A Proposal for Improving the Conservation of the Asturian Hórreos by Using the New Technologies

Abstract

The scientific and technological advances that influence the protection of cultural heritage are developing at an ever-increasing pace. Systems to explore, research and analyse their materiality, to control the different scopes, or to represent and model them have reached an unprecedented dimension in recent decades. The Network of Science and Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage aims to promote collaboration between the agents of these systems, in order to facilitate the sharing of experiences and to foster technology transfer, with the common goal of contributing to the conservation of Cultural Heritage.

Most of the pieces that constitute an Asturian hórreo - only wood - have multiple features: they are resistant, they must bear, transmit and distribute loads, resulting in a totally articulated and extraordinarily flexible assembly (Cobo, 2007). In spite of being outdoors, the main problem of conservation of these specimens lies in the absence of a global register that includes all the hórreos, the lack of detailed information of each one, the bad regulations in terms of legislation, the rural exodus and the limited knowledge of what these constructions mean. This work presents some of the solutions proposed to reduce these problems and protect this heritage as it deserves, by using new technologies which offer solutions within everyone’s reach.