Giuseppe Torres’s ‘Byzantine House' in Venice: Building Materials and Deterioration Products of an Early 1900s Home in the Lagoon Environment

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the frame of the Venezia2021 project the private ‘Byzantine house' designed by Giuseppe Torres in 1905 was chosen as the emblematic architectural site which marks Venice’s transition towards modernity, requiring study of its conservation in the lagoon environment of the city of Venice. In conjunction with the definition of a specific Path of Knowledge of the ground floor, a series of stone and lithoid materials as well as their related deterioration products from the interior rooms were sampled for analysis. The investigations covered a wide range of materials (plasters, mortars, natural and artificial stones, bricks, glass and finishings). They were carried out by means of a multi-analytical approach comprising SEM-EDX and optical microscopy; XRPD; XRF, ion chromatography; and Raman and infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies. The stones identified are linked to the Venetian architectural tradition (Euganean trachyte and Istrian stone). The sands in the mortars are mainly of regional origin and the glass is compatible with traditional Venetian (Murano) recipes. Of particular interest is the presence of an intonachino charged with ground fluorite. The deterioration products are linked to the extensive and intense phenomenon of capillary rising damp and efflorescence deposition induced by the lagoon environment.