State of Preservation and Intervention Proposal in a Modern Architecture Building: The Auditorium of the Labor University of Cheste, Spain

Abstract

Modernist architecture buildings have been socially undervalued as part of the heritage of architecture. Fortunately, in recent times, some movements have emerged, such as the International Committee for Documentation and Conservation of Buildings, Sites, and Neighborhoods of the Modern Movement (DoCoMoMo). The Auditorium of the Labor University of Cheste is an example of Spanish brutalism, which, due to its low appreciation, has fallen into disuse and is currently immersed in an accelerated pathological process. In this research work, supported by the Jean Paul Getty Trust, the structural system of the building and its pathological state are studied in depth, with the aim of rehabilitating the structure and putting it back into use. For this, a detailed documentation of the location and type of damage was carried out, and interventions are proposed in each case. Nondestructive testing and techniques (NDT), such as infrared thermography (IRT) and laser scanning, were used to carry out this research. This work aims to help revalue these emblematic buildings of the 20th century, opening the way to an appreciation and reuse of this heritage.