Preparatory Architectural Investigation in the Restoration of Historical Buildings

Bauforschung is a fundamental part of every methodology specifically designed to evaluate and maintain historical buildings. The first step towards censervation and restoration involves being well informed about a building's cultural and historical importance: thus it is necessary to survey it in all its different aspects and at every possible level of significance.This requires a thorough investigation by a specialist--or Bauforscher--who is trained as an architectural historian, in the most fundamental sense of the term. Bauforschung involves the first investigative phase of archtectural historical research, combining the analysis of archaeological, historical and iconographical source material with the complete recording of a building's appearance and pathology. The German word Bauforscher can in fact be translated literally as "building researcher", implying not only a mastery of the skills of the historian, archaeologist and architect, but also of the materials specialist and the surveyor. This book contains the report on the experiences of building researchers from many different European countries, who met at the Raymond Lemaire International Centre for Conservation in 1996.