The stratification of materials as documentation of past restorations: first studies on architectural surfaces in the Cloister of Fathers of the Charterhouse of Pisa

The preservation of historical materials must be a trait of every conservation project regarding every kind of heritage, as paintings, buildings, or sculptures. Studying architectural heritage, the care about materials has to be a milestone for restorers, architects and also for specialists who come into contact with historical buildings during the knowledge phase of the project. Digital survey technologies applied for documenting architectural heritage make possible to collect much data about the geometry, decorative apparatus, materials, decay phenomena without touching the object to be analysed, avoiding loss or alteration of precious historical material. In the Cloister of Fathers of the Charterhouse of Pisa this kind of “no touch strategy” has been adopted to complete the first stage of studies finalized to its conservation. Historical research, digital surveys and graphic elaborations have been carried out to improve the level of knowledge on the cloister, identifying materials, degradations and peculiarities of the façades, and to collect precious data to direct future diagnostic activities. Comparing historical data with the results of survey operations has allowed to make hypothesis about the early substance of the cloister and its following layers, hypothesis to be confirmed in further development of the research.