Abstract:

This paper explores some of the challenges involved in conducting academic research in the field of built heritage. These include visiting sites, documenting them, surveying them and talking to the people responsible for their conservation, management and, in the case of 20th century, authorship.

We will discuss and argue that academic research into the built heritage is often interdisciplinary in nature and requires different skills and techniques to those used in other areas of research. The focus will be on the similarities between research fields such as art history and architecture. The aim is to highlight the unique aspects of research in the built heritage field and the tools that researchers consider essential to their work, as well as the real challenges that young researchers face.

This will be demonstrated through five examples of research carried out in Portugal and Spain, covering different aspects of monastic architecture, art and culture, traditional building techniques, the role of local museums in conserving heritage, and 20th century architecture. Each project will describe how they were undertaken, what their objectives were, and what challenges they encountered, including how these were overcome or presented as opportunities for further research. Through the presentation of ongoing research on Portuguese Cistercian monasteries, art, architecture and monastic culture in Spain, the work of the 20th century Portuguese architect Manuel Taínha, the resilient corbelled domes considered a true example of the dry-stone technique and now classified as intangible heritage, and the involvement of Portuguese and Spanish local mountain museums in their territorial and historical contexts, this paper shows how these five projects have faced multiple and equal setbacks.

While significant progress has been made in establishing a comprehensive information network through continued investment in the digital preservation of the built heritage, we conclude that additional investment in the development of multidisciplinary teams and cross-referencing between different research fields and geographical areas still needs to be made.

Keywords:

Cultural Heritage, Built Heritage, Academic Research, Monastic Architecture, Museums, Manuel Taínha, Dry Stone, Portugal, Spain.