The conservation of built heritage implies constant intervention. One form of intervention is reconstruction, which, in the context of disasters, usually tries to bring buildings and places back to their previous state and is contested in heritage discourses. This book challenges reconstruction as a replica to physically preserve damaged built heritage by critically examining a context of constant change resulting from earthquakes – Chile – advocating for the digital record to be an analytical basis for design, following the principles embedded in historical domestic architecture.
Beyond monumental heritage, the focus is on the living heritage of the historical settlements of Tarapacá, Zúñiga, and Lolol, built with local resources and sustainable techniques. The book proposes re-construction as an alternative methodology, based on 3D-laser-scanning, photography, and questionnaires, to analyse the as-built condition of earthquake-affected buildings, consider risk mitigation, and recognise adaptation to earthquakes and subsequent reconstructions. This is relevant for seismic-prone areas and built heritage at risk in general.
This book is aimed at researchers, academics, and practitioners in architectural conservation and is also a valuable resource for authorities and stakeholders involved in post-earthquake scenarios.
List of figures List of abbreviations Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Situating the argument Earthquakes in Chile Re-construction and record Structure of the book Chapter 1: Built heritage conservation 1.1. A brief history of conservation 1.1.1. Initial attempts 1.1.2. Rome and beyond 1.1.3. Middle Ages 1.1.4. From the Renaissance 1.1.5. The becoming of heritage From the Conservation movement Non-monumental heritage The classification of heritage The internationalisation of heritage 1.2 Why conserve? 1.2.1. Living heritage: tangible and intangible 1.2.2. Sustainability and economic value 1.2.3. Tourism 1.2.4. Memory and the construction of history 1.3 How to conserve? 1.3.1. Concepts of intervention in built heritage 1.3.2. Reconstruction and re-construction 1.3.3. Time in built heritage restoration 1.3.4. Continuous conservation 1.3.5. Two intervention extremes 1.4. Final remarks Chapter 2: Recording heritage buildings 2.1. Architectural representation, building and measuring 2.1.1 Building as recording 2.1.2. Architectural treatises From building to drawing Words instead of images Standardisation 2.1.3. Other records 2.2. Surveying buildings 2.2.1. Hand-measuring method 2.2.2. Photography 2.2.3. 3D imaging Stereo-photogrammetry Photogrammetry 2.2.4. 3D scanning using projected light 2.2.5. 3D-laser-scanning 2.3. The rise of digital recording technologies 2.3.1. Products from the 3D record Architectural representations Visualisations A new aesthetic 2.3.2. Designing from the 3D scan data 2.3.3. The paradox of the complete record 2.3.4. Record and archive 2.3.5. Continuous modelling and design 2.3.6. Visual replica 2.4. Final remarks Chapter 3: Record and reconstruction in the face of destruction 3.1. Potential destruction 3.1.1. The record 3.1.2. Rebuilding as replica 3.1.3. The paradox of the original 3.1.3.1. Reconstruction as improvement 3.1.3.2. Programmed rebuilding — Ise shrines 3. The 3D record to question physical rebuilding 3.2. Recording for re-construction 3.2.1. Documenting to manage risk 3.2.2. Post-destruction assessment and documentation Surveying buildings after earthquakes 3D-laser-scanning as a post-earthquake surveying tool Continuous recording Assessing damage by comparing records 3.3. Post-earthquake intervention of heritage areas 3.3.1. Building techniques in reconstruction and re-construction 3.4. Concluding remarks Chapter 4: Reconstruction of heritage areas in Chile 4.1. Built heritage in Chile 4.1.1. Continuous destruction because of earthquakes 4.1.2 Heritage stance 4.1.3. Recording heritage buildings 4.1.4 Mitigation of heritage damage 4.2. Case studies 4.2.1. Two earthquakes 4.2.2 Chilean heritage areas 4.2.3. Tarapacá 4.2.4. Zúñiga 4.2.5. Lolol 4.3. Reconstruction after earthquakes in Chile 4.3.1. Emergency period 4.3.2. Permanent housing 4.3.3. Post-earthquake surveys 4.3.4. 2005 earthquake 4.3.5. 2010 earthquake Creation of the Heritage Reconstruction Programme Lessons learned from 2005 to 2010 4.4. Persisting challenges 4.4.1. Emergency period 4.4.1.1. Indiscriminate demolition 4.4.1.2. Built Heritage perception 4.4.2. Reconstruction process 4.4.2.1 Integral approach? 4.4.2.2. Lack of evaluation 4.4.2.3. Scalability 4.4.2.4. New heritage dwellings 4.5. Concluding remarks Chapter 5: the record 5.1. Data capture on-site 5.1.1. Documenting the built environment 5.1.2. Tarapacá 5.1.3. Zúñiga 5.1.4. Lolol 5.1.2. Inhabitants' perception 5.2. Visualisation Limitations 5.3. The record for analysis 5.3.1. Post-earthquake surveys From measured drawing to 3D-laser-scanning 5.3.2. Architectural design, heritage elements and the sustainability of the new 'heritage' dwellings From 2005 to 2010 The architectural elements of heritage Architectural design and building techniques 5.3.3. The paradox of authentic reproduction The record throughout time: determining the original 5.4. Concluding remarks Chapter 6: Re-construction alternative 6.1. Documenting to mitigate risk 6.1.1. Mitigation retrofitting 6.1.2. Integrating inhabitants 6.2. Designing from the record 6.2.1. Time 6.3.2. Spatial use: the inhabited record Inhabiting a reconstructed house 6.3.3. Sustainability and materiality 6.3. Re-construction 6.4.1. Tarapacá — memory Re-construction plan The memory of earthquakes 6.4.2. Zúñiga — use 6.4.3. Lolol — in-between Post-earthquake and pre-restoration Repair, retrofit & partial re-construction 6.4. Concluding remarks Conclusions Methodology As a post-earthquake documenting tool As a basis for analysis and design Going beyond the buildings Implications New Buildings for Old Mitigation as conservation Continuous transformation Projections References Index
Bernadette Devilat L., also known as Bernardita, is an assistant professor at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment of the University of Nottingham, part of the Architecture, Culture and Tectonics Research Group, where she teaches and leads research projects as Principal Investigator. She graduated as an Architect in Chile with a Master’s in Architecture at the Pontificia Universidad Católica, followed by a PhD in Architectural Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Her research includes critical and novel uses of accurate recording technologies – mainly 3D-laser-scanning – to conserve built heritage at risk with case studies in Chile and India. She co-founded the Tarapacá Project, created after the 2005 earthquake in Chile; and DLA Scan Architectural Studio with built projects in Chile. She has research and teaching experience at all the universities listed, and Nottingham Trent University. She has published, given guest keynotes and lectures, exhibited and presented her work internationally, and received prestigious awards.
Reviews for Digital Records, Heritage Conservation and Post-earthquake Re-construction in Chile
It is easy, in countries where buildings can be expected to last for thousands of years if they are very well built and maintained with care, to believe that restoration back to the original is the be all and end all of preservation. But buildings of this nature are rare and historical continuity over long periods to support continuous maintenance is close to non-existent. In addition, buildings are continually repurposed, and this will inevitably have an impact on their fabric. Chile, with highly active earthquake zones and a rapidly developing culture and economy, is a petri dish in which concepts of conservation can be exposed to extreme challenges and this book is a really welcome, erudite and significant contribution to the subject. As society moves forward it is plausible to believe that in many cases a complete record of past buildings will become more significant than the retention of a few of the actual buildings. Professor Stephen Gage, The bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. Relics, remnants and records are something of the past that remains in the present, thresholds of knowledge that signify possibilities of the future. Bernadette Devilat’s book is bringing a novel and much needed discussion on the nature, form and urgency of records, memory in the digital age as some form of contemporary Noah’s Arch to intepret the past to preserve some form of future of architecture and built enviornment in general. She is offering care and cautions, erudition and innovation with what she calls re-contruction to a field of pratice often left in a hurry to measure success, evidence and novelty. Across disaster studies, architecture and digital design, Bernadette Devilat’s book is a needed reading for all interested in an architecture of hope. Professor Camillo Boano, Polytechnic of Turin, Italy; and Development Planning Unit, London
