Industrial materials on the conservation on earthen heritage. Technical challenges from case studies in northern Argentina

BARADA, JULIETA; TOMASI, JORGE

Detroit

Conferencia; APT Annual Conference 2022; 2022

Association for Preservation Technology International

Conservation of earthen architectures presents specific challenges associated, especially, with their stability and durability. Indeed, different societies have been generating different mechanisms to achieve the sustainability of these architectures, based on local constructive cultures. Since the consolidation of the field of professional conservation, particularly since the beginning of the 20th century, the solutions applied to this type of buildings have tended to be based on the principle that they consisted in weak and not very durable techniques. Within this framework, reinforcements applied were mainly based on the incorporation of industrialized materials, particularly those based on cement, including reinforced concrete. This type of interventions have not only affected the integrity and authenticity of heritage, but have also caused various pathologies as a consequence of the incompatibility between technologies. In the last decades, research developed by different institutions such as the Getty Conservation Institute and the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, have allowed the development of reinforcement systems, often based on industrialized materials, but from an approach focused on the compatibility of technologies, both in technical and social terms.This presentation will address the use of industrialized materials in the conservation of earthen architecture, based on two case studies in northwestern Argentina: Casa del Marqués, in Yavi, and the Church of Uquía, both from colonial origins and currently valued as National Historic Monuments. For this analysis, the two axes referred will be considered: first, the incorporation of cement and reinforced concrete that occurred in the framework of historical interventions on these architectures, considering their emerging damages from an integral perspective; second, the recent interventions carried out by the authors, regarding the use of solutions compatible with local construction cultures for structural consolidation, including the remediation of emerging damages by the use of reinforced concrete. This will allow us to observe how the use of industrialized materials in dialogue with earthen construction is not inherently negative, but requires specific approaches and studies to achieve compatibility. In methodological terms, this presentation is based on the work with archival documentation, field research and laboratory studies on the constructive materials that were carried out for each case, within the framework of the development of the conservation actions.