Integrated analysis and interpretation of architecture changes and vulnerabilities by combined use of historical sources and infrared thermography: the study case of San Francesco convent near Montella (AV), Southern Italy

In order to reconstruct architectural changes during the centuries often we are forced to trust merely on the evidences of archives sources as "platee", notarial deeds and similar which could sometimes supply the description of the building or of a specifically build phase or again, the drawing of the plan. The problem is the interpretation of planimetry or documents description and the translation in a hypothetical vertical section of the building. The historical building structure, shape and masonry, as it appear at the present are often the final result of a stratification of different phases deeply connected with artistic and technological culture of the age in which it is designed and realized. Stylistic features, building techniques and functional aspects change in time leaving often a written trace in archives sources such as on the building envelope stone masonry texture sometimes hidden by plasters. In such situation the ND investigation by infrared thermography can be useful to verify the wall morphology and to detect the presence of local defect and/or other material inclusions which belongs to the different building phases. Starting to these preliminary remarks, this paper deals on the emblematic study case of San Francesco convent near Montella (AV) because of complex vicissitudes experienced in last centuries which has been reason of radical transformation of the buildings and church. Historical and archival research has been carried out by the study of published and unpublished documentation of the 17th and 18th centuries which permits to give an interesting chronology of all the interventions and planimetric transformations of the buildings. This data has been correlated with the results of the infrared thermography survey on plaster covered fronts of the buildings, leading to a map of the hidden masonry texture. Masonry analysis on infrared images structured in GIS architecture showed the different building phases pointing out the correlation with the structural vulnerabilities. The integrated and multidisciplinary researches carried out on historical and archival data and the use of building analysis techniques based on infrared thermography and GIS show the enormous potential of the use of this interdisciplinary approach.