Desalination of Porous Building Materials

New guidelines for poulticing of salts from carved stone and wall paintings and in choosing a desalination system for building materials

Project Details

A brick building with salt damage sits beside a walkway in Venice

Example of salt damage to masonry.

About

Goal

Desalination of Porous Building Materials was Getty's contribution to the European Commission–sponsored project Assessment of Desalination Mortars and Poultices for Historic Masonry (Desalination), which included five institutional research partners. The project sought to provide those responsible for the care and maintenance of immovable cultural heritage with clear guidelines for choosing a salts removal system for building materials.

Outcomes

  • A case study on the historic residential building complex known as Madame John's Legacy in New Orleans
  • Poulticing procedures for conservators working on historic stone structures
  • The 2010 workshop “Poultice Desalination of Porous Building Materials,” organized in partnership with the Louisiana State Museum at Madame John’s Legacy to further disseminate the project work to field-based conservation professionals
  • Project activities contributed to the European Commission–sponsored project Assessment of Desalination Mortars and Poultices for Historic Masonry (Desalination)

Project History

Partners

Historical Monuments Research Laboratory, France; Cologne Institute for Conservation Science, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany; Eindhoven University of Technology, Applied Physics Department, The Netherlands; The Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Built Environment and Geosciences, The Netherlands; University IUAV of Venice-Faculty of Architecture, Italy (project coordinator)