The bonding of walls in historical buildings as a structural and formal element of architectural heritage

This research is aimed to carry out a detailed identification of the external forces (natural and human factors of deterioration) and internal forces (building materials) which affect the bonding of walls in historical buildings. From this point of view, the structure of a building can be defined as a stable combination of elements which are conceived as a unit, in order to bear and transmit the corresponding loads to the ground safely and without exceeding the resistance limits of each one of these elements [1]. According to this approach, relations between external and internal forces will be studied, considering that internal forces have the mission of counteracting external forces in order to maintain the structural equilibrium of a building. The correct comprehension of these relations will allow to develop a methodological approximation for operating on the bonding of walls in historical buildings, with respect to their authenticity as structural and formal elements of architectural heritage. In this sense, respect to authenticity can only be achieved researching about the building techniques and materials used in the period which a specific building belongs to, and this facilitates that the process of restoring and restructuring architectural heritage is carried out preserving its historical and artistic value. Given the fact that structure distinguishes architecture from the other arts, any operation on architectural heritage must part from the idea that structural elements accomplish a practical function, contributing in a decisive way to maintain a building through the years, but they can be also assigned an aesthetic function, expressing with them the artistic values of the period which they belong to. This idea has been reflected in history of architecture from the classical Greece, in a way that structural elements of each period have become symbols of its architecture [2]. In the development of this activity, a problem can be solved in different ways which are equally valid, because the attention and the effort which are dedicated to formal details, beyond the requirements of structural calculus, exceed the purely technical field and provide an artistic value on an intentional or fortuitous basis.