The conservation of monuments and historic sites is one of the most challenging problems facing modern civilization. It involves, in inextricable patterns, factors belonging to different fields (cultural, humanistic, social, technical, economical, administrative) and the requirements of safety and use appear (and often are) in conflict with the respect of the integrity of the monuments.
The complexity of the topic is such that a shared framework of reference is still lacking among art historians, architects, structural and geotechnical engineers.