HERITAGE INFORMATION Recording, documentation and information management for the conservation of Heritage Places

GUIDING PRINCIPLES and ILLUSTRATED EXAMPLES

AIDA 2° - RESTORATION DESIGN 2012-13 – PROF. ARCH. MARINA D’APRILE

Recording, documentation and information management for the conservation of Heritage Places. Guiding principles and illustrated examples, GCI (The Getty Conservation Institute – Los Angeles), 2007.

This lecture provides a comprehensive overview of the fundamental principles and guidelines to documenting CH places, that are HI activities, which represent a very powerful and indispensable tool for decision making and planning in conservation field .

Heritage Information (HI) – the activity and products of recording, documenting and managing the information of cultural heritage (CH) places – should be not only an integral part of a conservation project but also an activity that continues long after the intervention is completed. It is the basis for the monitoring, management, and routine maintanance of a site and provides a way to transmit knowledge about heritage places, as well as its conservation intervention works, to future generations.

HI activities represent essential activities of all phases oh the conservation process and must be fully integrated into this process. All HI products must be considered as integral part of an integrated project dossier.CH place refers in general to immovable cultural heritage, such as single monuments, archeological sites, groups of buildings, historic tows and cultural land scapes.DOCUMENTATION represents the already existing stock of information about a CH place. As an activity stands for the systematic collection and archiving of these kinds of records, which have to be transmitted to future. RECORDING means the acquisition of new information deriving from all activities on a heritage asset, including heritage recording, research and investigation, conservation, use and management, and maintanance and monitoring.HERITAGE RECORDING means the graphic and-or photographic capturing information describing the physical configuration, evolution and condition of a heritage at known points in time. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT represents the process of finding, cataloguing, storing and sharing information about CH.RESEARCH and INVESTIGATION are used to describe in general a variety of activities aimed at acquisition of information useful to increasing knowledge of a CH place. RESEARCH is related more to off-site serveys (e.g. archival research).INVESTIGATION relates to direct acquisition of information from the CH place as a primary source. Thus RECORDING is always an essential component of research and investigation at each step and at each level of the conservation process.

RESEARCH is the first step, because before new records are prepared, all the existing sources of information should be found, gathered and eximined for adequacy.HERITAGE RECORDS must accurately identify and locate the CH places and their setting, and note the sources of all related information. They must also include metric, qualitative and quantitative information about the assets, their values and significance, their condition and management, their maintanance and repairs, and the threats and risks to their safekeeping. The selection of appropriate scope, level and methods of recording requires that the methods of recording and the type of documentation produced are appropriate to the nature and importance of the CH place, the project’s needs, the purpose of the record, the cultural context and the resources available. Preference should be given to nonintrusive techniques.RECORDING should use standardized formats, and be preserved and up-to-date backed up.

INFORMATION USERS CONSERVATION EXPERTSWHO SPECIALIZE IN

A. RESEARCHB. INVENTORIESC. INITIAL STUDIESD. CONSERVATION PLANNINGE. PROJECT MANAGEMENTF. MAINTENANCEG. MONITORING

WHICH GENERALLY USELOW-COST RECORDING METHODSAND TOOLS

THE ICOMOS PRINCIPLES (1996).Adopted and ratified during the 11th ICOMOS General Assembly in Sofia (Bulgaria), this document represents the fundamental notions, principles and several guiding-lines about the HI issues. It establishes the why of recording in general and greater details, the who (responsability), the how (planning), the what (contents) and the managment of the records obtained.

HERITAGE RECORDERSWHO SPECIALIZE IN

A. PHOTOGRAPHYB. PHOTOGRAMMETRYC. SURVEYING, GPSD. GISE. 3-D LASER SCANNINGF. 3-D MODELINGG. GEOPHYSICAL PROSPECTIONH. ETC.

WHICH GENERALLY USE STATEOF-THE-ART RECORDING TOOLS

The six phases involved in the Heritage conservation process

The conservation process and related project information activities

The output of diverse research initiatives consists of information units

The term recording is used referring to the acquisition of new information deriving from all activities on a heritage place. These activities, including measured surveys, research and investigation, conservation, use and management, and maintenance and monitoring, are carried out by a variety of specialists in pursuit of the common goal of gaining a better understanding of the heritage place and of the risks affecting its long-term conservation.Heritage recording is the capturing of graphic and photographic information describing the physical configuration, evolution, and condition of a heritage place. Today, due to rapid technological development in the field of measured survey techniques, this activity is mainly performed by heritage recorders. These technical experts are trained to apply a broad range of recording techniques and to choose the measured survey tool (or combination of tools) that will best match project requirements. Based on the needs defined by the project manager, heritage recorders produce precise and reliable measured drawings and photographs. Heritage recorders may also undertake technical analysis, which consists of providing accurate and objective visual descriptions of the design, construction, materials, and condition of heritage places. The resulting heritage record is a technical dossier consisting of graphic records that provide the necessary basic data for conservation and conservation-related activities and/or provide the public archives with posterity records. Graphic records are used as base maps for adding data from investigation, design, treatment, maintenance, and monitoring. The output of recording activities is a number of research, investigation, or treatment records, which include different data formats, such as text, tables, diagrams, photographs, and graphic information.

The production and integration of data to create the complete record of a heritage place

Three levels of recording may generally be considered:1. Reconnaissance recording2. Preliminary recording3. Detailed recordingEach of these recording levels may be partial; that is, each consists of a limited set of graphic records tailored to specified needs as the conservation activity evolves over time.

Reconnaissance recording is typically an overview photo survey with sketched plans that allows conservation professionals to visualize, in entirety, a site and its related buildings and features in sufficient detail to understand the site’s overall characteristics. It should permit rapid identification of significant features and problem areas. The quantity of photos taken will vary according to the size of the site and related structures and features. For a building, reconnaissance recording normally would include sketches of plans and elevations together with important details.

Preliminary recording is more accurate than reconnaissance recording and includes measured graphic records. It is meant to complement reconnaissance recording by providing more complete information pertaining to each components of a site. The purpose of this recording is to produce a set of graphic records of the asset’s major features that are needed early in the conservation process for preliminary analysis, and to define areas for further investigation and related detailed recording. The accuracy of graphic records is ± 10 cm for plans, elevations, and cross sections, and ± 2 cm for structural and other elements.

Detailed recording can take place prior to, during, or after a conservation activity to accurately record a site’s physical configuration, condition, and significant features. The accuracy of a detailed record can vary between approximately ± 2 mm and 5 mm for building elements and between ± 10 mm and 25 mm for building plans, elevations, and cross sections.

In summary, reconnaissance recording provides quick sketches and photos to understand a heritage place and its configuration before a project begins. Preliminary recording provides additional focused information to the project dossier to better understand project needs early in the process. Detailed recording consists of accurate graphic records for detailed studies and design requirements.

Tools for heritagerecording: (a) measuring tapeand plumb line, (b) electronicdistance meter, (c) digital camera,(d) Tablet PC, (e) total station.

Rectified and scaled (measurable) photo-mosaics of the dry ditch masonry walls at Fort Henry (Canada). The photo-mosaics were prepared by professional heritage recorders and used by conservation specialists to determine the masonry’s condition.

Rectified and scaled (measurable) photo-mosaics are essential tools to survey and record CH place properties and defects.