treatment, consisting of use of each room. The three windows transverse arches springing from rolled repairing the joints, cleaning, here are unadorned, although they are corbels with large bead moulding ending consolidation and protection, after the larger than those in the chapter room. in cul-de-lampe, whose height is reduced preliminary petrological studies and essays Traces of polychromy are conserved on today by the timber backs of the had been carried out. vaults and capitals. perimetral seats installed after the room General water piping appears for the first had originally been designed. The Staircase time in this room, although filled in and The pulpit for reading at mealtimes is Behind the chapter room there are three with the paving stones out of place. In embedded in the first two sections of the small elongated spaces, also part of the the course of the restoration works the west wall and boasts exceptional quality and usual layout of a Cistercian monastery. The filling was removed and a diversion with elegance. The stairs run behind the rampant stairs connecting the dormitory with the floodgates to the hypothetical latrines arches supported by capitals adorned with cloister is the closest of these; in Rueda nearby was found. Because of the plant motifs. Behind the pulpit, with an Monastery it had been eliminated to make a interest of these conduits perfectly octagonal floor plan, embedded and leaning chapel, although its initial design could fashioned out of ashlars, they were on a corbel, there is a little window to clearly be seen from marks that still existed placed under glass so that they could be provide light for the reader. on the lateral walls and the central doorway seen by visitors. In the restoration of this The refectory door is a slightly pointed in the cloister arcade situated opposite its room, as well as the steps taken in all the arch with a rich splay, whose archivolts axis. The original layout of the whole other rooms, the reddish patina of paint bear similar decoration to that of the staircase appeared when probes were in the vaults was conserved. chapter room, with foiled arches and a performed in the dormitory. diamond fret. The originality of the two- The Calefactory piece carved stone skylight in the cloister The Locutory The calefactory is the first room in the facade is also worth mentioning. The main Then comes the locutory, where the prior, refectory gallery, with a rectangular floor pipe network runs transversally from the the second authority in the monastery, plan, covered with an ashlar barrel vault calefactory to the kitchen; in the central allotted daily tasks to the monks. It with an intermediate arch rib. In the west area it collects the water from the occupies all the bay of the chapter room wall is the fireplace with a large two-flue lavatorium, which helps clean it. and is covered by double groined vaulting ashlar chimney. The medieval calefactory The refectory was at the beginning of the and although there used to be a window in of Rueda Monastery was done away with unroofed works to be restored, full of the east wall there is now a door leading to make a passageway into the new rubble from the collapse of constructions to the orchard outside. On the lateral wall dormitories built in the 17th century, so the added to the ashlar vault and overrun with is the prison door and the entrance to a walls of the room are open at the sides. deep-rooted weeds. Therefore priority was little room under the stairs leading to the As a result of its elimination, on top of the given to reconstructing the double-pitch dormitory upstairs. medieval calefactory, occupying the same roof and finishing the two end walls;

149 LOGGIA Nº17 specific tasks performed in the interior of attempted to stop by adding large brick The Abbot’s Palace and The Corredor this room were the opening up of windows buttresses, which not only failed to solve Building that had been closed over and the sealing the structural problem but had a very The restoration of the abbot’s palace and of cracks in the wooden sleepers left by negative effect on the configuration of the the Corredor building as a hostel was a the now missing perimetral benches. facade and its proportions. crucial item in organising the In the restoration of the roof the management of the monument and its The Kitchen diaphragm arches were reinforced to services. The existence of an abbot’s The last room in the refectory wing is the guarantee their structural function, palace or residence in Rueda Monastery kitchen. The refurbishment of all the maintaining the characteristics of the is mentioned in documents dating from domestic spaces in the monastery had original space and conserving the original the year 1337, when the chapter was not caused it to be eliminated and divisions and girders of the timber roof. To counteract held in the beautiful room in the cloister. alterations to be made in its interior, which the collapse mentioned above caused by In 1412 the abbot’s house was in a poor had fallen into ruin from neglect because the thrusts of the dormitory arches, the state of repair, according to the abbot’s they had been made with less consistent lower vaults were also trussed. report to Pope Benedict XIII in his materials like pisé-de-terre and brick. So, after the many mishaps suffered by this application for funds to restore it. This Once the volume of its vault had been room, the refurbishment strove to solve the palace underwent several refurbishment restored, the characteristics of the structural problems and restore authenticity works from the 17th century onwards, original space were clearly defined: a to the conception of this space, whose main when what is known as Puerta Real pointed barrel vault springing from a feature is the sequence of diaphragm (Royal Gate) was added in the north, continuous corbel, similar to the one in arches, the rhythm of the little splayed whose lodge and frontispiece had been the calefactory and the refectory, windows and the wooden ceiling. started under the rule of Abbot Huarte transversal to the latter, and in this case when the traveller Labaña visited Rueda with two intermediate projecting rib The Hydraulic Infrastructures in 1611. arches on corbels with roll moulding. The hydraulic infrastructures in the The characteristics mainly of the ground The chimney and fireplace must have been exterior, which start at the Ebro diversion and first floors of the abbot’s palace situated in the east wall beside the dam and whose principal elements are the were adapted for all the normal uses of a refectory, with the ventilation pipes chain pump and the aqueduct, conserved unique hotel establishment: the entrance embedded in the wall. The last section of practically all the ashlar fabric, although hall, the royal staircase, the first-floor the main pipe system before it turns they had been so sorely neglected that rooms, the Baroque oratory, the room towards the granary and the Ebro River some large trees had taken root among the with alabaster windows and the wine can again be seen in the ground. big sandstone slabs. cellar with huge barrels on the ground The whole structure of the chain pump is floor most attractively house the The Dormitory intact, as is the magnificent aqueduct, both different uses of reception, lounges, bar- The dormitory is a big room that sides of whose partly concealed pointed cum-restaurant, etc. without any need to occupies the whole upper storey over the arches have been cleared. To restore this it change the layout. chapter room. It has two entrances, was necessary first to dismantle some of The part over the hall, the old Casa del according to the custom in all Cistercian the ashlars and get rid of the vegetable Cillero (House of the granary keeper or monasteries, one connecting it directly elements and then put them back in place. monk in charge of monastery supplies), with the cloister and the other leading to The area surrounding the chain pump, of has magnificent bedrooms that have been the church for the nightly prayers. The whose last wheel, one of the largest in the turned into suites. Complementary abbot used to have an independent room peninsula with its sixteen metre diameter, facilities such as a conference room have and in Rueda Monastery it is a little some photographs are conserved, was been installed in the attic of this building. square room adjoining the dormitory, cleared of mud from the river. situated over the sacristy, whose volume The diversion dam caused several islands The Porticoed Gallery Building has been recuperated and covered with a to form in front of the monastery, creating The porticoed gallery building is a plain flat roof. a landscape with great possibilities for monumental porticoed two-storey building The dormitory underwent an important leisure activities and navigation, as well as on the south side of the above mentioned transformation when its original the traditional fishing, very important in San Pedro Plaza, leading from the abbot’s configuration of ashlar diaphragm arches this area at the end of the Mequinenza palace to the artistic entrance gate into the was transformed into a Baroque segmental Dam. The idea is to replace the wheel of medieval cloister at the opposite side. vault. After this fell into ruin when the the chain pump in the future, but this will Only the ground floor wall of the south monastery was abandoned, the arches of require complementary work on the whole bay had been built and a provisional the previous structure were reconstructed surrounding area involving diversion of construction had been erected on the first out of brick in the mid 20th century. This the water in order to clean the canal from floor to use as living quarters for the caused a considerable overhang in the side the dam, locate mechanical floodgates, employees of the company that owned this wall giving on to the orchard, which they etc. part of the monastery.

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This unfinished character of the south future to increase its value even more, workshops with the participation of facade of the monastery made it specially such as the restoration of the oil and flour students and lecturers from some twenty suitable for the installation of hotel rooms. mills, the vaulted underground cold room, universities from all over the world, Its orientation is magnificent, with a view the nearby hermitage, the river area, etc., where composition, morphology, of the orchard garden and the Ebro River; and particularly the installation of a great construction, costs, etc. were studied. the gallery provides access to the Ebro museum in the Baroque dormitories Most of the students were reading bedrooms and affords the best possible and noviciate currently in ruins, to exhibit architecture, although some researchers view of San Pedro Plaza. Rooms are laid all sorts of sailing vessels, tools and from other disciplines also participated, out in a row on two levels with a vertical machinery related to the history of this for example, geology, anthropology, communication nucleus in the little great river, the reason behind the construction engineering, structures... courtyard. A service staircase and different monastery’s location. This will be a These workshops were mainly funded by service rooms occupy the opposite end. complement to the living museum the Leader II Programme of the The tasks performed included the installation constituted by the natural setting of the Economic European Union, the of infrastructures and the conditioning of the monastery on the Ebro River, the Polytechnic University of Valencia and exterior spaces, whose gardens and paths diversion dam, the chain pump, the the local group ADIRA (Association for revolve around the imposing aqueduct. In aqueduct and all the medieval hydraulic the Integral Development of Rincón de front of the Corredor building a large infrastructures built by the monks. Ademuz), made up of local residents platform was created over the semi- who refuse to resign themselves to the basement installation building that can be dilapidation of their homeland. used for outdoor events. Part of this research has been published in Camilla Mileto and Fernando Vegas a book titled Memoria construida. La San Pedro Plaza CULTURAL IDENTITY & BUILT arquitectura tradicional del Rincón de Along with many other restoration tasks on LANDSCAPE. PILOT PROJECT Ademuz (Built Memory. Traditional FOR THE RESTORATION OF all the medieval part of the monastery that TRADITIONAL HOUSES IN Architecture of Rincón de Ademuz), with we shall not go into in this general RINCÓN DE ADEMUZ (VALENCIA) illustrations by the student participants and description, was the urbanisation of San texts by Fernando Vegas, Camilla Mileto Pedro Plaza, the space that articulates the Traditional architecture in Rincón de and Marina Zucolotto. The drawings and different buildings in a new concept, Ademuz, a parish in the province of texts in this book describe the valuable generated in the Modern Age. In the Valencia situated between Teruel and building techniques of the area in order to paving, the tray-like central zone is Cuenca, is an example of built rural facilitate the conservation and restoration differentiated from the perimetral area, thus heritage in danger of disappearing. The of traditional architecture in Rincón de solving the problem of the unevenness of isolation of the parish, surrounded by Ademuz. The diffusion of this book the ground and creating a central fountain mountains, has led to massive emigration among the local people has served to that orders circulation and provides the of the inhabitants to large cities. But enhance the respect they feel for these sound of running water. A differentiated thanks to this circumstance, popular vernacular constructions. area was also created outside the facade of architecture has undergone few alterations the cloister and church, with tree-lined and, in spite of its precarious state at the Disorientation in the Sphere of earth paving, integrating the excavated present time, conserves most of the Restoration in this Area moat with archaeological remains, characteristics of its particular traditional Until the present day, the usual according to the directions of the General building style. procedure regarding these humble rural Heritage Department. The local residents traditionally relate constructions consisted of knocking The works performed to date have finally their grandparents’ dwellings with the them down and building brand new made it possible to open the medieval poverty of the past. This mental houses on top, using completely monastery of Nuestra Señora de Rueda to association has brought about the neglect, different materials, techniques, designs the public for guided tours. This and the demolition and subsequent building on top and colour schemes from their natural inauguration of the Hospedería de Aragón of old sites to produce modern houses and built surroundings. In other cases, permits visitors to enjoy a site that boasts with completely different materials, when the owners had saved up a certain Cistercian architecture in all its purity, techniques, composition and colour amount of money, they had the interior recuperating its historical role as the scheme from the historical building and exterior of the facades plastered and agglutinating factor of a large region, tradition of the area. left the gloomy grey of the cement following the model of territorial unpainted as a way of tacitly their colonialisation of monasteries in the International Workshops on Traditional neighbours that their house was no Middle Ages. Architecture longed clad in the poverty of traditional With adequate conditions for the In view of this situation, traditional architecture of times gone by but had management of the monument, other architecture has been under examination moved on into the new era of progress minor aspects can be dealt with in the near since 1996 in eight international and development.

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In recent years, a new tendency towards restoration project was drawn up as - Possible insertion of tie beams between the recuperation of these traditional carefully as possible for an anonymous the gypsum structural piers to provide dwellings has been detected, but the house with a view to studying the stability abandonment of traditional techniques, possibilities of a new application of the - Use of traditional local mortars, ignorance of the real behaviour of the old techniques or at least of the same consisting of black gypsum and local sand structure of these buildings and constructional logic, in order to - Use of transpiring lime mortars for the reluctance to spend an unwarranted demonstrate that the recuperation of masonry fabrics and floors in direct amount of money in having the houses traditional dwellings is both possible and contact with the ground properly restored put a damper on the economically viable today. - Use of mud, straw and lime mortar for owners’ newly acquired sensibility the joints of the roof tiles, the best system regarding their ancestors’ homes. A Specific Study Case: a Restoration to avoid bursting as a result of freezing It is evident that there is a psychological Project for a Rural Dwelling - Rebonding of the loose mortar fabrics barrier dictated by the custom of the For that reason, a pilot project was drawn and rejointing with hydraulic lime mortars development period that holds back the up for the restoration of traditional houses - Recuperation of the woven reed roofs recuperation of traditional houses in the in Rincón de Ademuz: an anonymous, - Recuperation of timber girders and logs parish of Rincón de Ademuz and favours humble, rural dwelling, with many of the by immersion, painting and injection of their disappearance. It is common to come characteristics shared by other houses, woodworm repellents up against an attitude of underestimation ordinary building features, the - Recuperation of wooden carpentry by or contempt for these traditional houses, morphology, layout and, without a shadow sanding, stripping and applying apparently poor and unappreciated but of a doubt, the usual list of pathologies woodworm repellents older than most modern buildings made of suffered by these constructions. - Recomposition of the missing vaults in reinforced concrete will ever survive to This pilot project attempts to apply all the the framework using the traditional become in the future. knowledge gleaned by this research group cindriales (plank moulding) The greatest problem resides in the at Valencia Polytechnic University over - Use of natural traditional parges and disorientation that characterises this new the years to one particular case. The idea cladding of local mortar composed of tendency to recuperate these traditional was to perform restoration works that black gypsum, clayey sand and slag dwellings, as there are no real guidelines would respect not only the existing - Respectful treatment of the existing or technical know-how to use as a basis of building but the history of vernacular facades, carefully inserting contemporary possibilities for the respectful restoration building techniques in the region. installations of these houses, without necessarily Techniques both physically and - Restoration of furniture and utensils having to use techniques and materials conceptually compatible with existing found in the house that are incompatible with the existing building tradition were investigated and 2. Preparation of a detailed work diary buildings and their natural surroundings. the technology concealed within the containing observations about the Some local masons and builders still vernacular solutions were reinterpreted to experience and the techniques applied, remember the traditional techniques of the carry out modern restoration works. These assessing the performance of the different area, but the market demands the use of points were borne in mind for both the units, describing the composition of the reinforced concrete and aluminium joinery graphic information and the preparation of different mortars and their results, rather than a building system that would the report and budget. analysing samples of the traditional help perpetuate traditional methods for This abandoned house, like many other mortars, showing photographs of the new generations. rural houses, needed new wiring, plumbing building process and the different The difficulties that any professional and heating. All these requirements do not traditional crafts used in the restoration builder comes up against when involve a loss of harmony or spirit for these and enumerating the local building jargon. attempting to draw up a budget for traditional houses, but on the contrary, the 3. The information resulting from the restoration works due to the absence of project strives to create a balance in work experience and the analysis of the an accurate price list in this field is even keeping with current conditions. In order to samples taken from these traditional greater in Rincón de Ademuz, where achieve these objectives, the following mortars will be classified as a sort of undervaluation of traditional houses goes steps were to be taken: index of units and prices related with hand in hand with ignorance of the units, architectural restoration in the region. prices and real performance of restoration Steps Envisaged in the Project Comparative tables of prices of these that constitute any budget. 1. Application of newly reinterpreted local different restoration units will be drawn up This research attempted to solve this traditional restoration techniques, some in such a way that it will be easy for the situation. In the first place, the traditional examples of which are listed below: local people to understand. building techniques of the area were - Dry light consolidation of frameworks 4. Plans will also be drawn up after the investigated and the drawings resulting especially conceived for the little log works to show their final state and the from this research were published as a frames and cindrias (vaults) typical of variations as regards the initial project, guide for local residents. Then a Rincón de Ademuz with notes on the changes made

152 ENGLISH VERSION explaining the reasons that justified them the percentages of the elements in the total some 5000 similar dwellings and during the decision-taking process. cost (labour, machinery, materials, indirect constructions in the parish that could 5. This document and the graphic and other costs) and another showing the avail of the conclusions drawn from the information in the project plans, the total works in Euro. project. Lord mayors, municipal photographs of the progress of the works The lack of any sort of industrial architects, chairmen of local forums and process, the preparation of the plans after production is a token of the poverty and associations and other representatives of the works and the photographs of the isolation of Rincón de Ademuz. Only the the area have expressed their interest in finished product will be published as a money spent on labour and local and unconditional support for this restoration manual for local residents, materials will remain in the parish. Any project, which aspires to infect other masons and builders. other money will go to the place the parishes with the urge to recuperate their 6. According to the project, a large section machinery or already elaborated own character, expressed by means of of the restored house has been reserved as materials come from. The first tables on their built landscape, that is to say, their an ethnological museum to exhibit the the left show how much of the money traditional architecture. furnishings and utensils, with graphic spent on the building process will panels documenting the restoration remain in the area. We can see that most Urgency and Applicability of process, with a view to arousing interest in of the money spent in the restoration of Traditional Architecture in Other the visitors about their heritage and a house is for labour, whereas for a new Geographic Areas enticing them to have their own family house a great deal of machinery and The aims of this project are to sensitise homes restored. ready-made materials are brought in people about the conservation of 7. The intention is to present the book from outside, which involves money that vernacular architecture in Rincón de entitled Guía de la Restauración en el will not remain in the area. That means Ademuz and its preservation and Rincón de Ademuz (Restoration Guide for that restoring a house of this kind in a refurbishment to stop the demolition to Rincón de Ademuz) in the surrounding poor, out-of-the-way parish involves which it has inexorably been subjected towns and villages at an event including investing most of the money used in that in recent years. The need and imminent the exhibition of the panels depicting the parish, apart from promoting local crafts urgency of its application resides restoration of the vernacular house, and traditional building techniques. precisely in the fact that this heritage is lectures and talks addressed to residents, The tables also show the total amount of rapidly disappearing from the area. builders, masons and craftsmen. work in Euro for both a new building and To this end, it is our intention to practise 8. Finally, this experience could lead to a refurbished one. In refurbishment works, what we preach and carry out first-hand the creation of an office to provide the house already exists, so that most of research into the recuperation of information and technical advice for the the work required for a new building is traditional crafts and contemporary refurbishment of vernacular houses in the already present, regardless of the state of reinterpretation of vernacular building area, with a view to orienting owners, repair (fair, poor or in ruins). In fact, in techniques in pursuit of sensitive masons, building companies and the case of refurbishment, hardly any refurbishment that respects the existing craftsmen about the advantages and excavation, foundations, cladding or buildings without renouncing any of the feasibility of recuperating the traditional flooring will be necessary. For the standards to be expected in a houses in the area. structure, roof, masonry and joinery, a contemporary dwelling. similar amount of money/effort will be We plan to document this experience so Comparative Diagrams between the required, but, as we can see in the first that it will constitute a possible New Building and the Restoration diagrams on the left, this investment will reference for future restorations of The study carried out for this pilot stay mainly in the neighbourhood (labour) vernacular houses, arouse sensibility and restoration project made it possible to in the case of restoration and, on the invert the present destructive trend in the establish an economic comparison with contrary, will be exported from the area parish of Rincón de Ademuz and spur on newly-built houses, in order to reach (machinery and materials) in the case of a not only the preservation of rural conclusions about the wisdom of new building. heritage in other areas of the Valencian conserving these traditional houses Community but of other rural areas with suitably modernised, not only from a The Importance of Being a Pilot Project a similar pathology to that described personal, cultural, sentimental or romantic The ideas in this project, from the here, whose traditional architecture is viewpoint, but also for the economic functional and structural analysis to the also worth studying and recuperating. development of the parish. pathology study, including the technical In the tables, we can see not only the solutions designed for the refurbishment First Steps in the Restoration Works difference between the prices of new and of the house, were made as a pilot Before this pilot project received this restored buildings, but the economic project that could be applied to other award, the first stage of restoration had consequences in the area where the dwellings in the area. Having consulted been performed on the functional restoration is carried out. Two types of the data in the National Institute of rehabilitation of the walls, girders and tables have been drawn up: one reflecting Statistics, we estimate that there are roof of the house under study. Lack of

153 LOGGIA Nº17 maintenance of the building, abandoned precarious appearance of the existing In the first place, all the south facade over fifty years ago, had led to leakage, wattle even worse. For that reason, was underpinned from the ground floor the cause of all the problems in this kind instead of replacing it, we decided to to the roof. Later, the downstairs wall of humble architecture, with the ensuing cover it with a new layer, which did not was dismantled and rebonded in wetting of gypsum structural piers and need to be woven, since it was only alternate strips, the fallen wall vault frames, rotting and woodworm in used to cover the bare parts, so that the perpendicular to the facade was rebuilt girders, purlins and joists and weakening appearance of the original wattle and the jambs of the east facade were of the masonry walls on the ground prevailed. straightened by remaking them from the floor, whose mortar grouting was a On top of the wattle a black gypsum foundations to the lintels. Furthermore, simple mixture of mud and straw. layer with a fibreglass mesh between the three walls perpendicular to the timber laths acting as screeds to protect south facade were regrouted with Roof and adhere to the wattle. This layer, sunken joints all the way up, to The roof, supported by a baywork of which also provides thermal insulation, guarantee stability and inertia against savin and poplar girders and logs, has a was made out of black gypsum not only the thrust of the adjacent houses. A cane mesh that adapts to the because of its excellent hygroscopic mixture of hydraulic lime and sand in irregularities of the timber, to which the relationship with wattle as a vegetable 1:3 proportion was used for all these tiles were applied directly with a material, but also because of the tasks to provide the fabric with mixture of mud and straw, filling the coherence of resorting to gypsum as a structural consistency. spaces between the gutters with small typical basic building material of the bushes. The east side of the house had area. A waterproof sheet made out of Side Effects serious leaks that had rotted and broken transpirable fabric was nailed to the These simple repairs performed with the several girders and purlins, which had to gypsum screeds on top of this for extra means and materials currently available in be replaced urgently to guarantee the protection, with the perforation points the building market but based on an stability of the house. The aim was to overlapping. Afterwards the striated interpretation of the philosophy of recuperate the structural function of the plaques of expanded polystyrene for traditional local techniques and respect for roof and at the same time increase the thermal insulation were put in place. the functional logic of its constructional impermeability and thermal insulation to The tile roof was then attached to this organism have triggered important side be expected in a contemporary dwelling surface by means of a mixture of mud effects in the local people. without having to perform constant and straw enriched with lime. The The possibility of restoring a roof while maintenance works. traditional bushes between the gutter respecting or reweaving the existing In the first place, with the permission of tiles to decrease the weight of the roof wattle and at the same time insulating it the foresters, we cut enough cane to were in this case replaced by strips of thermally and introducing additional repair the roof from a reed bed on the the leftover expanded polystyrene. waterproofing under tiles that allow it to banks of the River Turia nearby. We did breathe, or the simple fact of using lime this on a winter day with a waning Walls instead of cement as an agglutinant for moon, according to local tradition. As a The masonry walls on the ground floor the fabrics or as the main consolidant matter of fact, Vitruvius, in his famous of the house, the backbone of the has brought about a change in the treatise, recommended that trees and building’s whole structural system, builders’ mentality and attracted plant material for building purposes be were in a very poor state of repair. The spontaneous visits to the house by the cut down at that time of the year, when wall in the east side of the south facade, local residents to see the success of the the sap is concentrated in the roots, in badly clad with two layers of rubble, structural solution and the transpirable order to avoid its rotting later on. because, before the extension, the east virtues of this mortar for themselves. Then the roof was dismantled and the part of the house had originally been a After years of research in the parish and, cane baywork on the east side was wall around an open stockyard and not a in a way, the sensation that we were uncovered to replace the damaged load-bearing wall, was swollen and talking to a brick wall, we discovered to girders and purlins. After this had been misshapen. At the same time, one of the our satisfaction that a built example has done, the existing mesh was rewoven, three walls perpendicular to this facade, a power of conviction greater than any and the canes were tied with a which give the house stability against other sort of diffusion method. Although perpendicular cane guide. Ordinary the thrust of the buildings attached to a great deal still remains to be done, we hemp cord commonly found in the the floor above, specifically the central can affirm that, for this reason or other market today was used to substitute the one, had crumbled and collapsed on the parallel ones, the attitude towards traditional esparto twine. The ground floor, weakening its inertia. For traditional architecture in the area is dismantling of the tile roof in the west this reason, the house had deflected changing course towards a more of the house and the placing of the new several centimetres towards the street, as promising future. girders and purlins on top, some of could be seen in the partition wall and which weighed 300 kilos, made the the jambs of the doors in the east facade.

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Alessia Bianco and Gabriella Guerrisi shape, layout, function and maintenance– so appearance of degradation factors in the TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURE as to evaluate the influence of these woodwork, the stone fabric and the raw UNDER SCRUTINY: endogenous and exogenous factors in the gypsum buttresses. EXPERIMENTAL DIAGNOSIS IN definition of their physical characteristics This fact was supported by the data RINCÓN DE ADEMUZ PARISH and state of conservation. obtained from the fabric by the ultrasound In the first two buildings, a laundry and a detector, which revealed a significant This campaign of diagnosis research communal bakery, preliminary tests were decrease in the values of the speed of whose main results are presented below performed to draw up a rough list of the propagation, especially in parts of the arose from the project of scientific expectations and the order of values for fabric in contact with the ground and collaboration between lecturers Camilla each component studied. After a visual exterior zones without any cladding Mileto and Fernando Vegas-Manzanares inspection of both buildings and the (average speed of propagation 1800 kHz). of the Polytechnic University of Valencia existing maps, the most interesting spots to On the contrary, in the interior fabrics of and lecturers Enzo Bentivoglio and perform the diagnosis tests were marked the laundry and in general in the walls of Simonetta Valtieri of the PAU Department according to their position in the fabric and the communal baking house, where the of the Università degli Studi de Reggio their apparent state of repair. The tools used humidity in the atmosphere is slightly Calabria. In this context, an instrumental for this process were the following: lower and whose exterior is partially diagnosis survey was carried out in situ on - A thermohygrometer, an instrument for parged with gypsum, notably better values the vernacular architecture of the historic controlling and monitoring the were found (average speed of propagation centres of towns in the parish of Rincón environmental parameters that measures 2500 kHz, particularly satisfactory if we de Ademuz, under study by the the temperature and relative humidity in take it into account that the habitual values Polytechnic University of Valencia for the interior of the buildings investigated in of reinforced concrete are somewhere some years. order to evaluate the external conditions around 3000 kHz). These data indicate the The principal aim of this experiment, to be that facilitate the appearance of certain excellent quality of these now unusual integrated and verified with the technico- forms of degradation like fungus, masonry fabrics and gypsum pillars, constructional research previously carried efflorescence and vegetation in the fabrics provided that humidity from the ground is out on these buildings, consisted of or biological attacks, woodworm or avoided. A final proof of the good state of proposing an innovative cognitive fungus in the woodwork. conservation and respect of these fabrics approach to this traditional architecture - An ultrasound machine, an electronic for good building practices is the fact that that would facilitate an understanding of device that measures the propagation of none of the blows with the sclerometer its characteristics and unique features and ultrasounds in a material so as to evaluate revealed the presence of large gaps in the document its consistency and overall state homogeneity and the presence of cracks mass of the walls. of conservation. In the second place, this and gaps, providing an instrument to The investigation of the timber yielded even instrumental diagnosis campaign aspires to understand the structural behaviour and more interesting and unexpected data. To provide an optimised and balanced the state of conservation of both fabrics start with, an analysis was performed on the operational protocol for the different and timber structures. physical characteristics and the conservation structural components of this unique - A sclerometer, a machine for analysing of the savin (Juniperus Thurifera), an architecture, namely walls, frameworks, concrete, consisting of an awl applied to autochthonous wood that, despite its knotted wooden roofs, vaults, etc., characterised the surface to be studied, which yields appearance and the axial slant of its fibres, by the exclusive specificity of its building immediately the breakage resistance value has extraordinary density and tenacity, apart materials and techniques, which makes in superficial compression. from enormous resistance to woodworm, these buildings objects of special scientific - A pilodyn, another mechanical device even when it is near other species seriously interest and justifies all the efforts that go consisting of a blunt steel pin, which gives affected by these agents. It is exceptionally into investigating, documenting and an indication of the superficial density of resistant to factors of environmental conserving them. timber and its state of conservation. degradation. In fact, the application of A village in Ademuz called Sesga was These particular basically non-destructive ultrasound devices together with the use of chosen for the research, as its architecture test instruments were chosen in order to the pilodyn has yielded particularly high and state of conservation was a faithful make a prompt, extensive diagnosis that, values (average speed of propagation 1600 sample of the area, so much so that it had not having prior references, would provide kHz and average penetration values of 8 mm already been chosen by the Polytechnic the broadest possible picture, although the with a density equivalent to 480 N/m3). In University of Valencia as a model for other results were not always comprehensive. the presence of great humidity, these detailed research. In the built mesh of The thermohygrometric investigation, exceptional values for wood have been Sesga, three buildings were picked out with regular measurements every sixty found homogeneous all along the beams because they were made of similar materials minutes over a four-hour period, revealed including the heads which, even though they and with building methods –although they mainly the high degree of constant damp were in greater danger because of the were different as regards their during the hottest hours of the day. These humidity coming from the fabric, showed interrelationship within this network, their environmental conditions give rise to the identical resistance values.

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Once these initial data had been obtained, upright flagstones grouted with black kHz, with 18 mm penetration values and the investigation of the third example gypsum, which prevents them from 290 N/m3 density), more modest even chosen began: a house in the village, having an even consistency. The fact that than the pinewood on the lower floors. whose preliminary studies and restoration, there is no literature about this type of The instrumental data concerning the conceived as a pilot project for the area, fabric makes these walls even more different species of timber and, have been awarded first prize in Europa interesting, and calls for revealing particularly, the extraordinary physical Nostra 2003. In the first place, a detailed experiments in the future. properties of the savin provide really thermohygrometric chart was drawn up for Research into the fabrics on the second interesting results, not only because of each storey of the house, observing the floor confirmed the excellent resistance their unexpected character in the literature same intervals as before, so as to compare and technico-constructional characteristics of the sector, but above all because they it with the results obtained in the other of the existing fabrics, with the exception offer a broad range of research two buildings. This thermohygrometric of their possible decay from water leaking possibilities regarding the reasons for such chart confirmed that there were rather high from the roof, something to be avoided as staunch behaviour when exposed to the humidity values and showed a greater in any ordinary building. degrading agents in the atmosphere. In the temperature in the upper storeys and Finally, an investigation was performed same way, exceptional behaviour was inertia to the change of humidity on the on several samples of the woodwork of discovered in the mortars and plaster ground floor when the temperature the house on the three storeys of the finish of the fabrics, opening up the increases, as was to be expected. building. On the ground floor a savin horizon for new research with less After performing the atmospheric test, the lintel and one of the pinewood beams of provisional tools to provide more fabrics were examined by selecting a the framework were studied. The comprehensive results, such as portion of the external walls and the instrumental data confirmed the thermography for the fabrics and interior partition walls to apply the extraordinary physical features and the resistography for the woodwork. ultrasound detector and the sclerometer. good conservation quality of savin wood Furthermore, this study could be expanded On the ground floor the part of the wall (average speed of propagation 1700 kHz, to other areas of the region to identify recently consolidated with compatible, with 8 mm penetration values and 480 similarities and differences in a panorama tradition-friendly techniques and materials N/m3 density). It was very revealing to that is only apparently homogeneous. was chosen. At this point it was possible compare it with the pinewood beam in the Laboratory tests on the building materials to verify not only the good quality of the framework, whose speed of propagation could provide a further contribution to wall (average speed of propagation 2300 of ultrasound and resistance to superficial this research. To this end, this kHz) but the fact that the rest of the compression are normal for average preliminary investigation concluded by fabrics were in a good state of repair, characteristic timber structures and in an gathering together the major materials which speaks well both of the works intermediate state of conservation used in traditional architecture in the performed and the criteria behind them. (average speed of propagation 900 kHz, village of Sesga and other towns in The investigation on the ground floor in with 15 mm penetration values and 335 Rincón de Ademuz, which is currently comparison with the upper floors also N/m3 density), taking it into account under examination in the Petrography and confirmed that the high degree of besides that these two species of timber Material Analysis Department of the humidity constitutes the major cause of on the ground floor are in almost identical M.A.Re. Laboratory of the Department of degradation for these fabrics, as reflected atmospheric conditions. PAU. This investigation attempts to in the data obtained, which revealed a On the first floor some measurements discover the exact composition of mortars growing weakening of the quality of the were taken in the framework, made of and claddings and identify the places fabrics near their base. As regards the pinewood like on the ground floor, from which the gypsum was extracted partition wall studied, this aspect is even confirming values similar to those and its elaboration process and with these more evident because of the deterioration obtained but better no doubt due to the data to make final reflections about the of the cladding and the larger amount of lower degree of humidity at this level. good state of conservation of these mortar in the joints (average speed of The unusual qualities of the savin could architectures, whose construction is far propagation 1900 kHz). clearly be observed in the recently more than just adequate. The fabrics in the best state of restored roof. In this structure the beams conservation were those on the first and purlins are combined with savin Acknowledgements: We would like to floor, with higher instrumental values beams from demolished buildings to thank Professors Fernando Vegas and (average speed of propagation 2300 replace the ones that were broken during Camilla Mileto for the opportunity to kHz). Here the absence of capillary the works. In this roof the savin beams undergo this extraordinarily enriching humidity from the ground and leaks or have lived up to their usual high values professional and human experience. We drips from the roof has kept the cladding (average speed of propagation 1600 kHz, also thank Professors Enzo Bentivoglio in better condition. However, the diverse with 10 mm penetration values and 418 and Simonetta Valtieri for their constant building techniques used in this case N/m3 density), in contrast with the poplar solicitous encouragement in promoting our must be taken into account: thin walls of values (average speed of propagation 800 search for knowledge.

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