The role of mathematics in architectural conservation

Abstract

The paper aimed to investigate the role of mathematics in conservation and restoration of cultural heritage, with special attention to the architectural heritage. Starting from the XX cent., restoration and conservation of cultural heritage are based on scientific approaches. Brandi, the very well-known Italian theorist of restoration, states that it is possible to restore only the material of the work of art. Physics, chemistry, mechanic, geometric survey, petrography, mineralogy, wooden science/engineering, climatology, environmental sciences, economy, sociology, history, art, architecture and conservation are fields and scientific sectors involved in the process of safeguarding tangible cultural heritage and, specifically, the architectural one. All these fields are interconnected by mathematic tools, building models with which it is possible to formulate the diagnosis of the damages, offering a support to the project of conservation, to enhance the good and to plan the maintenance and the projected of newadditions. The existing good is unknown until a model, capable of detecting its essence and behavior, is conceived. The model, as Piga states, “can be, for example, a tool for architectural design, for metric calculation, for the training of workers, for structural analysis: ...”. The model is the way not only to represent the “shape” of an object: the construction of a mathematical model can help the synergy in the direction of the conservation. The topic is developed also from a historical perspective in order to understand how the numerical model, from the past up to now, has been able to support the understanding of goods, their restoration, conservation, enhancement and use, and their transfer to future generations.