25TS.9 22PS
Angkor Wat: Wooden Ceiling Project for the Churning Gallery:
Given the new information presented in prototype form for putting in the future ceiling, the ad hoc expert group makes the following recommendations:
9.1 Make a more distinct variation in widths between the abutting wooden beams used to form the ceiling structure.
9.2 Refine further the final decoration of the ceiling by reducing some reliefs, excessively deep on the test panel that was shown, varying the depths of these motifs and more strictly referring to the model of the old ceiling fragment originating from Angkor Wat, now at the Guimet Museum in Paris (under inventory number MG 23153-Cat194) and thus avoid overly decorating in relation to that model, especially in doing the decor of the squared grid of frames surrounding the large floral patterns.
9.3 For the finishing work on the carved decorations, given the good results of the initial artificial erosion trials (using high-pressure sandblasting), do another even stronger high-pressure test, but also varied and uneven according to location.
9.4 Submit for the next session of the ICC, an in situ test of a few square meters of the gallery ceiling, including these latest adjustments, so that the final appearance and choice of finishing to be used (coating of lime or oil) can be assessed.
For the future undertaking:
a. Completely avoid any attempt to make the ceiling totally even or flat; rather, follow the general deformations of the internal cornices of the gallery, after ensuring that the latter is now sound enough;
b. To achieve this, consider at the final stage an initial temporary installation of the new ceiling to be fitted according to its deformations, before taking it down, doing the sculpture work on the floor and putting the final decor back up in its final position;
c. Study and propose the most appropriate technical solution to minimize the visual impact of certain lead sheet overhangs that can now be seen on the stone ledges below the future ceiling.