The world’s historic and cultural sites connect us to human history. Projects to preserve or restore these sites must be handled with care. Ray Pepi, president and founder of Building Conservation Associates in New York, New York, USA, talks about managing priorities of preserving a building’s cultural and historical significance while also setting it up for continued use. He also discusses how he sees structural conservation changing in the future.

Kacey Hadick, director of project development at CyArk in Oakland, California, USA, talks about working with teams around the world to digitally document cultural heritage sites under their care, the challenges these teams face and how they can use the data in the short term as well as in the future.

Key themes

[02:40] Preserving history with the future in mind

[03:58] Importance of research in restoring or conserving cultural properties 

[08:14] Future of historic preservation and sustainability

[09:24] Digitally documenting cultural heritage sites and on-site problem-solving

[11:43] Using data to call for action in Rapa Nui

[15:13] How teams can use digital documentation now and in the future