The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

We would like to invite you to submit your work to this Topic on "The future in the restoration and conservation of cultural heritage: towards green and innovative approaches to the processes". By following many cultural heritage restoration theses, it is possible to note how one of the most interesting themes is that linked to the use of green materials for cleaning, consolidation and in general for the treatments of the objects to be restored, and to innovative materials and solutions for treating different kinds of artworks.

In fact, today there is an increase in attention on the materials, the techniques to adopt for conservation and restoration, the diagnostic approach and environment involved in the process, both the so-called historical climate of the artworks and that created during the restoration itself.

The recent and future trends go towards green solution in restoration and conservation that are sustainable for the restorers and for the environment and towards innovative materials with an attention to the durability and, at the same time, to the aesthetical result.

The topic will serve as a forum for papers in the following concepts:

• Green materials for cleaning, consolidation, and protection of cultural heritage surfaces
• Innovative and sustainable diagnostic approaches to support the restoration
• Methods for monitoring the restoration and conservation environment: before, during and after the intervention
• Innovative methodologies for applying protective and coatings, consolidant and re-integration materials on artworks
• Innovative and sustainable documentation methods
• New methods for cleaning: lasers, green solvents, microemulsions or micellar solutions, bacterial cells, enzymes, ionic liquids and gels
• Case studies on innovative and sustainable restoration and conservation approaches are welcome

Dr. Claudia Pelosi
Dr. Mauro Francesco La Russa
Dr. Tânia Rosado
Dr. Luca Lanteri
Topic Editors

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Coatings coatings	2.9	5.0	2011	13.7 Days	CHF 2600
Heritage heritage	2.0	2.9	2018	17.7 Days	CHF 1600
Materials materials	3.1	5.8	2008	15.5 Days	CHF 2600
Remote Sensing remotesensing	4.2	8.3	2009	24.7 Days	CHF 2700
Sustainability sustainability	3.3	6.8	2009	20 Days	CHF 2400

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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All Coatings Heritage Materials Remote Sensing Sustainability

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13 pages, 3924 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Investigating the Ancient Craftsmanship: Comprehensive Analysis of Composition and Sintering Techniques in Jiangzhai Painted Pottery

by Xinyuan Su, Zhanhui Peng, Tao Tan, Kezhu Han, Yanli Li, Huifang Liu, Huiping Xing, Yuhu Li and Xiaolian Chao

Coatings 2024, 14(4), 397; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings14040397 - 28 Mar 2024

Viewed by 1273

Abstract

Delving into the past through the study of pottery, this research employs scientific techniques to explore Jiangzhai pottery from circa 3000–4000 BCE. The investigation revealed that the red and grey pottery, despite their color differences, have similar elemental compositions, suggesting that these variations [...] Read more.

Delving into the past through the study of pottery, this research employs scientific techniques to explore Jiangzhai pottery from circa 3000–4000 BCE. The investigation revealed that the red and grey pottery, despite their color differences, have similar elemental compositions, suggesting that these variations are not due to elemental differences but likely due to a higher concentration of Fe³⁺ in the red pottery. Analysis of the pigments using elemental analysis, polarized light microscopy, and XRD showed that the red pigment contains ochre, the black is a mix of pyrolusite and magnetite, and the white is composed of calcite. Additionally, thermal expansion analysis determined that the firing temperature of Jiangzhai colored pottery is around 1050 °C, with similar temperatures for both red and grey pottery, suggesting that kiln operations like stacking or overlapping are likely causes of the color variations. This study not only broadens our understanding of ancient pottery-making techniques and cultural practices but also emphasizes the critical role of scientific analysis in preserving and interpreting the rich artistic and technological legacy of ancient cultures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes)

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19 pages, 9972 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

From 3D Point Cloud to an Intelligent Model Set for Cultural Heritage Conservation

by Andrei Crisan, Massimiliano Pepe, Domenica Costantino and Sorin Herban

Heritage 2024, 7(3), 1419-1437; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7030068 - 10 Mar 2024

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2712

Abstract

Cultural heritage conservation demands interdisciplinary and complex documentation and analysis while facing increasing pressure to adopt sustainable and productive practices. This paper bridges these gaps by proposing a methodology and a set of requirements for Building Information Modeling (BIM) models aligned with European [...] Read more.

Cultural heritage conservation demands interdisciplinary and complex documentation and analysis while facing increasing pressure to adopt sustainable and productive practices. This paper bridges these gaps by proposing a methodology and a set of requirements for Building Information Modeling (BIM) models aligned with European directives for sustainability and productivity in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector. Leveraging 3D scanning and intelligent models, we establish information needs specific to conservation, encompassing material properties, historical data, and decay analysis. Interoperability, compatibility with advanced analytical tools, and open-source formats are emphasized for seamless data integration and accessibility. We further introduce two use cases for BIM-enabled heritage conservation, illustrating the application of our proposed methodology in real-world scenarios. These cases exemplify how BIM models cater to the specific needs of cultural heritage sites, from their initial condition assessment to ongoing preservation efforts. Through these examples, we demonstrate the adaptability of BIM technology in capturing and managing the complex information associated with heritage conservation, including structural details, material characteristics, and historical significance. Our work highlights the potential of BIM to revolutionize heritage conservation practices, offering a digital backbone for documentation, analysis, and management that aligns with sustainability and productivity goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes)

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18 pages, 328 KiB  

Open AccessReview

Towards the Contemporary Conservation of Cultural Heritages: An Overview of Their Conservation History

by Lanxin Li and Yue Tang

Heritage 2024, 7(1), 175-192; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7010009 - 31 Dec 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 8753

Abstract

This paper seeks contemporary cultural heritage conservation principles by reviewing its history, starting from the 18th century, in practices, international documents, and the literature on this topic. It intends to lay a foundation to avoid damaging cultural heritages by misconducting conservation. This study [...] Read more.

This paper seeks contemporary cultural heritage conservation principles by reviewing its history, starting from the 18th century, in practices, international documents, and the literature on this topic. It intends to lay a foundation to avoid damaging cultural heritages by misconducting conservation. This study first found that the conservation objects of cultural heritage include particularly important ones and general ones that are closely related to daily life, and they involve tangible and intangible aspects. Second, cultural heritage conservation involves document-based restoration when necessary as well as identifying the value of them to play their role nowadays. Third, integrating cultural heritage conservation within the context of sustainable development goals is essential for successfully balancing the relationship between the built and natural environments. Fourth, mobilising the public to participate in cultural heritage conservation enables the implementation of conservation to meet the expectations of the public, and may have a positive influence on people’s consciousness. Fifth, as a treasure, cultural heritage conservation is a global responsibility that involves conjoint cooperation. Sixth, more cultural heritage conservation interdisciplinary methods have been developed and could be applied, but this should be limited in order to not destruct their authenticity and integrity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes)

17 pages, 31893 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

Deteriorated Characters Restoration for Early Japanese Books Using Enhanced CycleGAN

by Hayata Kaneko, Ryuto Ishibashi and Lin Meng

Heritage 2023, 6(5), 4345-4361; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6050230 - 14 May 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2078

Abstract

Early Japanese books, classical humanities resources in Japan, have great historical and cultural value. However, Kuzushi-ji, the old character in early Japanese books, is scratched, faded ink, and lost due to weathering and deterioration over the years. The restoration of deteriorated early Japanese [...] Read more.

Early Japanese books, classical humanities resources in Japan, have great historical and cultural value. However, Kuzushi-ji, the old character in early Japanese books, is scratched, faded ink, and lost due to weathering and deterioration over the years. The restoration of deteriorated early Japanese books has tremendous significance in cultural revitalization. In this paper, we introduce augmented identity loss and propose enhanced CycleGAN for deteriorated character restoration, which combines domain discriminators and augmented identity loss. This enhanced CycleGAN makes it possible to restore multiple levels of deterioration in the early Japanese books. It obtains the high readability of the actual deteriorated characters, which is proved by higher structural similarity(SSIM) and accuracy of deep learning models than standard CycleGAN and traditional image processing. In particular, SSIM increases by 8.72%, and the accuracy of ResNet50 for damaged characters improves by 1.1% compared with the competitive CycleGAN. Moreover, we realize the automatic restoration of pages of early Japanese books written about 300 years ago. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes)

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19 pages, 8078 KiB  

Open AccessArticle

A Hydroalcoholic Gel-Based Disinfection System for Deteriogenic Fungi on the Contemporary Mixed Media Artwork Poesia by Alessandro Kokocinski

by Francesca Ambroselli, Fabiana Canini, Luca Lanteri, Martina Marconi, Claudia Mazzuca, Claudia Pelosi, Vittorio Vinciguerra, Elizabeth Wicks and Laura Zucconi

Heritage 2023, 6(3), 2716-2734; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage6030144 - 6 Mar 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2385

Abstract

The disinfection of deteriogenic microorganisms and the removal of induced chromatic alterations in artworks are still open challenges in the field of conservation. For this purpose, a new alcoholic hydrogel was tested to remove an extensive fungal attack from a multimaterial collage by [...] Read more.

The disinfection of deteriogenic microorganisms and the removal of induced chromatic alterations in artworks are still open challenges in the field of conservation. For this purpose, a new alcoholic hydrogel was tested to remove an extensive fungal attack from a multimaterial collage by the artist Alessandro Kokocinski and to mitigate chromatic changes caused by the contamination of its poster paper and plywood support layers. A Gellan gum-based hydrogel was used, which was modified by adding a high concentration of alcohol (66.7% ethanol), to give the system an effective disinfecting agent in addition to the detergent capacity of the gel for water-sensitive works of art. It was successfully tested on samples mimicking the complex stratigraphy of the artwork under study. To create replica mock-ups, the artwork materials and stratigraphy were investigated through diagnostic and laboratory techniques such as multispectral imaging, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and pyrolysis coupled with gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry. The treatment was shown to have a disinfecting effect on the test samples and did not alter their structure, allowing us to apply the method to the artwork. Here, the hydrogel successfully removed and inhibited fungal proliferation in addition to mitigating the color changes caused by fungi. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic The Future in the Restoration and Conservation of Cultural Heritage: Towards Green and Innovative Approaches to the Processes)

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