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Legislation and practice: the case of historic concrete buildings

Silvia Naldini (Department Architectural Engineering + Technology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands)
Ioannis Ioannou (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus)
Maria Hadjimichael (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus)
Stefano F. Musso (Department of Architecture and Design, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy)
Federica Pompejano (Department of Architecture and Design, Università di Genova, Genova, Italy)
Ondřej Dušek (Department of Materials, Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic)

Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development

ISSN: 2044-1266

Article publication date: 6 March 2023

120

Abstract

Purpose

Only recently have historic concrete buildings received attention and the need for their protection has been understood. Their listing as architectural heritage in most countries is ruled by legislations. The research carried out within the framework of the CONSECH20 JPI project on the conservation of historic concrete buildings in the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Italy and the Netherlands has allowed to study the legislations in the four aforementioned countries and how these are brought to practice. This paper aims at the evaluation of these legislations and of their function in practice.

Design/methodology/approach

The legislations have been examined focussing on the protection of historic buildings and the guidelines to achieve a correct technical conservation. These were assessed in practical situations. The situations of the four countries were studied and the parameters used allowed comparisons.

Findings

Concrete buildings are at risk and the guidelines should be further developed to meet actual conservation needs, including historical and aesthetical compatibility. The re-use of listed concrete buildings often means transforming and adapting these to a variety of modern needs and norms: the complexity of this assignment asks for a multidisciplinary teamwork. The bottom-up Dutch programme for quality in conservation, striving to bring ethical and technological principles to practice, could be a sound basis for developing respectful conservation strategies of heritage concrete buildings.

Research limitations/implications

The research concerns the four countries involved in the CONSECH30 project and could be extended to include more countries.

Practical implications

More stakeholders have to be involved in the process of conservation and transformation of heritage concrete buildings. This should be directed by the legislation.

Social implications

No direct social implications are foreseen from the outcome of the research. However, the suggestion is made that social involvement is essential in planning concrete building transformations.

Originality/value

The study focussed on the application of theory (the legislation) to practice (thus showing the limits of the legislation), which is an innovative way of contributing to the conservation of historic concrete buildings.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author would like to acknowledge financial support from JPI–CULTURAL HERITAGE AND GLOBAL CHANGE: A NEW CHALLENGE FOR EUROPE–HERITAGE IN CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS. II and MH would also like to acknowledge funding by the Republic of Cyprus, through the Cyprus Research Promotion Foundation (Project P2P/JPICH_HCE/0917/0012).

Citation

Naldini, S., Ioannou, I., Hadjimichael, M., Musso, S.F., Pompejano, F. and Dušek, O. (2023), "Legislation and practice: the case of historic concrete buildings", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-03-2022-0048

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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