Programmed conservation of historical and architectural heritage. Tools for optimising a process based on knowledge and information

In the field of conservation, maintenance technologies represent an instrument for guaranteeing a lasting future for historical-architectural heritage. This approach can be considered above all a tool for learning about and comprehending systems in relation to changing interactions with context. Interest in these technologies focuses on moving the field of conservation toward a process-based and systemic approach that shifts attention from the moment of restoration to the sequence of preventative measures, and from the single monument to all examples of heritage in a given territory. The paper emphasises the importance of the phase of study and its instruments: the process of conservation must be supported by a system of learning and a constant flow of information that helps optimise choices. Identifying the forms, methods and times of intervention implies a constant process of analysis, monitoring, diagnosis and cataloguing of data. Programmed and periodic controls make it possible to evaluate the validity of measures adopted. The study identifies BIM (Building Information Modelling) and HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modelling) as important instruments for providing measured, qualitative, reliable and complete descriptions. These tools can be considered fundamental to any conservation study thanks to their ability to condense the complexity of reality into a single model. The creation of tools capable of establishing relations between the level of understanding of a building and that of its context are an important guide to research focused on constructing an effectively systemic process of conservation that includes the analysis of all possible risks.