This virtual lecture was recorded on Thursday 1st April 2021 with guest speaker Prof Uta Pottgiesser, Chair of Heritage & Technology at TU Delft.
Approximately 80% of our total building stock dates from the 20th century. The use of new materials, constructions and buildings elements, allowed us to reach innovative design solutions considered part of our cultural heritage.
At the same time, this materiality creates challenges such as the lack of recognition for its values (material and immaterial), the existence of knowledge gaps regarding adequate conservation techniques or the reluctance to apply suitable rehabilitation methodologies. These issues were reflected in The New Madrid-Delhi-Document (ICOMOS, 2017).
Despite the growing appreciation of modern architecture, this part of the built heritage is facing the urgent need to address the adverse effects of climate change and resource scarcity, often more than the older building stock. Accomplishing this goal will require to transform the majority of existing modern buildings from being rather energy-inefficient to having nearly net-zero energy use.
Efforts to preserve or improve the modern building stock have lately been at the forefront of real estate and historic preservation debates about the future of these assemblies in the metropolitan marketplace for high-performance buildings. There is an urgent need to outline evidence-based and applicable recommendations and set forth professional best practices to guide interventions.
See the newest publication and a tool developed with TU Delft to which I will refer in my lecture:
Reglazing Modernism
The use of building envelopes in steel and glass is one of the characteristic features of modern architecture worldwide. Many of these pre-and post-war buildings suffer from severe defects in the building fabric which necessitate measures to preserve the buildings. Using a selection of 20 iconic buildings in Europe and the USA, the book documents the current technological status of the three most common strategies used today: restoration, rehabilitation, and replacement. The buildings include Fallingwater House by Frank Lloyd Wright, Farnsworth House by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Fagus Factory, and Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius. (https://www.degruyter.com/view/product/513352)
Monument Diagnosis and Conservation System (MDCS)
The online damage-expert for monumental buildings is an interactive support tool for the inventory and evaluation of damage to monumental buildings. During visual inspections MCDS helps to identify the types of materials and the types of damage. Based on the damage types found, hypotheses on possible causes are suggested. (https://mdcs.monumentenkennis.nl/)
Video courtesy of UCL Institute for Sustainable Heritage