Integrated Tool for the Risk Assessment & Management of Cultural Heritage Buildings

Acronym: RiA4BC

Description

The project aims to develop an integrated tool for the assessment and management of risks affecting the conservation of cultural heritage, while defining shared strategies for preventive conservation and heritage management.

The project’s pilot site is the Brancacci chapel, located within the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence. The Brancacci Chapel represents an exemplary reference context in which different expertise and stakeholders come together with a common objective: the conservation of the cultural heritage embodied by this symbol of the Florentine Renaissance. Indeed, the fresco cycle by Masolino, Masaccio, and Filippino Lippi has been the subject of a recent and extensive investigation campaign (Brancacci Project, 2021–2024) aimed at assessing its state of conservation.

The RiA4BC project seeks to systematise the knowledge and expertise acquired through the previous project in order to support a paradigm shift in the management of the heritage site: moving from a conservation approach based on occasional interventions towards preventive conservation. Through continuous monitoring of conservation risks, this approach can provide objective data to support decision-making by conservators, owners, and those responsible for the management of the site.