Maintenance: A History of Conservation Science

Abstract

<p>This study tries to introduce a history of technology approach to conservation science. It focuses on the scientific maintenance of historical architectural designs, especially the care of historical building materials that have been considered fundamental in architectural conservation in Europe.</p><p>The latest T&A essay “After Innovation, Turn to Maintenance” (Russell et al. 2018) provides a review of and call for the theme of maintenance within the field of history of technology. I feel it is necessary to raise a cross-disciplinary communication to advance shared knowledge. In Europe, in the field of conservation of architectural heritage, “maintenance” has been considered a paradigm shift in treating historic architecture, deriving from the older methods and concepts of “restoration” and “conservation.” The conservation science has become a highly specialized, application-oriented yet inter- and multi-interdisciplinary (sub-)field for safeguarding architecture. In the established histories of architectural conservation, most proportion of the accounts have been devoted to ideas, principles and theories, while conservation science stays much under-represented even though its crucial contributions have been roughly recognized. Within the field of architectural conservation, scientist and theorist tried to work together to bridge the sub-divided fields of theory and technology, and they called for interdisciplinary research, too. However, the technological literature dedicated to conservation science remains a neglected genre in historians of either conservation or technology.</p><p>Should we place conservation science in bold contrast to the innovation-focused accounts that dominate the field of history of technology, like in David Edgerton’s vision for a history of maintenance, repair, and remodeling? (Edgerton 1999, 2008, 2010) How did the conservation science grow in the West? What were the dynamics and effects regarding modern applied science in general and architecture in particular? I would like to provide a new perspective on the historiography of technology, using conservation science as a relatively extreme example. Also, I argue that the conservation science has constituted an inbuilt way of leading architectural conservation to the paradigmatic concept of “maintenance.” To address the questions I adopt a historical rather than theoretical or technical approach, and exploit the neglected genre— a corpus of technical publications authored by scientists and engineers from the nineteenth century onwards. I will discuss interior evolvement of the conservation science and its engagement with international organizations for built heritage. I will also contribute with a critical historiography of maintenance in architectural conservation based on English and Italian literature.</p>