The city hall of Camposanto and the conservation of its decorative concrete finishing

Abstract

The contribution intends to illustrate the design path towards the elaboration and realization of conservation works on the facades of Camposanto city hall (Modena province, Italy). Built in 1933, the municipal hall is characterized by simple and regular lines, horizontal rhythm of the parts and sober decorations. The building is enriched by a decorative concrete finishing that simulates travertine. In the context of the interventions planned after 2012 Emilia's earthquake, seismic improvement, energetic efficiency and facades restoration works were carried out. The latter needed an in-depth analysis of the material used to understand its characteristics and forms of degradation and to propose an accurate calibration of conservation solutions.

Keywords

• Camposanto
• decorative concrete
• simulated travertine
• direct analysis
• particle size analysis
• mineralogical-petrographical analysis