=?iso-8859-1?Q?Marie=2DJos=E9e?= Lebel <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Elizabeth Watkins wrote:
>>
>> I'm interested in exploring the types and nature of relationships between
>> museums and architectural preservation/heritage concerns and programs.
>> Can anyone recommend any recent readings and/or contacts?
>>
I'm not sure exactlyu what type of relationship betweenb architectural
preservation and museums you're interested in.....  if you're talking
about museums in historic structures, I've been through alot of that
( 5 years Park Service, 5 years Architect0...
Most of the time, I'd say that either the building or the collection
suffers in this type of relationship, what's good for the building is
bad for the collection, and visa versa.  For example, Curators want
climate control for organic artifacts, and rightly so.  Buildings
built in the era before air conditioning are not designed for it (no
vapor barriers, insulation, etc.) so you end up with water condensing
in parts of the building, old wood structural elements will twist and
warp as the humidity and conditions they've experienced for however
long is dramatically changed.
A house museum I helped out in Miami had quite a collection of musical
instruments.  THey kept going out of tune, so the place was air
conditioned to stabilize the environment.  .  The manager then noticed
the floor boards were damp, and wanting to get rid of the moisture,
cranked the a/c down lower.
By teh time I was called, the floor was actually lifting from the
joists due to the expansion of the floor boards.  No one had thought
to look under the house, where a very localized rainstorm was
occurring... water was condensing on the underside of the floor
boards, and dripping onto the ground.

I could go on (and on), but I don't want to work myself into a lather
this early in the day.....
Rudd Long