Combining Integrated Informative System and Historical Digital Twin for Maintenance and Preservation of Artistic Assets

The protection of artistic and cultural heritage is a major challenge due to its peculiarities and its exposure to significant natural hazards. Several methodologies exist to assess the condition of artistic heritage and to protect it from exceptional actions. Moreover, novel digital technologies offer many solutions able to deliver a digital replica of artifacts of interest, so that a reduction in the uncertainties in the analysis models can be achieved. A rational approach to the preservation and protection of artistic heritage is based on traditional approaches supported and integrated by novel technologies, so that qualitative and quantitative indicators of the current condition of artistic heritage can be defined and validated in an interdisciplinary framework. The present paper reports the results of an approach to the maintenance and preservation of art objects housed in a museum complex based on a comprehensive digital path towards a Historical Digital Twin (HDT). A workflow aimed at estimating the stress regime and the dynamic properties of two sculptures, based on the detailed three-dimensional model resulting from a laser scanner survey, is illustrated and discussed. The results highlight the great advantages resulting from the integration of traditional and novel procedures in the field of conservation of artistic assets.

Stolen Heritage Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Illicit Trafficking of Cultural Heritage in the EU and the MENA Region

It is a well-known fact that organized crime has developed into an international network that, spanning from the simple ‘grave diggers’ up to powerful and wealthy white-collar professionals, makes use of money laundering, fraud and forgery. This criminal chain, ultimately, damages and dissipates our cultural identity and, in some cases, even fosters terrorism or civil unrest through the illicit trafficking of cultural property.The forms of ‘possession’ of Cultural Heritage are often blurred; depending on the national legislation of reference, the ownership and trade of historical and artistic assets of value may be legitimate or not. Criminals have always exploited these ambiguities and managed to place on the Art and Antiquities market items resulting from destruction or looting of museums, monuments and archaeological areas. Thus, over the years, even the most renowned museum institutions have - more or less consciously - hosted in their showcases cultural objects of illicit origin. Looting, thefts, illicit trade, and clandestine exports are phenomena that affect especially those countries rich in historical and artistic assets. That includes Italy, which has seen its cultural heritage plundered over the centuries ending up in public and private collections worldwide.This edited volume features ten papers authored by international experts and professionals actively involved in Cultural Heritage protection. Drawing from the experience of the Conference Stolen Heritage (Venice, December 2019), held in the framework of the NETCHER project, the book focuses on illicit trafficking in Cultural Property under a multidisciplinary perspective.The articles look at this serious issue and at connected crimes delving into a variety of fields. The essays especially expand on European legislation regulating import, export, trade and restitution of cultural objects; conflict antiquities and cultural heritage at risk in the Near and Middle East; looting activities and illicit excavations in Italy; the use of technologies to counter looting practices.The volume closes with two papers specifically dedicated to the thorny ethical issues arising from the publication of unprovenanced archaeological objects, and the relevance of accurate communication and openness about such topics.

Implementation of a TeamWork-HBIM for the Management and Sustainability of Architectural Heritage

The benefits of Building Information Modelling (BIM) accrue from the needs of the interoperability of applied technologies. This scope is strongly related to heritage buildings. Protection plans encompassing phases of heritage conservation, interpretation, intervention and dissemination could lead to a sustainable model through a TeamWork-HBIM project. This work develops a step by step semantically enriched 3D model, from accurate data acquisition to the creation of a container of artistic assets. TeamWork-HBIM acts as a database for movable assets, i.e., parametric objects (GDL) with graphical and semantic information, which are valid for recording, inventory and cataloguing processes. Thus, heritage properties were created and used to create recording and inventory sheets related to movable assets. Consequently, a parametric object was edited in the HBIM project, so a new category called “Heritage Furniture” was available. Data from the monitoring of the artistic asset were included in that category. In addition, the specialist technicians from the TeamWork-HBIM team catalogued a dataset related to artistic, historical and conservation properties. Another advantage of the system was the reliability of the structure of the HBIM project, which was based on the actual geometry of the building provided by the point clouds. The information was valid for both modelling works and specialists in virtual monitoring. Moreover, the reliability of metadata was collected in a common data environment (CDE), which was available for everyone. As a result, the Teamwork-HBIM-CDE project meets the needs of private institutions, such as the Foundation of the Church of the Company of Jesus in Quito, related to the sustainability of the historic site. This sustainability is shown by the implementation of a methodology that strengthens the interdisciplinary information flow by including all disciplines of historical heritage.

A Creative Living Lab for the Adaptive Reuse of the Morticelli Church: The SSMOLL Project

The international debate on the adaptive reuse of cultural heritage sites consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals has become increasingly important in the implementation of circular economy models for urban policies. The new values that characterize cultural assets, considered the result of a collaborative process, can enhance both manufactured and human capital, and provide the basis for a system of relationships that binds them. Furthermore, the values of historical artistic assets produced by community-based regeneration processes are particularly relevant when they characterize abandoned commons and cult buildings, to which communities attribute an identity and symbolic value. Starting from the definition of the concept of complex social value, we propose a methodological process that combines approaches and techniques typical of deliberative evaluations and collaborative decision-making processes. The aim is to identify the complex value chains generated by adaptive reuse, in which intrinsic values can play a driving role in the regeneration strategies of discarded cultural heritage. The experimentation, tested with the project “San Sebastiano del Monte dei Morti Living Lab” (SSMOLL), activates a creative and cultural Living Lab in the former Morticelli church, in the historic center of Salerno, in southern Italy. The reuse project is part of a more comprehensive process of social innovation and culture-led urban regeneration triggered in Salerno starting from SSMOLL. The partial results of the process show how a co-exploration phase has characterized the cultural characteristic of the living lab and how the co-evaluation of the individual activities orient the possible reuse scenarios. Finally, the results provide a first analysis of the relationship types activated.

A Creative Living Lab for the Adaptive Re-use of the Morticelli Church: the SSMOLL project

The international debate on the adaptive re-use of cultural heritage sites following the Sustainable Development Goals becomes more central than ever in the implementation of circular economy models for urban policies. The new values that characterise the cultural assets, considered as the result of a collaborative process, can enhance both the manufactured capital and the human capital, and to carry out the system of relationships that bind them. At the same time, the values of historical-artistic assets and produced by community-based regeneration processes are particularly relevant when they characterise abandoned commons and cult buildings, to which communities attribute an identity and symbolic value. Starting from the definition of the concept of Complex Social Value, we propose a methodological process that combines approaches and techniques typical of deliberative evaluations and collaborative decision-making processes. The aim is to identify the complex value chains generated by adaptive re-use, in which intrinsic values can play a driving role in the regeneration strategies of discarded cultural heritage. The experimentation, tested with the project “San Sebastiano del Monte dei Morti Living Lab” (SSMOLL), activates a creative and cultural Living Lab in the former church of “Morticelli”, in the historic centre of Salerno, in southern Italy. The re-use project is part of a more comprehensive process of social innovation and culture-led urban regeneration triggered in Salerno starting from SSMOLL.

Protection of Cultural Heritage Buildings and Artistic Assets from Seismic Hazard: A Hierarchical Approach

The occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes represent a worldwide challenge in the conservation of cultural heritage (CH), which suffer from damage due to high vulnerability conditions. Therefore, the protection of CH from seismic hazard is of paramount importance. Damage and vulnerability assessment of CH and artistic assets play a key role in the identification of conservation strategies. Effective strategies require the stabilization of severely damaged buildings and the preventive improvement of constructions structural response to seismic actions. Although the operation of emergency inspections is meant to classify buildings on the basis of buildings residual seismic capacity, investment decisions in restoration and conservation strategies of such vulnerable structures must take into consideration tangible and intangible values of both building structures and artistic goods as well as must combine objectives of verifying structural safety standards and preserving cultural heritage significance. Damage and vulnerability assessment depend on different criteria, which, on the one hand, are related to buildings structural characteristics, materials, and geometrical properties. On the other hand, to the peculiarities and uniqueness of artworks and artistic goods present on structural elements. In this paper, an AHP (absolute) model is proposed to rank multi-criteria prioritization of protection and restoration interventions on a set of 15 churches, which were damaged by earthquakes, occurring in Italy in the last decades. In detail, in order to structure the decision problem, identify key factors, and define the hierarchy, we conducted an extensive literature review and interviewed a pool of experts. Focus groups were organized to develop the set of criteria and sub-criteria and validate the hierarchy by dynamic discussion.

Correlation of Vulnerability and Damage between Artistic Assets and Structural Elements: The DataBAES Archive for the Conservation Planning of CH Masonry Buildings in Seismic Areas

Historical buildings in seismic hazard-prone regions need specific measures in safety protection, largely due to the presence of artistic assets and/or decorations, both movable (e.g., statues, pinnacles, etc.) and unmovable (e.g., frescoes, valuable plasters or wall paintings, mosaics, and stuccoes). A correlation of damage between structural systems and artworks is fundamental for defining limit states, which can identify the proper conditions for interventions. Nevertheless, several vulnerability aspects can be identified before a seismic event occurs, the study of which can provide the basic dataset for setting up preventive measures in conservation programs. In this paper, the vulnerability and damage conditions related to structural elements (SE) and unmovable artistic assets (AA) belonging to historical masonry buildings are analysed. Optimized survey forms for the onsite detection of either intrinsic (e.g., compositional) defects or deterioration phenomena for both materials and structure are proposed, and results are provided in a web data system (called DataBAES). This enables us to compare the current levels of vulnerability and damage of AA and SE on a scale of five increasing grades. This procedure has been validated on a series of buildings struck by earthquakes in Italy and can be used for correlations of the seismic behaviour of SE and AA in predictive analyses.