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The intervention policy in the anastylosis of the north colonnade of the Parthenon : the capitals

Μελέτες-Articles

• Λαμπρινού, Λένα

During the first half of the 20th century, in spite all the controversies for the methods or the extent of the restorations, a civil engineer, N. Balanos, restored all the Acropolis standing monuments and bequeathed to us the aesthetic image of the classic era. In this period the use of reinforced concrete was a revolutionary constructive method and was adopted, without hesitation, as an ingenious method at the monument restorations.As a man of his era Balanos was focusing on aesthetic aspects and at the same time on the reinforcement of the structure. His main concern as a civil engineer was the durability of the construction, while other crucial aspects, like historic consistency, were not a priority. The aim was to re-erect the fallen parts of the monuments using ancient material as much as possible. This was achieved through tremendous interventions on the authentic ancient marble. Soon after he completed his interventions, the most severe problem was the material degradation. The rusting and expansion of the iron he used for clamps, or even bars, provoked splitting and shifting of the ancient marble and inestimable destruction.The structural problems due to this procedure led to the decision for a new intervention, in order to restore the restoration of Balanos. The new intervention has to deal both with the structural degradation and the erroneously positioned architectural members, and with theoretical aspects on the extent of interventions, the method applied, the compliance with international demands concerning the monument conservation.The previous method consisted mostly of cement supplements, while new marble supplements were only used in the capitals of the restored columns to achieve the integrity of their original form. Six of the eight restored capitals of the north colonnade have marble supplements. A significant issue for the modern intervention is the re-use, or not, of these marble supplements of the Balanos intervention. There are two factors in favour of the re-use: a) the respect of a historic period of the monument, b) the time and material saving in case of the re- usal. On the other hand, there are three criteria promoting the replacement with new supplements: a) ethical reasons, b) aesthetical integration, c) quality of material. The text is dealing with some aspects of the dilemma on a ‘repairing intervention of the previous restoration or a new intervention.

• History and Archaeology
• Civil engineering

• Αρχαιολογία
• Engineering and the humanities

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