scholarly journals Architectural Ruins: A Geoheritage Essay on the Anatomy of Buildings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

Abstract Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Malta is the smallest European Union Member State with a significantly high density of cultural heritage. Casa Ippolito, which is now in ruins, is a typical representative of seventeenth-century aristocratic country residences on this Central Mediterranean island. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in the reconstruction of the architecture of the building. It considers the building elements and materials as the essential tissue of architecture. Such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its dynamics when it was in operation. Ruins are an essay in the geoheritage of material culture and building physics. By reconstructing the mechanics of the building one can strive to comprehend how it functioned in terms of serviceability and well-being, how it provided both shelter and sensory nutrition. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are geoheritage rendered in stone. These ruins facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for its users; they are a statement on the well-being of humanity throughout history.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

Abstract Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of seventeenth-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about building’s history as read from its ruins. The results are expressed from three perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito is revealed in its ruins, which provide a cross-section of its construction history and show two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolita – the building elements and materials – addresses the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases. Finally, the geoheritage of Casa Ippolito – how it met its inhabitants’ needs for shelter, water and food – is examined. The case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins are an essay in the geoheritage of material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are geoheritage rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for its users; they are a statement on the well-being of humanity throughout history.



2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

AbstractRuins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of 17th-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. An unmanned aerial vehicle was used to digitally record the parlous state of the architectural structure and karsten tubes were used to quantify the surface porosity of the limestone. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its building history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito—the building elements and materials—speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it supported its inhabitants’ wellbeing in terms of shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic discourse rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.



2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

Abstract Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of seventeenth-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. An unmanned aerial vehicle was used to digitally record the parlous state of the architectural structure and karsten tubes were used to quantify the surface porosity of the limestone. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its building history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito – the building elements and materials – speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it supported its inhabitants’ wellbeing in terms of shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic discourse rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.



2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lino Bianco

Abstract Ruins are a statement on the building materials used and the construction method employed. Casa Ippolito, now in ruins, is typical of seventeenth-century Maltese aristocratic country residences. It represents an illustration of secondary or anthropogenic geodiversity. This paper scrutinises these ruins as a primary source in reconstructing the building’s architecture. The methodology involved on-site geographical surveying, including visual inspection and non-invasive tests, a geological survey of the local lithostratigraphy, and examination of notarial deeds and secondary sources to support findings about the building’s history as read from its ruins. The results are expressed from four perspectives. The anatomy of Casa Ippolito, as revealed in its ruins, provides a cross-section of its construction history and shows two distinct phases in its construction. The tissue of Casa Ippolito – the building elements and materials – speaks of the knowledge of raw materials and their properties among the builders who worked on both phases of its construction. The architectural history of Casa Ippolito reveals how it met its inhabitants’ needs for shelter, water and food. Finally, the ruins in their present state bring to the fore the site’s potential for cultural tourism. This case study aims to show that such ruins are not just geocultural remains of historical built fabric. They are open wounds in the built structure; they underpin the anatomy of the building and support insights into its former dynamics. Ruins offer an essay in material culture and building physics. Architectural ruins of masonry structures are anthropogenic essays rendered in stone which facilitate not only the reconstruction of spaces but also places for human users; they are a statement on the wellbeing of humanity throughout history.



2020 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 06002
Author(s):  
Clémence Legros ◽  
Amandine Piot ◽  
Monika Woloszyn ◽  
Mickael Pailha

The building materials used indoors constantly interact with the environment in which the occupants live. Recent studies have shown that natural materials, such as wood, can improve human well-being. In addition, the building materials facing the indoor air are able to adsorb and desorb water vapour from their surface and exchange it with the surrounding air. This mass exchange comes along with heat exchange, modifying their surface temperature, and thus the indoor environment. Therefore, in this article, we are investigating whether moisture buffering has an impact on comfort. For this purpose, room-scale numerical simulations have been carried out with WUFI Plus, comparing two types of interior cladding materials: painted plasterboards and a raw spruce panelling. The results show a slightly lower surface temperature and air temperature during the summer period when using spruce. A higher hygroscopicity of the spruce than the gypsum can explain this difference in behaviour between the two studied materials. Thus, spruce exchanges more latent heat with the surrounding air. However, only this thermal difference cannot explain the difference in comfort perception between the gypsum and the wood.



2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena N. Mokshina ◽  
Mihail I. Svyatkin

Introduction. The article deals with the main traditional outbuildings of the Mordvinians, reported on their functional purpose in economic activity. The forms and types of outbuildings, as well as the main building materials used by Mordvinians are described in details. Their significance in the religious and ceremonial life of the ethnic group is shown. Materials and Methods. The research is based on traditional methods of ethnographic science, such as field observation, survey and interviews, and a comprehensive approach. Among the methods of historical science comparative-historical, historical-genetic, problem-chronological, structural-system were used. Among the general scientific methods of research logical, descriptive, narrative, generalization, classification and systematization were involved. To achieve the results of the study, the materials collected by the authors in the course of field surveys conducted in the Mordovian villages were mainly used. Results and Discussion. Traditional outbuildings were of great importance in the economic activity of the Mordovian ethnic group. According to their functional purpose, they can be divided into the following groups: for livestock and poultry (stable, chicken coop, stable, kalda), sanitary and hygienic (bath), warehouse buildings for storage of food, utensils, firewood, animal feed (barn, cellar, woodshed, hayloft), for processing of grain (sheep, riga, mill). Depending on the welfare and financial capacity of the family, the number of outbuildings was different. As a rule, the wealthier families had more outbuildings than the less wealthier ones. The main building material for the construction of these buildings was wood. Conclusion. Thus, the traditional outbuildings of the Mordvinians occupied an important place in its economic activities. At the same time, each of them had its own purpose and performed certain functions. Some buildings, such as a bath and a barn, had not only economic purpose, but also were the venue for a number of prayers and ceremonies. It is now ordinarily they have banya (bath-house), outdoor courtyard with standing in different places sheds, barn and cellar.





2021 ◽  
pp. 100175
Author(s):  
Roberto Condoleo ◽  
Rachel A. Taylor ◽  
Robin R.L. Simons ◽  
Paul Gale ◽  
Ziad Mezher ◽  
...  


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 234
Author(s):  
Matthias Richter ◽  
Wolfgang Horn ◽  
Elevtheria Juritsch ◽  
Andrea Klinge ◽  
Leon Radeljic ◽  
...  

Indoor air quality can be adversely affected by emissions from building materials, consequently having a negative impact on human health and well-being. In this study, more than 30 natural building materials (earth dry boards and plasters, bio-based insulation materials, and boards made of wood, flax, reed, straw, etc.) used for interior works were investigated as to their emissions of (semi-)volatile organic compounds ((S)VOC), formaldehyde, and radon. The study focused on the emissions from complete wall build-ups as they can be used for internal partition walls and the internal insulation of external walls. Test chambers were designed, allowing the compounds to release only from the surface of the material facing indoors under testing parameters that were chosen to simulate model room conditions. The emission test results were evaluated using the AgBB evaluation scheme, a procedure for the health-related evaluation of construction products and currently applied for the approval of specific groups of building materials in Germany. Seventeen out of 19 sample build-ups tested in this study would have passed this scheme since they generally proved to be low-emitting and although the combined emissions of multiple materials were tested, 50% of the measurements could be terminated before half of the total testing time.



2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (11) ◽  
pp. 969-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzieh Riahinezhad ◽  
Augusta Eve ◽  
Marianne Armstrong ◽  
Peter Collins ◽  
J.-F. Masson

Temperature and relative humidity (RH) data within the building envelope of a single-family home at the National Research Council of Canada’s Canadian Centre for Housing Technology were collected over five years. We report on the distribution, rate of change, and the limits of temperature and moisture variations for south-easting wall and south-facing wall and roof systems to better understand the in-situ environmental conditions to which building materials and components typical of homes in North America may be subjected. Over an average year, wall temperature varied from −25 °C to +45 °C, and temperature followed a bimodal distribution, with maxima at 0 °C to 5 °C and 15 °C to 20 °C. Each maximum represented about 1100 h of field exposure. Roof temperatures, which spanned a temperature range from −35 °C to 75 °C, did not show a Gaussian distribution but were characterized as being multi-modal. From values of temperature and RH, absolute moisture contents within the building envelope were found to range between 1 and 55 g/m3, with the most common values being 6–8 g/m3. The application of this information is discussed and related to the development of realistic accelerated aging conditions to obtain a more accurate durability assessment of building envelope materials used in Canadian dwellings.



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