When: Tuesday, 16 September 2025, 10:00
Where: SwissTech Convention Center (EPFL), Rte Louis Favre 2, 1024 Ecublens
Session with Laurence Crouzet on the topic of «Exploring Digital Tools for the Maintenance and Repair of Historic Structures: Innovations and Applications» at the 14th International Conference on Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC)
This paper traces how a singular crack informs the adapted code and required craft. A preliminary repair plan for the brick facade of the Gantenbein Winery project is presented and includes a digital and physical assessment. After the damage identification on the physical twin, new information is injected into the digital twin, which, in turn, preserves the current state of the building. Following an engineer consultation, a repair technique is selected, and its execution is simulated. The repair pipeline preserves the inherent tectonic and digital logic of the project. By shifting the attention from the built object to the fabrication process, the research addresses the impending problems of preserving significant digitally fabricated buildings and encourages their creative adaptation. This promotes social sustainability by integrating tacit and cognitive knowledge from the concept to the fabrication. It values repair over replacement or recycling, which lowers environmental and economic hardships, maintains material and assembly heritage, and upkeeps technical craftsmanship.