The safeguarding and preservation of the Built Heritage in old urban centres: a reflection on traditional stone masonry buildings' structural rehabilitation

Abstract

Following years of lack of maintenance, the high levels of degradation reached by a great part of the Portuguese old urban centres pose a threat not only to the building stock but also to an intangible heritage, composed of social relations, habits, customs and traditions. These areas constitute, in fact, an important heritage, that must be protected and enhanced, both through social revitalization and building rehabilitation. Based on this understanding, this article's objective is to reflect on the current state of the structural rehabilitation processes of the traditional stone masonry buildings, which make up the old urban centres, not only in Portugal but throughout Mediterranean Europe. It is understood that their constructive technology, different from the one that has been used in more recent decades, requires specific knowledge, approaches and methodologies, under penalty of compromising the historical authenticity and structural security of this heritage with under informed interventions.