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Heritage
Special Issues
Deterioration and Conservation of Materials in Built Heritage
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Deterioration and Conservation of Materials in Built Heritage

A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 3866

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chiara Coletti

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences, University of Padova, Via Gradenigo 6, 35131 Padua, Italy
Interests: building materials; cultural heritage; archaeometry; sustainability; climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. David Martín Freire-Lista

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, UTAD, Quinta dos Prados, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
2. Geosciences Center, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: petrography; mineralogy; building materials; heritage science; archaeometry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The preservation of built heritage is pursued through conservation strategies. Scientific research of built heritage contribute to the mantainance of identity of cities and communities. Conservation of built heritage deales with a wide range of different materials used in constructions, natural stones and geomaterials (bricks, tiles, mortars, and concretes), and to the type of exposure conditions.

This Special Issue aims to collect research articles and reviews on original and innovative research regarding applications, new methodologies, and case studies addressed to characterize stones and geomaterials, increase knowledge in decay processes and support preservation tools of stone-built heritage. In particular, topics may include (but are not limited) to the following research areas:

  • Decay phenomena (physical, chemical, biological anthropogenic processes, tests on site and/or in labotatories) of stones and geomaterils used in built heritage;
  • Innovative multi-analytical approaches applied to built heritage in order to increase knowledge of its deterioration and preservation;
  • New tools for the built heritage preservation;
  • Indoor and outdoor climate and microclimate monitoring;
  • Materials and treatments; climate impact; digitalisation and documentation;
  • Innovative multi-analytical approaches applied to built heritage in order to increase knowledge of its deterioration and preservation;
  • Non-invasive technologies applied in built heritage for new conservative approaches;
  • New archeometric techniques.

We welcome the submission of manuscripts that include research and case studies featuring the conservation of built heritage.

Dr. Chiara Coletti
Prof. Dr. David Martín Freire-Lista
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 8100 KiB  
Article
Characterization of Red Sandstone and Black Crust to Analyze Air Pollution Impacts on a Cultural Heritage Building: Red Fort, Delhi, India
by Gaurav Kumar, Lucia Rusin, Pavan Kumar Nagar, Sanjay Kumar Manjul, Michele Back, Alvise Benedetti, Bhola Ram Gurjar, Chandra Shekhar Prasad Ojha, Mukesh Sharma and Eleonora Balliana
Heritage 2025, 8(6), 236; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage8060236 - 19 Jun 2025
Viewed by 1141
Abstract
Urban air pollution poses significant risks to cultural heritage buildings, particularly in polluted megacities like Delhi, India. The Red Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a symbol of India’s rich history, is highly susceptible to degradation caused by air pollutants. Despite its [...] Read more.
Urban air pollution poses significant risks to cultural heritage buildings, particularly in polluted megacities like Delhi, India. The Red Fort, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a symbol of India’s rich history, is highly susceptible to degradation caused by air pollutants. Despite its great importance as an Indian and world heritage site, no studies have focused on characterizing its constituent materials or the degradation phenomena taking place. This study was developed in the framework of the MAECI (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the Department of Science and Technology under the Ministry of Science and Technology, India, project: Indo—Italian Centre of Excellence for Restoration and Assessment of Environmental Impacts on Cultural Heritage Monuments. To understand their composition and degradation, Vindhyan sandstone and black crust samples were studied. Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) indicated that the red sandstone predominantly consisted of quartz and microcline, while the black crusts mainly comprised gypsum, bassanite, weddellite, quartz, and microcline. The analysis attributed the formation of gypsum to exogenous sources, such as construction activities and cement factory emissions. This pioneering study provides a basis for further research into the impacts of air pollution on Indian patrimony and promotes conservation strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deterioration and Conservation of Materials in Built Heritage)
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17 pages, 1666 KiB  
Article
Measuring the Primary and Secondary Bioreceptivity of Stone and Their Implications for Heritage Conservation
by Philip J. A. Skipper and Lynda K. Skipper
Heritage 2024, 7(9), 5103-5119; https://doi.org/10.3390/heritage7090241 - 13 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1399
Abstract
Bioreceptivity measures the ability of a surface to develop and maintain a permanent ecosystem of microorganisms. In the historic built environment, this is characterised visually by the greening of monuments and other outdoor heritage. Primary and secondary bioreceptivity refer to the potential for [...] Read more.
Bioreceptivity measures the ability of a surface to develop and maintain a permanent ecosystem of microorganisms. In the historic built environment, this is characterised visually by the greening of monuments and other outdoor heritage. Primary and secondary bioreceptivity refer to the potential for biological growth on fresh and weathered stone, respectively. Measuring bioreceptivity helps us understand biological growth rates and allows researchers to characterise the impact of stone conservation treatments on colonisation. Understanding the relative bioreceptivity of stones allows heritage professionals to make more informed selection of replacement stone types for repairs to existing structures. The primary bioreceptivity of stones from different geographical areas cannot currently be easily compared due to a lack of consistency in approaches to measurement. We propose a repeatable lab-based methodology for measuring colour and chlorophyll a levels from a standard algal culture grown on the stone surface as a standardised testing protocol for primary and secondary bioreceptivity. This protocol controls for the effects of mineralogical colour change during testing, which is something that has not been addressed in other methodologies. This method was successfully applied to case studies measuring the bioreceptivity of English granite, sandstone and limestone, determining their position in a bioreceptivity index. Our results demonstrated that for the stones tested, primary bioreceptivity was categorised as very low or low. Secondary bioreceptivity was increased compared to primary bioreceptivity. This research is the first to fully categorise any stones for secondary bioreceptivity and provides the first primary and secondary bioreceptivity data for any UK stones. We encourage others to follow this standard protocol to add additional data and build an international bioreceptivity database accessible to heritage practitioners. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Deterioration and Conservation of Materials in Built Heritage)
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