Using a construction technique to understand it: thin-tile vaulting

Abstract

'The conservation and restoration of monuments must have recourse to all the sci-ences and techniques which can contribute to the study and safeguarding of the architectural heritage' [1]. The Venice Charter showed a new understanding of historical constructions’ conservation. In particular, the way that it is defined in the first two articles widen the field to give a prominent place to the conservation of cultural values and traditional techniques. Thirty years later, in 1994, the Nara Document on Authenticity defined conservation attaching great importance to the “efforts designed to understand cultural heritage” [2]. This paper presents the result of research aiming to understand the material performance, con-struction processes and structural behavior of a traditional technique that has given countless examples of architectural heritage and can itself be considered as a cultural and heritage value to be preserved: thin-tile vaulting (or Catalan vaulting). The final outcome of this research is a pavilion entirely built with the mentioned technique. The building exhibits the possibilities of the technique in terms of material expressiveness, formal appearance and structural behavior. The whole process of erecting the building meant necessary research from three perspectives: historical, analytical and experimental. The processes of design, construction and structural analysis are presented in this communica-tion giving a new perspective and broader understanding of the technique to give hints that could help in the conservation and restoration of existing specimens. “…the essential contribution made by the consideration of authenticity in conservation practice is to clarify and illuminate the collective memory of humanity” [2].