Programme details

This film brings us to Telc, a World Heritage City, in the heart of Moravia, the Czech Republic.
Milos Dradcky has been at the head of the Municipal Architecture Office for the last 6 years. He also coordinates the European Arcchip programme.

The ARCCHIP Programme

The Arcchip programme consists of organising different activities related to cultural heritage problems or issues. The bulk of the programme is made up of workshops where we try to bring people together from eastern and western European countries.

Historical Site: Telc Castle

The current form of the building dates back to the 16th century. This is one of the monuments that is monitored by the Arcchip programme.
A proper explanation of cracking and damage incurred by historical objects requires long-term monitoring of the manifestation of the damage, plus records of humidity and temperature.

Historical Site: St. Vitus Cathedral

For a second concrete example, we move to the Czech capital, Prague. On the heights of the city stands Prague Castle with its famous St. Vitus cathedral.
The Arcchip programme monitors research on internal forces that cause damage to some of the cathedral’s elements due to the change in temperature and humidity.

Scientific Site

But Arcchip’s work is not just done in the historical sites themselves. It is also carried out in laboratories, for example. At the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Bo Kasal has been working with Arcchip specifically on earthquake resistant structures, subjected to strong vibrations for this test.
This technique is meant for new buildings, but it also has applications in the preservation of cultural and historic heritage, particularly for old wooden structures.

Human Network

In addition to the research done in the laboratory and the monitoring of historical sites, Arcchip is a marvellous human network.
We can visit one of our workshops that make up a substantial part of our activities in the Arcchip programme. 24 participants from 20 countries discuss recent research developments in the field of new conservation technologies for safeguarding cultural heritage.

Conclusion

The Centre of Excellence Programme is a unique, very well designed programme. It opens doors for many eastern European research facilities to be involved in European research.