A strengthening method employing prefabricated prestressed carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP)-reinforced stone plates is introduced and assessed in this study. The primary objective is to investigate the flexural behaviour of bare stone beams reinforced with these prefabricated stone plates. A series of experiments were conducted on nine stone beams to assess their performance under varying parameters, including the prestress level of the CFRP bars and the length of the prefabricated stone plates. Strain gauges were strategically placed, and the monitoring data indicated that the prestress applied to the CFRP bars was effectively sustained after the prestressing process. Subsequent four-point bending tests revealed a distinct failure mode for the strengthened stone beams, characterised by significant deflection and the development of multiple flexural cracks. These beams exhibited a three-stage load-deflection response, demonstrating notably improved load-carrying and deformation capacities compared to their unstrengthened counterparts. A comprehensive analysis was undertaken to assess the influence of various parameters on the flexural performance of the strengthened specimens. Based on the experimental results, mathematical models were developed to predict the cracking moment, ultimate moment, and initial stiffness of the strengthened stone beams.
Historic district preservation faces major challenges in reconstructing destroyed architectural buildings while maintaining environmental and artistic balance, especially with incomplete records. This study introduces a computer vision-based generative adversarial network (CV-GAN) approach for reconstructing historic district artistic styles. The proposed method employs an enhanced StyleGAN2 framework with direct feature extraction modules and environmental coherence loss to ensure stylistic consistency. A pre-processing pipeline extracts multi-scale architectural features via convolutional neural network-based structures, followed by adversarial synthesis. Experiments conducted on a dataset of 11 763 images across five architectural categories demonstrate significant improvements over existing methods. CV-GAN achieves a Composite Reconstruction Score of 82.4%, outperforming StyleGAN2 (79.2%) and Pix2Pix (73.4%), while reducing the Frechet inception distance score to 40.82 from 42.85. Whole-block reconstruction success reaches 73%, exceeding baseline approaches by 32%. Style-specific performance includes Neoclassical (81.7%), Victorian (86.3%), Gothic Revival (61.2%), and Georgian (48.2%) styles. The computation cost averages 5.8 min per building with 8.7GB memory, or 42.6GB at district level. The results indicate that degraded facades can be realistically recovered from limited photographic records, providing a feasible solution to the 'reconstruction truth against aesthetic truth' dilemma and offering cultural heritage practitioners an effective tool for architectural restoration in urban contexts.
The Alto Douro Wine Region in northeast Portugal, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage landscape, preserves a rich legacy of vernacular construction shaped by local materials and traditional knowledge. Among these, Tabique buildings represent a distinctive Portuguese timber-framed technique incorporating earth-based infill, stone masonry, and metallic connectors. This paper presents an engineering-oriented synthesis of Tabique construction derived from fieldwork, laboratory characterisation, numerical modelling, and statistical surveys. The study systematises architectural typologies, material properties, structural behaviour, deterioration mechanisms, and conservation states, while proposing a practitioner-oriented workflow for structural assessment and compatible rehabilitation. Findings indicate that although many Tabique buildings exhibit deterioration, their constituent materials often retain satisfactory mechanical performance. Furthermore, numerical and experimental investigations demonstrate adequate vertical load-bearing capacity, acceptable fire resistance, and moderate thermal performance. Despite these favourable characteristics, prevalent rehabilitation practices involve the demolition of original timber systems and their replacement with reinforced concrete or steel, potentially compromising heritage value. The results highlight the need for specialised preservation approaches that reconcile structural safety and regulatory compliance with the protection of traditional systems. By providing a scientific basis for Tabique performance, this work contributes to the long-term preservation of the Alto Douro landscape through technically sound and sustainable interventions.
Fibrous plaster has been used since 1856 for decorative ceilings in historic buildings. Ceilings are often suspended by fibrous plaster wads - gypsum plaster, hessian scrim, and sometimes a steel wire - in roof spaces. The 2013 Apollo Theatre ceiling collapse emphasised the importance of understanding the tensile capacities of fibrous plaster wads. This study analysed the capacities and failure mechanisms of wads by conducting tests on laboratory-manufactured approximate to 45 mm dia. wads using both traditional ('beta' plaster, hessian scrim) and modern ('alpha' plaster, quadaxial glass fabric, RE Aramid Gel (TM)) materials. Beta wads reinforced with quadaxial fabric increased the loading capacity (approximate to 8 kN with a wire and approximate to 4 kN without) in comparison to hessian (approximate to 3 and approximate to 1.5 kN). Applying Aramid Gel increased the capacity of beta-hessian-wire wads to approximate to 4 kN (approximate to 2 kN without a wire). Alpha is stronger than beta, but alpha wads were less ductile, typically breaking at smaller elongations. Used with beta, quadaxial fabric possesses a sustained load capacity of approximate to 2 kN as plaster spalls - a capacity not observed with alpha, as fibres rupture in the stiff plaster. This study has a major impact in quantifying the properties of wads, providing material understanding and knowledge for conserving culturally significant buildings.
Ancient architecture carries rich cultural information, but its structure is complex, and its texture details are numerous. Traditional three-dimensional (3-D) reconstruction methods are difficult to fully capture its information. To achieve high-precision 3-D reconstruction of ancient buildings, an ancient architecture reconstruction on the basis of multi-source data fusion and a point cloud registration algorithm is constructed. By fusing multi-source data and combining voxel quotient filtering, curvature feature point extraction, and the Poisson reconstruction algorithm, ancient buildings are finely reconstructed. Then, the point cloud registration algorithm is introduced to optimise the accuracy and efficiency of data alignment. The collaborative fusion framework for ancient architectural data based on a multi-source data fusion model could achieve data fusion accuracy and model integrity of 96.5% and 98.1%, respectively, in the ancient architecture reconstruction. When the number of point clouds is 500 000, the model registration time is 114 s, and the model accuracy is 0.5 mm. When the number of point clouds is 1.2 million, the model registration time is 152 s, and the model accuracy is 0.6 mm. The registration time and model accuracy are better than other reconstruction models. The research provides more efficient and accurate methods for cultural heritage protection, which has important practical value.
This paper addresses a critical tension at the intersection of large-scale infrastructure development and emerging digital technologies: the impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on built heritage and the role of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in shaping preservation responses. While BRI has spurred economic growth and cultural tourism across Asia and Africa, it has also accelerated the degradation and displacement of vulnerable heritage sites. Drawing on case studies from Pakistan, Kenya, Uzbekistan, and Malaysia, this study explores how generative AI – ranging from neural rendering to predictive analytics – has been deployed to digitally document, simulate, and reimagine cultural heritage under threat. Through a thematic review of AI-enabled interventions, the paper identifies both opportunities and risks: AI can extend preservation and public engagement but also introduces biases, erodes cultural agency, and risks data colonialism when governed by unbalanced power structures. Governance gaps, epistemic asymmetries, and ethical ambiguities remain pervasive. The findings highlight the need for sector-specific frameworks that integrate technical innovation with cultural sensitivity, legal clarity, and participatory governance. This paper offers a critical lens for policymakers, technologists, and heritage professionals seeking to align AI deployment with sustainable, inclusive heritage futures under the transformative pressures of BRI-led development.
As an important heritage of ancient Chinese art, murals not only carry rich historical information but also reflect the cultural characteristics of various periods. The current mural restoration methods have a high degree of damage and unsatisfactory restoration results. In response to this, this study proposes a new method for mural protection and digital restoration. Firstly, the multi-scale Retinex algorithm is studied based on adaptive multi-scale guided filtering and colour restoration factors, achieving mural image enhancement. After image enhancement, a network model combining transformer model and U-shape network is applied to extract and segment the features of mural images. Finally, digital restoration of murals is achieved by combining channel and spatial attention mechanisms. The experiment showed that the expert score of the repaired image using the research method reached 4.52 points, and the peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity were 24.58 dB and 0.94. In practical application, the qualified rate of mural image restoration using the research method reached 96.5%, and 115 murals could be restored per hour. Therefore, the proposed digital restoration method can effectively improve the efficiency and accuracy of mural restoration.
Mineral loading docks, visible traces of abandoned mining cultural landscapes, face threats from deterioration, undervaluation, and urban or territorial development. Located in exposed coastal areas, these iron structures endure harsh marine conditions, accelerating their decay after mining ceased. This article emphasises their historical, technical, and cultural significance, advocating for their preservation through three recent Spanish restoration case studies: El Hornillo, Dícido, and Tharsis. These piers, repeatedly modified over time, represent remarkable industrial heritage elements from the nineteenth to twentieth centuries. This article aims to highlight the value of these structures as part of the cultural landscape to achieve greater awareness, recognition, and protection. The study examines their history and current state through documentation and structural analysis, proposing sustainable restoration strategies that combine structural reinforcement with adaptive reuse. By integrating them into tourism and leisure activities – such as viewpoints or heritage routes – their legacy is preserved while enhancing socioeconomic value. The approach balances conservation with functionality, ensuring these engineering structures remain authentic landmarks. The projects demonstrate how industrial heritage can be revitalised, safeguarding its memory while fostering cultural and touristic appeal.
A Grade I listed fourteenth-century church was found on appraisal to suffer a major intrinsic stability deficiency. The nave arcades were spreading, causing the eastern gable to lean outwards over a busy road. This article records the appraisal of the building, its assessment, the design of repairs, and evaluation of the works execution. Thrust-line equilibrium assessments are used to determine force magnitude and position in the masonry. Nineteenth-century stabilisation works to the north arcade formed a blueprint for repair of the remaining arcades. A key learning point was the deformation of the gable under significantly less pre-load in the temporary repair than the calculations predicted, and the authors relate this to the real-time displacement of force position inside the wall.
Tropical heritage buildings face escalating threats from environmental stressors such as humidity fluctuations, temperature extremes, and urban air pollution challenges intensified by climate change. In Southeast Asia, these challenges are compounded by a pronounced technological gap in heritage conservation, highlighting climate justice concerns compared to Europe and East Asia. This paper presents a scoping review that follows systematic review protocols to ensure transparency and reproducibility, synthesising global and regional evidence on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) into proactive, adaptive conservation frameworks for tropical heritage. Focusing on the Lawang Sewu building in Semarang, Indonesia, the study employs bibliometric analysis, environmental parameter mapping, and thematic synthesis to situate local conservation challenges within global trends. Findings indicate that AI-IoT convergence improves operational decision-making, enables early detection of structural and environmental risks, and optimises resource use in resource-limited tropical settings. The paper proposes a seven-phase conceptual framework integrating AI, IoT, heritage building information modelling, and Digital Twin technologies. Validated through preliminary field applications, this scalable framework advances equitable access to innovation and enhances resilience against climate-related impacts in tropical heritage conservation.
The World Bank funded the restoration of the ancient fortress of Yamchun in the Tajik region of Gorno-Badakhshan to ensure its conservation and to promote tourism. Located in the Pamir Mountains, an incomparable natural setting, the fortress has a rich history in which its role as a crucial stop for Silk Roads traders stands out. The research and intervention project developed by INES Ingenieros, with the counselling of the Miguel Aguiló Foundation, aim to stop the deterioration of the fortress, enhance its heritage value and provide a sustainable management plan. To achieve this, several studies were carried out, including fieldwork, laboratory tests and modern technologies application. The results informed the proposal of restoration measures compatible with the fortress’s heritage values, as well as the most suitable interventions and activities to improve the tourist experience and provide a new, sustainable income source for the Wakhan Valley people. Restoration works are expected to begin in 2025 and will be carried out by a different firm than the project.
The quality degradation of historical brick-timber structure houses in Shanghai is affected by various factors, like worsen environment, improper maintenance, and lack of repair. The inspection results of common problems involve a large amount of data. To quantitatively evaluate the quality degradation of historical brick-timber structure houses in Shanghai, this paper introduces principal component analysis method and complex correlation coefficient weighting method. First, material strength and component damage were selected as the evaluation indicators of housing quality degradation. Then the principal component analysis method and complex correlation coefficient weighting method were utilized to analyze the data of evaluation indicators. In this way, the final evaluation results could be obtained. The evaluation results of an example show that the evaluation values of the principal component analysis method and complex correlation coefficient weighting method were relatively similar, and well consistent with the actual safety elevation results of appraisal reports.
From 1923 to 1960, a significant number of “Vierendeel” steel railway bridges have been built in Katanga and Belgium. In the town of Mechelen, three railway lines cross the Mechelen-Leuven canal, offering a distinctive illustration of this type of application. Two of these are 1953-built bridges; suffering severe deterioration, they were refurbished in 2021–2022. The third and oldest bridge (L25), erected in 1935, was found to have numerous cracks in the vertical members and to exhibit significant corrosion damage in auxiliary parts. As a result, doubts about this bridge capacity to carry the required loads developed. The authority responsible for the care of monuments encourages the conservation of these historic structures. An extensive experimental and numerical examination was used to analyze the material characteristics, load carrying capacity and fatigue strength. An independent committee provided guidance on the heritage value of the bridge, reviewed critically the results of the analyses, issued an opinion on the origins of cracks and proposed the refurbishment of the bridge. This paper summarizes the findings of this committee.
In the aftermath of the Second World War, Swiss aluminium sheets burgeoned on the international market. Switzerland’s largest aluminium company, Aluminium Industry Corporation, used its innovative alloys in the form of flat and corrugated sheets to gain a foothold in the construction industry—a growing market that had remained stable despite the numerous economic and social crises between 1920 and 1950. In this context, patents and licences increasingly affected the production and international trade of building components. Apart from big companies, craftsmen and architects developed and patented innovative ways of using the metal sheets to meet requirements in new construction methods. At the same time, the Alpine nation took an interest in fostering its image as a centre of industry and technology. Aluminium proved to be a suitable choice as a symbol of these ambitions with its material properties, increasing production volumes and wide range of applications. By scrutinising the commercialisation of Swiss aluminium sheet elements, this paper elucidates the interconnections between the metal industry, material sciences and local crafts and their effects on Swiss architectural practice and expression. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on a so far little-noticed aspect of architectural history in Switzerland and beyond.
This article focuses on the Geilinger shear-head reinforcement – an invention of the Swiss company Geilinger – and traces its impact on construction products and the role of patents in its development and dissemination. In the 1960s, the engineer Stanislaw Bryl and the architect Ernst Rüeger applied for two patents for Geilinger & Co. Both patents were issued for columns that support a reinforced concrete ceiling. The invention allows the structural elements that absorb the shear forces to be fully embedded in the flat slab. The ‘Geilinger steel mushroom’ – as the invention was called – is still used today in skeleton construction, for example for the Roche Towers in Basel by Herzog & de Meuron (2012–2015/2017–2022). Using the Geilinger shear-head reinforcement as an example, the article analyses the different factors that influenced the development of building products at the time – the technical progress in the calculating methods, the revision of the standards, and the patent strategy of the company itself. The focus is particularly on the conflict between novelty and utilisation of the invention. The article demonstrates that the strategy of the company’s patents was to disseminate the Geilinger ‘steel mushroom’ as a construction product to establish a monopoly.
This paper aims to address the discovery of an architectural application using metric/pixel technique for re-establishing a profound restoration language within pre-contemporary constructed environment. We also aim to uncover the forgotten bridge of any visual gap in Mediterranean built environment by introducing a comprehensive and innovative approach of re-understanding such Mediterranean's historic structures. The methodology involves analysing the statical arrangement of building blocks within the Mediterranean building. This work reflects out major reoccurrences of old Ottoman architectural code and the commonness that modular dimension as a means of gaining confidence in any future architectural applicability.The objective of this paper lies in the precise distinguish between the human and non-human factors of the core relationships between any of two elements of a preserved structure and derive the most truthful code of remedy that values the profound historical establishment reflected by the pixel nature of dimensional patterns.To substantiate the difference between human and non-human entities, it is clear that the persistent uncertainty surrounding the actual builder of Mediterranean destroyed historical buildings, coupled with the authors’ effort to develop the appropriate restoration pixel terminology while presenting below methodical assumptions, will be robustly supported by clear definition for each found factor.
In 1974, the company Götz from Deggendorf, Germany, launched a new aluminium window construction on the market, known as window-block-system. Its striking features were a concealed window vent, invisible from the outside regardless of its opening type, and an extremely narrow face width of the external outer frame. The system combined favourable climatic properties and sophisticated design requirements. For this invention, Götz secured extensive industrial property rights. However, a look at the contemporary window market shows a similar design previously filed for patent by the Munich-based company Schöninger, and a predecessor for both inventions can be found at the end of the 1960s. The following analysis of window-block-designs from the 1960s to 1980s reveals that numerous manufacturers created supposedly new but rather similar products and were economically successful both with and without property rights. Learning from the exemplary case of window-block-systems, the paper discusses the industrial property rights strategy of various window manufacturers as well as their inventorship and the role and relevance of patents and utility models for innovation in the building sector.
Precise knowledge of the principles according to which vaults were designed and constructed and how they were implemented in construction not only forms a decisive basis for their preservation as monuments. These principles also provide information about the shape finding of vaults and technology of their construction. The load-bearing behaviour in its current state can also be traced back to certain premises. Using the example of the late Gothic net vault in the St. Peter and Paul church in Lutherstadt Eisleben, Germany, this paper shows how the design and construction principles of vaults can be precisely deduced with the help of known monitoring methods, tachymetry and terrestrial three-dimensional laser scanning. The results of reverse engineering refer to the application of design principles that are relevant in the late Gothic period, such as the principal arch or the plan specifications for maintaining the heights of the ribbed intersections of figured vaults. Due to the artisanal nature of the building process at the time of their construction, individual segments of the vaults may well deviate more significantly from these rules. The fact that these apparent rule deviations may be responses to inadequacies at the project level, from planning to execution, is also explored.
