Dimitrios Karolidis

Building Design and antiquities collections

Powerpoint script and handout

Powerpoint Script
Slide 1 In this presentation we are going to discuss how building design and specially storage can affect art collections. More specifically, we are going to briefly evaluate the storage facilities of the archaeological museum of Thessaloniki and remark on the aspects of preventive conservation concerned. The museum storage facility was renovated in the year 2004, as part of the general renovation of the building that houses the largest collection of antiquities in northern Greece. The museum is a well recognized institution, attracting visitors from around the globe to admire the collections exhibited. (mouse click) Slide 2 What is museum collection storage? (mouse click). It is a space dedicated to store objects belonging to the permanent museum collection or they are on loan from other institutions for temporary exhibitions. (mouse click). It is also an evolving and on-going process of properly contain, safeguard and care for the works of art while in storage. (mouse click) Slide 3 Storage is defined (mouse click) by space and volume (mouse click), the equipment housed in this space (mouse click) and the containers for storing items (mouse click)In museum storage, we need to account a number of factors involved into making this process adequate (mouse click). The storage needs of the museum should be established by understanding the collection housed in it (mouse click). A clear picture of the exact number of artifacts under storage is necessary, the type of materials that have been used to make these artifacts should be known and finally the factors of material degradation should be determined (mouse click) (mouse click) Then, storage needs can be planned to reduce these factors (mouse click) by proper storage and handling techniques, environmental control, security control and hazards protection (mouse click) Slide 4 Lets take a look at the collection of antiquities in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki(mouse click) The type of materials present are (mouse click) mortars as in mosaics , organics as in amber, stone as in marble statues , clay as in ceramics, glass as in vessels and metals as in wreaths (mouse click) the number of objects housed in the museum is (mouse click) around 10.000 items (mouse click) and damage of these artifacts within the museum storage can be due (mouse click) to the nature of the manufacturing material, to the ancillary materials used in storage and display, to handling, to pest activity and finally due to environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity and light (mouse click)

Slide 5 The brief evaluation of the storage facility at the archaeological museum of Thessaloniki will be performed by discussing (mouse click) its location within the building topography and in relevance to the outside surroundings (mouse click), the construction materials used (mouse click), the physical security and fire protection measures (mouse click), the environmental monitoring available (mouse click) and the storage equipment present (mouse click) Slide 6 The storage facility is located on the southeast corner of the building complex which houses the museum. The main entrance to the exhibition spaces is on the west side of the building. The storage shares the same entrance with the conservation studios and a number of administration offices, while there is a ramp, so that big vehicles can enter this area of the complex and reach the entrance. (mouse click) Slide 7 (mouse click) The storage room is located in the basement. Being underground (mouse click) is protected by extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves or storms but is under threat of flooding. It is isolated and reachable by a staircase and an elevator both located close to the security booth, so human activity is monitored. It is close to the conservation studios so objects do not travel a long distance for study and remedial conservation but access of machinery such as lifting devices and trolleys is problematic. (mouse click) Finally being close to city center (mouse click)is exposed to heavily polluted air and sea-spray form the nearby waterfront. (mouse click) Slide 8 The storage was an existing space but renovated in 2004. (mouse click) The floor is made out of industrial, smooth and anti-slippery cement capable of carrying heavy loads ,(mouse click) the walls are covered with insulating layers of different types providing heat and water insulation and painted with UV absorbent acrylic coating (mouse click) and finally the door is an industrial sturdy fire resistant construction (mouse click) Slide 9 Protection in terms of physical security(mouse click) is provided (mouse click) through a monitored intrusion system , good locking mechanisms ,limited ID card monitored access and fast response time of the nearby security guards. (mouse click)Flood protection (mouse click)is not monitored by a dedicated system and water removal is done through drainage. (mouse click) Fire protection is provided (mouse click) by an inspection system and an extinguishing system (mouse click)Response time depends on personnel (mouse click) while there is no clear collection evacuation plan in case of disaster (mouse click)

Slide 10 Physical security from theft is terms of intrusion, is provided by monitoring the storage with two surveillance cameras, one inside and one outside at the hall. A door contact sensor and a security pad with sliding ID card, electronically monitor and record human activity. A motion sensor operating after working hours activates a horn. Finally security locks are installed on the door. Access is limited to specified personnel and recorded through personal sliding ID cards. (mouse click) Slide 11 The control room which is located on first floor above storage, operates the surveillance cameras, deactivates alarm horns, keeps log of human activity through security pad and door sensor operation and is connected with the motion sensor. The control room coordinates security guards and museum stuff for responding in case of intrusion (mouse click) Slide 12 Fire security is provided by monitoring the storage through a sophisticated system. Automatically operating ceiling smoke detectors and water sprinklers are connected to a fire control panel. A fire alarm siren is located at the hall outside. Manual extinguishing of the fire is done with the use of a fire hose located also at the hall outside. Several fire extinguishers are scattered around the storage area and the hall. Finally there are fire hand alarms and abort switches at the hall and inside the storage, for manual operation. (mouse click) Slide 13 The control room is connected and monitors the fire control panel which in turn receives signals from smoke detectors and hand switches. The control panel activates the water sprinklers and the horn. The control room deactivates sprinklers and horn. The control room is connected to the municipal fire brigade and is responsible to notify museum stuff for evacuation and coordinate trained personnel for intervening by manual operation of handheld fire extinguishers (mouse click)

Slide 14 The sources of environmental parameters capable of causing degradation of objects in storage are the central air conditioning system, the storage door, the lighting system and the drainage ducts on the floor. Environmental parameters introduced in the storage facility are temperature, humidity, air pollutants, light radiation and pests. All these are automatically or manually controlled and monitored by thermostats, dehumidifiers, carbon filters, wall mounted switches and floor traps (mouse click)

Slide 15 Inside storage there is a thermostat for overriding the central A/C system operation, a data logger which monitors temperature and relative humidity in regular intervals, light switches, pest traps, two drainage ducts on the floor and two dehumidifiers operating automatically and manually. Light is provided through fluorescent tubes with no UV filters. No study was ever carried out concerning the light intensity and UV radiation when designing the space. The storage temperature is set to 20C +/-2 and RH is set to 45%-50%. Finally there is no reception room, so unwanted air is introduced every time the door opens. (mouse click) Slide 16 The control room receives signals from the thermostat and records and monitors the data logger readings. The central A/C system is adjusted according to these readings to meet the temperature and RH values recommended by the conservators team but it operates only during working hours. The control room is responsible for coordinating museum stuff to carry housekeeping and regular rodent traps checks, to manually operate and maintain the dehumidifiers and to switch off the lights if left on by mistake. The lighting system is automatically shut down after working hours, and security lights are switched on. (mouse click) Slide 17 The storage equipment consists of mobile sliding shelves, door cabinets, metal shelving and file drawers. The collection is stored according both to material type and to place of origin (excavation location). There is a finely organized inventory system, with colored labels and numbers and an inventory catalogue in printed and digital form. There is a visitors log for recording human activity. There is no space for in situ study of the collection, only a small reception desk, so objects must travel to research studios on first floor. Housekeeping and packaging materials are kept is separate nearby rooms. (mouse click)

Slide 18 The sliding shelve system, the door cabinets, the metal shelves and the file drawers are all purchased by specialized museum equipment manufacturers and follow standard specifications providing stable and safe storage to the collection. There are no clear plans of expanding the facility when full storage capacity is reached. The containers are mostly archival and polypropylene boxes and trays, while packaging materials are mostly inert and stable and undergone the Oddy test, when of questionable origin and material quality. Most objects are wrapped with acid free paper and put inside polythene bags with silica gel before placed in containers. (mouse click) Slide 19 (mouse click) Final conclusions (mouse click) The storage (mouse click) is constructed with industrial quality stable materials, providing insulation and withstanding heavy load (mouse click) The facility is built underground(mouse click), so it is isolated and easily guarded (mouse click).It is close to conservation studios, so that objects do not travel far for study and conservation (mouse click) It is under constant flood threat (mouse click), with difficult access to machinery for moving objects in and out (mouse click) and is exposed to heavy pollution being in the city center (mouse click) There is a (mouse click) good fire inspection system (mouse click) but no clear disaster evacuation plan (mouse click) Slide 20 (mouse click) (mouse click)Environmental management is achieved (mouse click) through a central A/C system (mouse click) with carbon filters as pollution scavengers (mouse click)which operates only on working hours (mouse click) and makes necessary the use of dehumidifiers as supporting equipment to control RH (mouse click) There are accurate modern monitoring devices, (mouse click) ample light from fluorescent lamps to navigate inside (mouse click) but no light/ UV levels control. (mouse click) Pest control is done through traps and meticulous housekeeping(mouse click) Storage equipment (mouse click) is of museum quality while (mouse click)there is a good inventory system

(mouse click) Overall an adequate storage facility which would benefited by more careful initial planning in order to avoid the serious risk of flooding Thank you for your attention

Powerpoint Handout The archaeological museum of Thessaloniki was designed by architect Patroclos Karantinos. It is a rare sample of the modern architecture movement in Greece and opened for the public in year 1962. It houses a broad collection of excavated antiquities found in the area of Macedonia, dating from prehistoric times until the late Hellenistic period. The renovation works started at year 2004 and the museum reopened for the public in the summer of 2006. During renovation, there was a great deal of discussion between engineers, curators and conservators about the conservation and storage facilities. Due to budget limitations, it was finally decided that storage will be housed in one of the existing empty spaces in the basement of the administration building. The storage houses an approximate number of 10000 antiquities, made out of stone such as marble statues, clay such as pottery and ceramics, mortars in mosaics, metals such as bronze, iron, silver and gold, organic materials such as bone, antler and ivory and glass vessels. It is a fairly large space, with are no separate spaces for each material and no reception room. The materials used for the reconstruction are of optimum industrial quality and standards, providing safe support for the equipment and the collection. Being underground is easily protected by means of physical security since both the staircase leading to the room and the elevator are close to the security booth. Access to the facility is done by a restricted number of museum staff and with security ID sliding cards, so it is precisely recorded and monitored. The security system also includes surveillance cameras. The storage is well protected against extreme weather conditions such as heatwaves and storms but is facing constant threat of flood. The fire protection system is quite sophisticated with lots of sensors and detectors but the sprinklers on the ceiling are water operated, meaning that in case of fire everything will be drowned in water. The hand held fire extinguishers are of dry form and a large number of them is scattered inside and right out of the facility. There is no clear evacuation plan for the collection in case of disaster and the underground location makes heavy machinery access very problematic. This disadvantage applies as well in the case of moving antiquities in and out of the facility, since trolleys, lifts and big crates cannot easily reach and be manipulated. The environmental parameters capable of degrading the stored antiquities are temperature, relative humidity, light, air pollution and pests. There is a central air conditioning system controlling temperature and humidity and the values are set by the conservators at the region of 20C +/- 2 for temperature and 50% +/- 5% for humidity. That was a big compromise due to the number and diversity of materials, which need different storage conditions. Even worse, the A/C system operates only during working hours due to budget management, so two Kroll dehumidifiers are responsible for keeping relative humidity in desirable levels. The problem is that the dehumidifiers need manual operation for emptying the water reservoirs which can only be done on working hours, so there are time segments when they do not operate at all. There is a Hanwell datalogger with alarm notification, monitoring environmental data in hourly intervals and sending it to the control room and the conservation studios, so manual intervening is possible but again only during working hours. The lighting system consists of fluorescent ceiling lights, providing ample light for navigating in the storage, but no real light intensity and UV radiation study was ever carried out during the designing of the space. There are pest traps all over the place, since the drainage duct grilled holes on the floor are introducing this danger to the facility. Pest control is monitored and controlled by meticulous housekeeping as well. Finally because the museum is located in the center of Thessaloniki which happens to be among the top five polluted cities in Europe, the air pollution is really a problem and the carbon filters installed at the air conditioning system are of little help and under constant need of maintenance.

The cabinetry system is of late technology, with sliding shelves, closed cabinets, metal shelves and file drawers all made under museum standards to provide sturdy support to the containers housing the antiquities. All shelving surfaces are lined with antisliding sheets. There is a very good inventory system both in digital and printed form. There is a visitors log and objects log, so all activity is precisely recorded. Due to the compromises in the ambient environmental settings, all objects are wrapped in acid free tissue, placed inside zipped polythene bags with silica gel and corrosion scavengers where needed, and then put inside the container boxes. Most containers are of archival quality and inert plastics and lots of approved foam such as ethafoam and plastazote is used to provide support inside the boxes. Clear labels and photos are attached most of the times on the containers. Museum storage design in Greece is a fairly recent concept and Greek conservators are really struggling to meet the standards discussed, established and developed by recognized worldwide organizations. Sadly most of the times compromises have to be made and the storage facility of the archaeological museum of Thessaloniki, although is considered amongst the fine ones, is of no exception to this. It provides a fairly stable and safe environment to the antiquities present but the biggest downfall is the constant threat of flooding, an issue which cannot be resolved or dealt with, upon impact.

Bibliography 1. Johnson, E. Verner, and Joanne C. Horgan. Museum Collections Storage. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 1979. 2. Johnson, E. Verner, and Joanne C. Horgan. Planning and Design of Museum Collection Storage Facilities, Boston: E. Verner Johnson and Associates, Inc., 1990. 3. National Park Service Museum Handbook, Preservation and Protection Team, Museum Management Program US department of interior, 2006.

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