This timely volume brings together fourteen case studies that address the challenges of conserving the twentieth century’s most ubiquitous building material—concrete. Following a meeting of international heritage conservation professionals in 2013, the need for recent, thorough, and well-vetted case studies on conserving twentieth century heritage became clear. This book answers that need and kicks off a new series, Conserving Modern Heritage, aimed at sharing best practices.

The projects selected represent a range of building typologies, uses, and sizes, from the high-rise housing blocks of Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation and public buildings such as London’s National Theatre to small monuments like the structures at Dudley Zoological Gardens and a sculpture by Donald Judd. The projects also represent a range of environmental and economic contexts. Some projects benefit from high levels of heritage protection and access to funding, while others have had to negotiate conservation with stringent cost limitations. All follow a rigorous conservation approach, beginning with a process of investigation and diagnosis to identify causes and target repairs, balanced with conservation requirements to preserve significance.

• Foreword
• Preface and Acknowledgments
• Introduction, Concrete Conservation: An Emerging Area of Practice
• Projects
  • THE LISTENING MIRRORS: Denge, Kent, England, 1928–30, Chris Wood and David Farrell
  • HALLES DU BOULINGRIN: Reims, France, 1929, François Chatillon and Richard Palmer
  • VILLA GIRASOLE: Verona, Italy, 1929–35, Michele Secco, Elena Stievanin, Claudio Modena, Gilberto Artioli, and Francesca da Porto
  • DUDLEY ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS: Dudley, England, 1937, Stuart Tappin
  • SÃO FRANCISCO DE ASSIS CHURCH: Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 1943, Marco Antônio Penido de Rezende, Ulisses Vanucci Lins, and José Eduardo de Aguiar
  • MAGLIANA PAVILION: Rome, 1945, Tullia Iori and Sergio Poretti
  • GÄNSEHÄUFEL SWIMMING FACILITY: Vienna, 1950, Wolfgang H. Salcher
  • UNITÉ D’HABITATION: Marseille, France, 1952, François Botton
  • FIRST CHRISTIAN LOWER TECHNICAL SCHOOL PATRIMONIUM: Amsterdam, 1956, Wessel de Jonge and Jurjen van Beek
  • MORSE AND EZRA STILES COLLEGES, YALE UNIVERSITY: New Haven, Connecticut, USA, 1958–62, Paul Gaudette, Deborah Slaton, and David S. Patterson
  • NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE: New York, 1964, Laura N. Buchner, Christopher Gembinski, and Raymond M. Pepi
  • NATIONAL THEATRE: London, 1976, Patrick Dillon and Stephen Douglas
  • BRION CEMETERY: Treviso, Italy, 1969–78, Guido Pietropoli, Paolo Faccio, Paola Scaramuzza, and Greta Bruschi
  • UNTITLED BY DONALD JUDD: Southwest England, 1988–91, Catherine Croft
• Glossary
• Selected Bibliography
• Contributors
• Index

José Eduardo de Aguiar graduated from the engineering school of Minas Gerais Federal University in 1977. He subsequently completed at the same university a master’s degree in civil construction from the Materials and Technology Construction Department (2006) and a doctorate in civil construction (2012). He is director of Recuperação Serviços Especiais de Engenharia Ltda., an engineering consulting firm in the field of pathology and durability of constructions headquartered in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He is a professor of pathology and durability in postgraduate courses at Minas Gerais Federal University, the Pontifical Catholic University of Minas Gerais, and IDD Institute.

Gilberto Artioli is a professor of mineralogy and crystallography at the University of Padova and director of CIRCe, the center for the investigation of cementitious materials. He received his PhD from the University of Chicago. His interests focus on materials science as applied to the investigation of industrial and cultural heritage materials. He is author of more than 250 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and several books in his fields of expertise.

Jurjen van Beek studied architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Enschede and earned a master’s degree in architecture at Delft University of Technology. He worked at Wessel de Jonge Architects from 2006 to 2016, and is now a conservation consultant and architect for the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where he is involved mainly in projects related to its infrastructure.

François Botton is a French heritage architect and architect for historical monuments, appointed by the French government for the conservation, restoration, and refurbishment of listed monuments. His practice extends to a variety of private and public operations, ranging from archaeological sites to modern architecture. He also has extensive experience designing museums in existing monuments and a special interest in the conservation of twentieth-century architecture, particularly concrete structures.

Greta Bruschi is an architect holding degrees in the history and conservation of architectural and environmental heritage, and in architecture, from the IUAV University of Venice, where she was also awarded a PhD. She specializes in conservation and restoration of architecture, particularly historic structural concrete. She is a teaching assistant in architectural conservation at the IUAV and at the University of Trieste.

Laura N. Buchner is a senior conservator and project manager at Building Conservation Associates in New York. She holds undergraduate degrees in English and physics from Concordia College and a graduate degree in historic preservation from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.

François Chatillon was appointed chief architect for historical monuments in France in 2005. Much of his professional activity is dedicated to conserving outstanding architectural heritage works that are listed monuments, including the Grand Palais, Arc de Triomphe, and École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He has also been entrusted with several emblematic buildings of twentieth-century heritage, including the Cité de Refuge by Le Corbusier and the Piscine des Amiraux by Henri Sauvage, both in Paris. In 2015, the Halles du Boulingrin restoration project was awarded the EU Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Awards, conservation category.

Catherine Croft is director of the Twentieth Century Society and editor of C20 magazine. She studied architecture at Cambridge University, and earned a master’s degree in material culture and architectural history (and held a fellowship) at the Winterthur Museum in Delaware. She is an alumna of the Architectural Association course. Prior to the Twentieth Century Society, she worked for English Heritage (now Historic England) as a buildings inspector in London and the Midlands. She writes on contemporary as well as historic buildings, authored Concrete Architecture (Gibbs Smith, 2004), lectures in the UK and internationally, and teaches a course on concrete for conservation professionals at West Dean College.

Patrick Dillon is a theater architect, conservationist, writer, and broadcaster. He led the architectural team for the award-winning regeneration of the National Theatre, London, and the regeneration of Snape Maltings, Suffolk, England. He is currently a director at Allies and Morrison architects in London, and sits on the casework committee of the Twentieth Century Society. He has published books on social history, as well as a monograph on Denys Lasdun and the National Theatre.

Stephen Douglas is the building and conservation manager at the National Theatre in London. He is a civil engineer with an interest in materials and heritage. In his current role, he has been proactive in developing strategies for concrete conservation at the National Theatre and monitoring their long-term performance. He has published several articles in the technical press and regularly speaks to groups about his work.

Paolo Faccio graduated in civil engineering from the University of Padova, and in architecture from the IUAV University of Venice. He has been director and chair of Faccio Engineering since 1986. In 2005, he was appointed associate professor of conservation at the IUAV and consultant for the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Tourism. In 2016, with a group of IUAV professors, Faccio founded clusterLAB HeModern, an interdisciplinary research cluster focused on the conservation of twentieth-century heritage.

David Farrell is managing director of Rowan Technologies, a company in the UK that specializes in the development and application of new conservation methods. He earned his master of science degree in maintenance engineering at the University of Manchester in 1982 and went on to complete his PhD in corrosion engineering there in 1984. He has published more than forty technical papers on conservation and corrosion-related issues.

Paul Gaudette is a principal with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Chicago, focusing on the repair and preservation of historic and contemporary concrete structures. He is a coauthor of the National Park Service’s “Preservation Brief 15: Preservation of Historic Concrete,” and a chapter on reinforced concrete in Twentieth-Century Building Materials (Getty Conservation Institute, 2014). He is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT). He serves as course leader and instructor for numerous concrete repair and conservation courses for Docomomo International, APT, and ACI.

Christopher Gembinski is a director of technical services at Building Conservation Associates in New York, and a former adjunct assistant professor of architecture, planning, and preservation at Columbia University. He holds a master of science degree in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. His preservation projects in New York include Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, Grand Central Terminal, Moynihan Station, and the Central Park Police Precinct.

Tullia Iori is a professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. Her research includes the history of construction and conservation of modern architecture. Currently she is fully involved with SIXXI research on the history of structural engineering in Italy (www.sixxi.eu). She is author of Il cemento armato in Italia (Edilstampa, 2001) and Pier Luigi Nervi (Motta Architettura, 2009). She coedited the first three books of the SIXXI series (2014–15) and has curated exhibitions related to SIXXI at MAXXI in Rome.

Wessel de Jonge holds an architecture degree from Delft University of Technology. As a practicing architect, his portfolio includes the conservation of the Netherlands Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1953) and a former sanatorium, Zonnestraal (1928), in Hilversum, the Netherlands, as well as the rehabilitation of the UNESCO-listed Van Nelle Factory (1928) in Rotterdam. He is a partner in the design team for the restoration and adaptation of the 1938 Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. Since 2015, he has been a full professor in heritage and design in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology.

Ulisses Vanucci Lins earned a master’s degree in built heritage and sustainable environment from Minas Gerais Federal University in 2012. Lins has worked with historic urban centers and modernist heritage since 1984 and is currently employed by Brazil’s National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).

Susan Macdonald is head of Buildings and Sites at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles. She graduated in architecture from the University of Sydney and has a master’s degree in conservation studies from the University of York. She worked as a conservation architect in private practice and in the government sector in Australia and in London before joining the GCI in 2008. She has a particular interest in twentieth-century heritage conservation, and has authored and edited a number of books and articles on this topic, including on the subject of concrete conservation. She oversees the GCI’s Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative.

Claudio Modena has been a professor of structural engineering at the University of Padova since 1994 and has authored more than five hundred publications. He has experience as a research participant and is responsible for the university’s research unit in numerous projects founded and cofounded by the European Union, the Italian Ministries, the National Research Council, the Italian Civil Protection Agency, ReLUIS University Consortium, and private industrial partners. He is a member of national and international research organizations and standard commissions.

Gail Ostergren is a research specialist in the Getty Conservation Institute’s Building and Sites department. Focused on publishing and disseminating the department’s work, she provides research, writing, and editorial support to a range of projects, including the Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative; the Eames House Conservation Project; and the Heritage Values, Stakeholders, and Consensus Building project. She earned her PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she specialized in urban, architectural, and Southern Californian history. She is a founding board member of Docomomo US/ Southern California chapter and is a historic preservation commissioner for the City of West Hollywood, California.

Richard Palmer is a civil engineer experienced in the analysis, diagnosis, and repair of buildings and civil engineering structures. His university studies and training led to membership in the UK Institution of Civil Engineers and registration as a chartered professional. He began his career in the geotechnical field before developing a passion for materials science. His international experience includes the latest diagnostic and renovation techniques. He lives in France, where he manages the design office of Palmer Consulting.

David S. Patterson is a senior principal and architect with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Princeton, New Jersey. He has directed numerous projects involving the repair and conservation of historic structures, and led the firm’s work on Eero Saarinen’s Morse and Stiles Colleges at Yale University. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Association for Preservation Technology International, the New Jersey Society of Architects, and the American Architectural Manufacturers Association. He coauthors a monthly column on construction technology for Construction Specifier magazine.

Raymond M. Pepi has been president of Building Conservation Associates, Inc. since 1985. He attended Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation from 1978–79.

Guido Pietropoli is an architect who graduated from the IUAV University of Venice in 1970, with Carlo Scarpa as his tutor. He worked in the studio of Le Corbusier for the new hospital project in Venice (unbuilt). Pietropoli opened his own studio in 1972 in Monselice, Italy, and collaborated on projects with Scarpa. Between 1972 and 1976, he was an assistant lecturer in Scarpa’s architectural planning courses at the IUAV.

Sergio Poretti (1944–2017) was a professor at the University of Rome Tor Vergata whose research included the history of construction, the history of structural engineering, and the conservation of modern architecture. He was principal investigator of the research program SIXXI– Twentieth Century Structural Engineering: The Italian Contribution, European Research Council Advanced Grant. He authored Italian Modernisms: Architecture and Construction in the Twentieth Century (Gangemi, 2013) and coedited the first three books of the SIXXI series (2014–15).

Francesca da Porto has been an associate professor of structural engineering at the University of Padova since 2015. She has won many competitions and three publication awards. She has won and coordinated European projects and is directly responsible for several research projects and research and development contracts with industry. She participates on technical and standardization committees and has authored or coauthored more than two hundred papers, monographs, and book chapters.

Marco Antônio Penido de Rezende is an associate professor in the School of Architecture of Minas Gerais Federal University. He completed postdoctoral studies in the Historic Preservation Program, University of Oregon, then earned a PhD in construction technology at the University of São Paulo. He has twenty-seven years of experience in teaching, research, and consultancy in the fields of conservation of historic structures, traditional and historic construction techniques, and vernacular architecture. He has authored fourteen book chapters and more than fifty articles in journals and conference proceedings.

Wolfgang H. Salcher has been an architect at the Federal Monuments Authority Austria in Vienna since 2003. Previously he worked in architectural practices in Austria, Italy, and Germany, and with the Institut français d’architecture in Paris. He has written on concrete conservation and postwar architecture and has given lectures at universities. He is a member of Docomomo International and ICOMOS Austria, and organizes international symposia on postwar modernism.

Paola Scaramuzza is an architect who graduated from the IUAV University of Venice with degrees in architecture and the history and conservation of architectural and environmental heritage, with studies related to the conservation of the architecture of Carlo Scarpa. She obtained her PhD in 2016 in the preservation of architectural heritage at the Polytechnic University of Milan, with a study on structural concrete in twentieth-century architecture. She is currently a teaching assistant in architectural conservation at the IUAV.

Michele Secco is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering of the University of Padova. He obtained his PhD in earth sciences in 2012. His research focuses on the mineral-petrographic, chemical, microstructural, and physical-mechanical characterization of structural and architectural materials in cultural heritage. He is an author and/or coauthor of several peer-reviewed scientific papers. He has spoken at scientific and technical conferences, seminars, and workshops on his fields of expertise.

Deborah Slaton is a principal with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in Northbrook, Illinois. She has served as principal investigator for numerous preservation plans, historic structures reports, and cultural landscape reports for historic resources nationwide. She coauthored the National Park Service’s “Preservation Brief 15: Preservation of Historic Concrete,” and is a fellow of the Association for Preservation Technology International, a director of the Historic Preservation Education Foundation, and a member of the Society of Architectural Historians Heritage Conservation Committee.

Elena Stievanin is a research collaborator at the University of Padova. She holds a PhD in sciences and technologies for archaeological and architectural heritage and is an architectural engineer. She researches historic reinforced concrete buildings with a focus on new techniques for beam and column repair and strengthening interventions with polymer-modified mortars and Fabric-reinforced cementitous matrix composite materials. She has wide experience with experimental tests and in situ investigations on existing reinforced concrete structures, and has collaborated in the drafting of European projects and in teaching several courses.

Stuart Tappin is a structural engineer and director of Stand Consulting Engineers, based in London. His work on existing buildings covers all periods and includes the Melnikov House in Moscow, Mughal-era structures in India, and many churches from the twelfth century onward, including three English cathedrals. His research studies for a master’s degree in art and architecture looked at the structure of Indo-Islamic domes and the early use of reinforced concrete in India. He presented on both topics at the first international conference of the Construction History Society in Madrid in 2003 and was included in the published proceedings.

Chris Wood is head of building conservation and research at Historic England (HE, formerly English Heritage). He is the lead on a number of research projects, including HE’s current work assessing the performance of concrete patch repairs using matching materials. He is series editor of the award-winning English Heritage Practical Building Conservation books, as well as an author and/or contributing author to most of its volumes, including Concrete (Ashgate, 2012).