Interposition of Alien Structure in Aesthetic Value of Ayuthaya Historical and Archaeological Ruin

Abstract

Aesthetic value damage evaluation on archaeological ruins was a difficult issue to address due to the public perception that it was a subjective issue. Interposition of alien structures at archaeological sites was commonly seen and caused adverse visual impacts and affected the conservation of arts and cultural heritage of the Kingdom of Thailand. There were currently no means to determine the damage of archaeological sites by interposed alien structures, thus, it was difficult to identify criteria which was needed to protect the aesthetic beauty of historical, architectural, and archaeological sites. In order to establish a method of measuring aesthetic damage to archaeological, an alien structure equation was applied: Di = SAi/ SCi + [1-(lFci-Fail) + (dEi/100) + [(|Lci-Lai|)/255] + [|(Tci-Tai)|]. SAi, Fai, Lai, and Tai were size, form, contrast, and texture of alien structure; while SCi, Fci, Lci, and Tci represented size, form, contrast, and texture of archaeological and dEi was color difference. The value of Di was total damage raging 0-5 (dimensionless), while the rests had a value rage of 0-1. The application of the alien-structure equation, together with the histogram function in Adobe Photoshop 5.0 and Matlab program, showed the most effective tool to evaluate damage size of aesthetic value posed by the telecommunication tower constructed in nearby the Ayuthaya archaeological site. The study included survey, photographing, analyzing the elements of art, and experts’ point of view. In conclusion, the alienstructure equation together with Adobe Photoshop computer program was effective in the determining the aesthetic damage value.