Qualitative Approach and Projects for Restoration of Built Heritage

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the contribution of qualitative research to projects of restoration of buildings with recognized historical and cultural value. The research from which this concern emerged was tied to the area of preservation of historical heritage. The object of study was the Rotunda of the Railway Complex of Ribeirão Vermelho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, whose memory value conferred an interdisciplinary character to the investigation, through a dialogue between the Engineering and Architecture areas. In this article we aim to be clear about the evaluation of stability and security of the existing structure in its relationship with conservation and architectural preservation criteria, with emphasis on the ethical question of restoration. We discuss the relevance of qualitative studies to diagnose the conditions of the building and, thus, to establish guidelines for intervention in the structure of the building with a view to its rehabilitation. In the discussion of the results, the contribution of the qualitative analyzes was considered, given the understanding of the building as a historical document, which, in dialogue with the results of the quantitative studies, allowed to elaborate the intervention guidelines for a possible Rotunda restoration project. The study was concluded with the defense of investigative approaches that integrate qualitative and quantitative analyzes as opposed to the systematic exclusion of the qualitative analysis, although in studies, like the developed one, centered in the evaluation of the stability and structural security.