The conservation of historic monuments, sites and structures constitutes an inter-professional discipline co-ordinating a range of aesthetic historic, scientific and technical methods. Conservation is a rapidly developing field, which, by its true nature, is a multidisciplinary activity with experts respecting one another's contributions and combining to form an effective team. Conservation is an artistic activity aided by scientific and historical knowledge.Main topics at this Congress included: - the most appropriate methodology for the assessment of the degree of weathering of stone - development of new methods and instruments for the diagnosis of the state of conservation, for the study of alteration mechanisms and for conservation treatments. - the definition of Technical European Standard Methods for the evaluation of conservation treatments of artistic and historic stone objects and monuments.

First published in 1996, this volume has been substantially updated to reflect new research in the conservation of stone monuments, sculpture, and archaeological sites.

Stone buildings and monuments form the cultural centres of many of the world's urban areas. Frequently these areas are prone to high levels of atmospheric pollution that promote a variety of aggressive stone decay processes. Because of this, stone decay is now widely recognised as a severe threat to much of our cultural heritage. An interdisciplinary approach between geologists, environmental scientists, chemists, material scientists, civil engineers, restorers and architects aims to strengthen the knowledge base dealing with the causes, consequences, prevention and solution of stone decay problems.

The weathering of historical buildings and, indeed, of monuments and sculptures of natural stone is a problem that has been encountered for hundreds of years. However a dramatic increase in deterioration in the structure of our built heritage has been observed during the past century. To understand the complex interaction that the stone in a building suffers with its near environment (the building) and the macro environment (the local climate and atmospheric conditions) requires an interdisciplinary approach and the application of many disciplines. Climate change over the next 100 years is likely to have a range of direct and indirect impacts on many natural and physical environments, including the built environment. The protection of our architectural heritage has both cultural and historical importance, as well as substantial economic and ecological value. Large sums of money are being spent world-wide on measures for the preservation of monuments and historical buildings. The past few decades has seen an unprecedented level of research activity in this area, the result of which is often difficult to access and are summarized in the new edition of STONE IN ARCHITECTURE. The 4th edition of Stone in Architecture: Properties, Durability, is a sophisticated and thorough exploration of stone – its properties, performance and conservation – in monumental contexts. The current editors, Siegfried Siegesmund and Rolf Snethlage, note the pioneering work of Erhard Winkler who wrote the first edition in 1973 when so little information could be found in the literature on the subject. This new edition, also published by Springer, nearly doubles the size of Winkler’s 1994 effort. If you are familiar with the field and need to know little more than this statement, you can put aside this review and go buy the book. George Wheeler, Department of Scientific Research, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Winner of the RIBA Book Award, this important and timely publication brings together contributions from leading stone conservation practitioners. It discusses the philosophical principles on which stone conservation is founded and the need to understand the full history and development of a building before starting work. Other topics covered in this book include consolidation, cleaning, and the replacement of stone; conservation of different stone types, including limestone, sandstone, and marble; problems of dealing with polychrome stone; and finally, issues relating to church monuments and graveyards, taking account of the need for good maintenance and health and safety requirements. The book is illustrated with the authors' own examples of stone conservation in practice. Architects, surveyors and craftsmen involved in the conservation of stone structures will find this both a practical and useful reference work.

Brings together wide-ranging scientific contributions from those who have studied the biological degradation of cultural heritages. It tackles both general topics (mechanisms of biodeterioration; correlation between biodeterioration and environment; and destructive organisms) and specific ones (the problems presented by different materials, environments, climatic conditions, and geographic settings). The contributors also discuss ways to diagnose, prevent, and control deterioration.

This book contains forty reviewed papers delivered at the International Congress on Molecular Biology and Cultural Heritage held in Seville, March 2003. It is divided in four parts, the first one presents the state-of-the-art and reviews molecular techniques applied to the study of microbial communities colonizing monuments and cultural heritage assets. Part two covers specific molecular techniques used in biodetereoration studies, part three includes an updated overview on on-going biodetereoration European Commission projects, and part four presents selected biodetereoration case studies from all over the world.

Despite the perception that artworks are timeless and unchanging, they are actually subject to biological attack from a variety of sources--from bacteria to fungi to insects. This groundbreaking volume, which publishes the proceedings of a conference held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2002, explores how the development of these organisms can be arrested while preserving both the work of art and the health of the conservator.The richly illustrated text, containing the writings of over 40 scientists and conservators, is divided into sections on stone and mural paintings, paper, textiles, wood and archaeological materials, treatment and prevention, and special topics. The artworks and cultural properties discussed include, among many others, Paleolithic cave paintings, Tiffany drawings, huts built by early Antarctic explorers, and a collection of toothbrushes taken from Auschwitz victims.