Colorimetric monitoring of Palazzo Margherita, US Embassy in Rome

The importance of preventive conservation strategies for the built heritage has been debated in the last years, but there is still a limited number of applied researches involving complex architectural sites. The identification and monitoring of the decay processes after the restoration activities can support future preventive conservation strategies. In this study the colorimetric approach made on the facades of Palazzo Margherita, US Embassy Rome's Chancery building is presented. This monument situated in the center of Rome (Italy) is an important case study for the understanding of the interaction between the surfaces and the environment. The main conservation issues have been identified and studied. A non-invasive colorimetric monitoring of selected areas of the facades has been carried out over a two-year period in order to evaluate the measurements of detected surface colour changes using the statistical PCA technique to represent the data.