Title: The Durability Of Restoration Of Exposed Concrete. Case Histories Compared

Author(s): Francesca Albani

Publication: Symposium Paper

Volume: 305

Issue:

Appears on pages(s): 3.1-3.10

Keywords: durability, exposed concrete, historic buildings, maintenance, re-alkalization, repair, restoration

DOI: 10.14359/51688563

Date: 9/1/2015

Abstract:
Architectural works by major architects from the twentieth century have often been subject to restoration campaigns intended to redeem them from decay (sometimes from neglect) in order to present them as “monuments” of the twentieth century. In particular, in architecture in which exposed reinforced concrete plays a key role in architectural, figurative, symbolic and cultural terms, the theme of repairing/replacing the concrete cover is a fundamental issue in the restoration project. Analyzing the methods, materials and techniques of intervention used in several campaigns of restoration of buildings built before World War II (the church of Notre-Dame du Raincy by Gustave and Auguste Perret in France and Rudolf Steiner’s Goetheanum at Dornach near Basel in Switzerland) or after the War (Figini and Pollini’s housing built in Milan and the Olivetti Factory in Crema by Zanuso) provides an opportunity to identify best practices, and also critical factors and weaknesses of the different approaches used in the restoration of these buildings from the 1980s to the present.