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- Built Heritage Research and EducationPublication . Martins, Ana Maria Tavares; Carlos, Jorge Manuel da Silva; Nepomuceno, Miguel Costa SantosThe University of Beira Interior (UBI) is one of the most recent Portuguese universities (1986). First polytechnic and then university it is structured in five faculties. The existing knowledge fields include engineering, social sciences, humanities, arts and letters, communication and health sciences. The Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture (DECA) is part of the Faculty of Engineering. The main degrees in the DECA-UBI are the Integrated Master degrees in Architecture and in Civil Engineering. These are a five year program which combines undergraduate and postgraduate study into a single course. The interdisciplinarity and interrelation, which link both research and education, are the basis for the production of knowledge at DECA-UBI. Built heritage is a very important cultural asset as the evidence of any society development and it is a field of interest at DECA-UBI. It refers to all aspects of the man-made environment such as houses, places of worship, commercial and office buildings, monuments and other places of historical significance. Built heritage helps to define a sense of place and identity for communities. It is not only about monuments of exceptional value but also includes small modest vernacular buildings that represent other equally important historical, social and cultural values. The attention paid to the built heritage has increased in Portugal. It should be emphasized that some of these buildings are now used for functions that did not exist when they were built. Furthermore, the actual technical requirements are not always compatible with the former building. A regular maintenance of these buildings may include preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, reconstruction, adaptation and interpretation. Balance needs to be achieved. The future of built heritage conservation is focused on the sustainable built environment. Conservation does not require buildings to be preserved in their original condition to accept contemporary use. It may change over time as community values evolve. However it is important, as a cultural asset, to retain its original heritage features. While heritage conservation is a key player in sustainability planning, interdisciplinary skills that are needed to deliver the heritage studies and projects of the new generation architects which combine aspects of cultural heritage with the best preventive conservation, projects, methodologies and practices. For this purpose it is important to link with engineering sciences. In this paper, the authors describe their experience concerning this link between research and education in the Integrated Master degree in Architecture, which is emphasized by the specific and multidisciplinary research performed as members of the faculty staff at DECA-UBI linking with other sciences of engineering as thermal comfort, acoustics and daylighting. A few examples presented are the analysis of the performance of acoustics and daylight of Cistercians churches, the acoustic analysis as a support for the architectural rehabilitation of an outdated theatre, the thermal performance of new housing of an adapted monastery, to perceive the user’s satisfaction of a vernacular housing through a post occupancy inquiry, the rehabilitation from vernacular ruins.
- Built Heritage Research and History of Architecture: Light and Acoustic in the Cistercian Monastic Church of S. Bento de Cástris (Portugal)Publication . Martins, Ana Maria Tavares; Carlos, Jorge S.The research on the Cistercian legacy in Portugal is an innovative multidisciplinary study. Consequently, the results achieved in this research have many different approaches: the former monasteries and their architecture are the main subjects concerning morphology, architectonic rehabilitation but also acoustics, thermal comfort, or natural light. This research, carried out at the Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture of the University of Beira Interior (DECA-UBI), was developed in connection with two other research centres - Lab2PT (Landscape, Heritage and Territory Laboratory) and CIDEHUS (Interdisciplinary Centre for History, Culture and Societies). In 2015, the curriculum of the Integrated Master Degree in Architecture of the University of Beira Interior underwent revision. Consequently, it was needed to allocate more time to the teaching of History of Architecture and the requirement to assign specific syllabus to the Portuguese History of Architecture, which is emphasized by the specific and multidisciplinary research performed linking with other sciences of engineering. The natural light in the Cistercian churches is closely linked not only with the liturgical requirements at the officium but also with the canonical hours based on the "ora et labora" dictated by the Rule of St. Benedict. The Cistercian Monastery of São Bento de Cástris (13th-19th centuries), in Évora, Portugal, includes a church, at the south-eastern corner. This church presents an unusual space setting with two choirs which seems to favour different positions for coral groups supporting liturgical and musical expression activities within the research scope of a Research Project. As the light in the Cistercian Monasteries, mainly, in their churches, is mostly related to the fulfilment of liturgical needs, this paper analyses the relationship between daylight conditions within the monastic choirs located within the monastic church. The chant was a very important way of oration and thus of the liturgy. This was the ORFEUS Project – “The Tridentine Reform and music in the cloistral silence: The Monastery of S. Bento de Cástris” which was based on a multidisciplinary approach around the Tridentine Reform with reflexes in the musical Cistercian feminine matrix between the 16th and 18th centuries on Cistercian Monasteries. This paper describes the objectives and methodology applied to the case study thus linking Built Heritage Research and History of Architecture, i.e., Research and Education.