EWAP Project:
Documenting the Heritage Churches of Chiloé – the record as a knowledge transfer for conservation
A talk by:
Bernadette Devilat (ACT, UoN)
Felipe Lanuza (ACT, UoN)
Natalia Cruz (Churches of Chiloé Foundation, Chile)
Santiago Bernales (Centre for Cultural Heritage PUC, Chile)
October 31st — 13.00-14.00 at the EEC space
Abstract
The digital documentation of built heritage is relevant as a form of conservation, especially when the physical conservation of the buildings is a challenge, as occurs with the churches of Chiloé. There are 149 still-standing wooden churches across the remote Chiloé Archipelago, located in the south of Chile. Out of this total, 14 churches — some declared UNESCO World Heritage — were documented using a combination of 3D laser scanning, terrestrial and aerial photogrammetry.
These buildings correspond to an architectural typology known as the ‘Chilote School of religious wood architecture’, initiated by Jesuit priests in the 17th century. Cultural and identity aspects are critical to the sustainability of the structures as people carry out festivities, mingas, and religious celebrations while caring for the buildings the best they can. Despite their efforts, the cold and rainy climate in Chiloé demands constant maintenance and makes the physical conservation of these buildings complex. This is also due to the need for local knowledge of wooden building techniques — gradually lost, the need for regular inspection to assess their state, the indiscriminate logging of native forests, the threat of earthquakes, and climate change-related risks like fires and sea-level rise, as most of them are located close to the shore.
This presentation will show the advances of this research project thus far and how accurate three-dimensional documentation of these structures can provide a virtual platform for disseminating their history, vernacular timber techniques and provide expert technical assessment to contribute to the churches' physical conservation.
Biographies
Bernadette Devilat is an Assistant Professor and the Principal Investigator of this project, based here at the ACT research group. She holds a PhD in Architectural Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL), and is an Architect and Master in Architecture from the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (PUC).
Felipe Lanuza is an Architect trained at the University of Chile and is the Research Fellow of this research project, based here at the ACT research group. Felipe holds a PhD in Architectural Design from the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL; and obtained a Master in Architecture from PUC. Felipe also teaches at the School of Architecture and Landscape, University of Sheffield.
Natalia Cruz is a collaborator in this project. She is the Executive Director of the ‘Heritage Churches of Chiloé Foundation’, an organization that manages the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the same name. She is an Architect and Master in Architectural Heritage Intervention from the University of Chile.
Santiago Bernales Santolaya is the Research Assistant of this project, based at the Centre for Cultural Heritage of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. He is an Architect and Master in Architecture from that university, and holds a postgraduate degree in ‘GIS applied to tourism’ from Pontifical University of Catalunya (UPC).