Discovery of the Oldest Construction Phases of the Convent …
101
western one, within the outline of the walls known from the plan of the monastery
layout from 1864. The first alternative, in accordance with the recommendations
of the Consultation and Advisory Team, assumes the construction of the footing
walls of this building using traditional techniques and construction materials, to
be recreated on the basis of simultaneous archaeological studies, and supported by
surviving, appropriately reinforced foundations. Where no foundations are found to
have survived, the footing is to be recreated in the negative of historical trenches,
similarly as it was done in the case of the Stadthaus in Frankfurt am Main. There is
a wealth of literature on this subject, in addition to numerous examples of effective
solutions that abide by conservation principles [18–20].
Depending on the findings of initial archaeological studies and on the condition
of determining the existing footing to be unsuitable for use (there exists a possibility of uncovering the remains of the oldest, original monastery, that perhaps was
never completed), an “emergency” alternative was formulated, based on a bypasstype structure, which would not interfere with the relics of past buildings, but that
would enable conducting studies after the construction of the shell state of the newlydesigned structure. This is possible by designing the new structures as being “suspended” above the research area, thus making the project schedule independent of
the research schedule, financial means and the various methods of investigating
this area, which the design intends to constitute an archaeological and architectural
preserve and a museum of both the history of the Order of St. Dominic in Poland
and medieval brick architecture, featuring the necessary academic, educational and
technical facilities.
The basis for the restored buildings will be a steel grid composed of transverse
and longitudinal steel beams, with point supports resting on the tops of micropiles,
inserted along the length of the external walls of the cellar level, approximately every
300 cm (as in the case of the Vesunna Museum in Perigeaux). The support brackets of
the beams comprising the grid will be located so as to maintain a distance of around
10–15 cm from the exposed top of the walls, which will enable the application of
a mixed ventilation system in the enclosed space of the preserve. The grid will be
extendable as to prepare for the possible extension of the archaeological dig and the
associated enlargement of the exhibition area.
Regardless of the selected design alternative, carrying out the restitution of the
buildings of the former southern wing and a section of the western one will allow for
not only restoring an essential element of the cultural landscape, but also protecting
of the oldest relics of the monastery buildings from adverse atmospheric conditions,
providing the possibility to conduct archaeological research and to gradually organise
a museum exhibition so as to make its historical, academic and educational assets
available to the public.
The analysis of archaeological and architectural research, along with an attempt at
reconstructing the oldest developmental phases of Sandomierz’s Dominican Convent,
was based on Jerzy Topolski’s original methodology of historical knowledge based
on building a sequence of models that depict a hypothetical, yet highly probable
historical reality. This methodology allowed architects to build a theoretical 3D model
of the south wing’s reconstruction with dedicated zones for the exhibition of the first
101
western one, within the outline of the walls known from the plan of the monastery
layout from 1864. The first alternative, in accordance with the recommendations
of the Consultation and Advisory Team, assumes the construction of the footing
walls of this building using traditional techniques and construction materials, to
be recreated on the basis of simultaneous archaeological studies, and supported by
surviving, appropriately reinforced foundations. Where no foundations are found to
have survived, the footing is to be recreated in the negative of historical trenches,
similarly as it was done in the case of the Stadthaus in Frankfurt am Main. There is
a wealth of literature on this subject, in addition to numerous examples of effective
solutions that abide by conservation principles [18–20].
Depending on the findings of initial archaeological studies and on the condition
of determining the existing footing to be unsuitable for use (there exists a possibility of uncovering the remains of the oldest, original monastery, that perhaps was
never completed), an “emergency” alternative was formulated, based on a bypasstype structure, which would not interfere with the relics of past buildings, but that
would enable conducting studies after the construction of the shell state of the newlydesigned structure. This is possible by designing the new structures as being “suspended” above the research area, thus making the project schedule independent of
the research schedule, financial means and the various methods of investigating
this area, which the design intends to constitute an archaeological and architectural
preserve and a museum of both the history of the Order of St. Dominic in Poland
and medieval brick architecture, featuring the necessary academic, educational and
technical facilities.
The basis for the restored buildings will be a steel grid composed of transverse
and longitudinal steel beams, with point supports resting on the tops of micropiles,
inserted along the length of the external walls of the cellar level, approximately every
300 cm (as in the case of the Vesunna Museum in Perigeaux). The support brackets of
the beams comprising the grid will be located so as to maintain a distance of around
10–15 cm from the exposed top of the walls, which will enable the application of
a mixed ventilation system in the enclosed space of the preserve. The grid will be
extendable as to prepare for the possible extension of the archaeological dig and the
associated enlargement of the exhibition area.
Regardless of the selected design alternative, carrying out the restitution of the
buildings of the former southern wing and a section of the western one will allow for
not only restoring an essential element of the cultural landscape, but also protecting
of the oldest relics of the monastery buildings from adverse atmospheric conditions,
providing the possibility to conduct archaeological research and to gradually organise
a museum exhibition so as to make its historical, academic and educational assets
available to the public.
The analysis of archaeological and architectural research, along with an attempt at
reconstructing the oldest developmental phases of Sandomierz’s Dominican Convent,
was based on Jerzy Topolski’s original methodology of historical knowledge based
on building a sequence of models that depict a hypothetical, yet highly probable
historical reality. This methodology allowed architects to build a theoretical 3D model
of the south wing’s reconstruction with dedicated zones for the exhibition of the first