Author:

Keywords:

Heritage, preventive conservation, monitoring, maintenance, geographic information systems (GIS).

Abstract:

Why: In order to protect cultural heritage, understood as a right and an obligation of the society; it requires to achieve a deep knowledge of all its heritage values. Not only documenting them for posterity, but mainly to enable a proper management allowing decisions based on accurate, adequate and timely information[1]. Therefore it will facilitate preventive conservation and maintenance practices. Nevertheless there is another social and economic reality in other countries such as Ecuador. This situation obliges to the researchers to be more creative and practical with tools and methods more adjusted to different contexts; without renouncing the protection and conservation of cultural heritage[2]. Where or Context: In general, historical sites and heritage buildings are a great source of information to know the past, understand the present and project them to the future[3]. The development of a monitoring system based on an aerial photos, had been performed in order to implement preventive conservation strategies in the historic centre of the city of Cuenca; which is starting to undertake permanent evaluations related to the identification of damages or changes (materials, interventions, etc) on its built heritage. When: Nowadays there are different and sophisticated tools to document culture heritage, which are evolving every day[4] . But in order to contribute and apply a practical Monitoring and Control System for Cuenca, this research presents a different approach in documentation of cultural heritage. It aims to be decisive visual information; obtained through successive aerial photography taken from an “ultra-light”. Through this documentation and in comparison with old aerial photography of the city; different analyses could be carried out by integrating this information in a geographic information system (GIS). In doing so, this system could be an important tool for heritage managers involved in process of preventive conservation. Effectiveness: In order to accomplish the analysis process, the integration between the database and the GIS, which is still at its initial stage had been fundamental in the development of this monitoring and control system. The overlaying procedure (between rectified photos from different periods), allows to clearly visualize the current situation at the interior of the building blocks. The analysis was executed in four particular building blocks, taken as example to prove the system. They were evaluated between the periods 1954, 1978, 2008 and 2009; and the results showed different changes in materials, covered courtyards, roofs, etc. These interventions evidence the lost of heritage values, nowadays occurring in Cuenca. Although, this research was successfully applied; it faced different limitations. Such as: occasionally resulted difficult to distinguish diverse materials (tiles, zinc, stone, etc), added or missing elements of a heritage building. The resolution of the pictures was decisive during the analysis process. These so far identified problems could be necessarily taken in further investigations. Finally it is important to remark that this monitoring and control system is a clear example of a cost-effectiveness management tool for a World Heritage Site. Which could be further developed in the city of Cuenca.