Abstract:

The paper describe the collaborative project of the Politecnico di Milano with the Lerici Foundation for the project of preservation and protection of the archaeological site of Mỹ Sơn in the central Vietnam area. Conducted in April 2011, the main purpose of the mission was to design and installation on site of a provisional structure that would allow safe working on the main temple of G group in Mỹ Sơn.
Mỹ Sơn is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined temples constructed between the 4th and the 14th century by the kings of ancient Champa (Chiêm Thành in Vietnamese). The temples are dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva, known under various local names, the most important of which is Bhadresvara. Mỹ Sơn is located near the village of Duy Phú, in the administrative district of Duy Xuyên in Quảng Nam province in Central Vietnam, 69 km southwest of Da Nang. The temples are in a valley roughly two kilometres wide that is surrounded by two mountain ranges.
Bombed during the Vietnam war, the ruins of the brick towers were designated as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site in 1999.
The case study is G1 temple, the main structure of the G group, a structure built on a natural hill and conceived as a series of enclosures in which only certain people could have access.
In the G1 temple was required the installation of a structure with the dual purpose of being able to reach the top of the temple in order to remove the most damaged part of the wall texture, and at the same time being able to share in deposit pending its recovery. The first planning idea, due to the low budget and the will to use site materials, was the choice of a bamboo structure. In fact, the main advantages of bamboo scaffolding, compared with steel, are the lightness and the low cost of the installation and the material itself, especially in situations such as the case study, where bamboo is easily findable.
The aim of the second phase research was therefore to study a methodological approach on the use of bamboo scaffolding structure, compatibly with the aim of the whole UNESCO mission, the preservation of the historic temple.
After the study of knowledge of the site, the research was conducted on the structural characteristics and possible uses of bamboo. Trough the input of studies conducted by the University of Hong Kong, it was possible to establish the basic properties, anatomical features, and mechanical properties connected to the species found around the Myson site.
The third phase of the research was about project and physical testing of the components of the structure.
After a detailed survey of the area involved by the project, it was possible to build a 3d scenario of the future structure and understand the dimensions of the structure in relation to the needs of the ongoing work in other areas of the temple, and also in relation to the availability of the materials.
Physical experimentations were made on the connections between horizontal and vertical structures, starting from the local construction traditions.
The final step, the mounting of the structured, has shown how the aim of research was definitely reached: the need of a major level of security for workers connected with a not intrusive intervention on the temple focused on the complete respect and preservation of it.

Keywords:

UNESCO World Heritage Site, research project, preservation, Bamboo structures.