| CODE | BLH5505 | |||||||||
| TITLE | Environmental Assessment for Conservation | |||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | |||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | |||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | |||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Conservation and Built Heritage | |||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This unit deals with the study of the environment -in a macro- and micro-scale- surrounding the work of art, how the work of art responds to it and potentially deteriorates due to environmental causes and/or triggering environmental factors. Environmental factors and parameters which will be studied include, but are not limited to, relative humidity and temperature, light, atmospheric pollution, moisture, biodeterioration. The unit will provide the skills to design and implement an environmental assessment for conservation, which is carried out to assess the impact of environmental variables on the state of conservation of the work of art. The unit therefore introduces the students to the tools and techniques used to design and perform an environmental monitoring. The unit will also focus on materials and methods for environmental control to promote the conservation of works of art. Study-unit Aims: - Discuss the main environmental variables which can have an impact on the conservation of works of art; - Provide a comprehensive overview of the instruments and methods used for environmental monitoring / control; - Provide skills to design and implement an environmental monitoring for conservation and an environmental control plan. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Discuss the influence of environmental parameters and variables on the deterioration of works of art (including decorative architectural surfaces, easel paintings, stone surfaces/artefacts) / buildings / archaeological sites; - Describe the conservation problem sequence, and illustrate the difference between preventive and remedial conservation measures; - Define the rationale for the planning of the environmental monitoring / environmental control for a work of art / historic building / site / museum, including the choice of the parameters to measure, choice of equipment, location, monitoring frame; - Select appropriate monitoring and investigation tools and equipment to implement an environmental monitoring / environmental control plan. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Design environmental monitoring / control programmes providing meaningful and appropriate data, according to the case study under consideration, i.e. site context and location, original materials of the work of art, active deterioration; - Select appropriate data loggers / other non-invasive equipment and be able to use them in a real-case professional context to answer specific questions; - Download collected environmental data, present, interpret and discuss them, together with conservation implications. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: ESSENTIAL READINGS: - Bernardi, A., (2008) Microclimate inside Cultural Heritage Buildings, Il Prato. - Camuffo, D. (2019), Microclimate for Cultural Heritage, 3rd edition. Elsevier. - Grøntoft, T., Cassar, J. An assessment of the contribution of air pollution to the weathering of limestone heritage in Malta. Environ Earth Sci 79, 288 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-020-09027-x - Padfield T. (2019) Conservation Physics, http://www.conservationphysics.org/ Accessed October 2024 FURTHER READINGS: - Cassar, M and Hutchings, J. 2000. Relative Humidity and Temperature Pattern Book - A guide to understanding and using data on the museum environment. Museums & Galleries Commission - Cather, S. (2012). Assessing Causes and Mechanisms of Detrimental Change to Wall Paintings (2003). Archaeological Sites: Conservation and Management, 5, 412 - Sabbioni, C., Brimblecombe, P., and Cassar, M. (eds) (2012) The Atlas of Climate Change Impact on European Cultural Heritage. European Union. - Thickett, D., Luxford, N., & Lankester, P. (2013). Environmental Management Challenges and Strategies in Historic Houses. Proceedings of the Artifact, Its Context and Their Narrative: Multidisciplinary Conservation in Historic House Museums, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 6-9 - Thickett, D. (2020). Comparison of Environmental Control Strategies for Historic Buildings. Studies in Conservation, 65(sup1), P314-P320 - Zehnder, K. (2007). Long-term monitoring of wall paintings affected by soluble salts. Environmental geology, 52, 353-367 |
|||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Fieldwork, Lectures and Practicum | |||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
|||||||||
| LECTURER/S | JoAnn Cassar Elizabeth Muscat Azzopardi |
|||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
||||||||||