From knowledge to management. Methods and tools for the planned conservation of university built heritage. A case study

The paper presents the intermediate results of a research ongoing at the University of Pavia whose object is the analysis of geometry, morphology, materials and degradation of the central building of the university, with the aim of drawing up a comprehensive program of planned conservation. The University of Pavia is an ancient foundation University (1361) and as such now it has a vast building stock composed of buildings whose construction dates back to various periods. The subject of this study is the central building, currently hosting the rectory and some university departments, which in its present form is the result of a long and complex historical stratification. At the same time the demand of planning not only technical but also financial investment with the purpose of preservation and enhancement of the built heritage now make it increasingly necessary to develop an integrated approach to planned conservation. In the current approach to protection of built heritage the importance of conservation of more easily degradable constructive and technological elements is recognized, therefore in this context, planned maintenance has taken on a peculiar character, and scientific community preferred to name it planned conservation. Punctual repair and conservation works were therefore opposed to the systematic and periodic replacement of elements which are damaged, degraded or (on the basis of theory of planned obsolescence) considered next to meeting these conditions. Given their specificity, such conservation works cannot disregard the careful knowledge of building elements on which it must operate and their composition in the building technology system. The drafting of a planned conservation plan therefore requires a careful preliminary study phase which might lead to the breakdown of the entire building technology system (or one of its sub-system) in the individual technical elements that compose it. On this basis, researchers have developed a test on one of the most significant historic courtyards of the central building complex: the Volta Court. During the research the survey of the geometry and of the current state of preservation have been carried out. The set of acquired information has been translated into an user friendly GIS system designed to provide the information base for defining the future monitoring and intervention strategy.