RICERCA ITALIANA     

INTEGRATED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS IN ARCHITECTURAL AND URBAN HERITAGE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND EXPLOITATION

Università degli Studi de L'Aquila

Abstract

The research program aims to give an innovative contribution in defining organizational and procedural ways to structure integrated database oriented to documentation, conservation, protection and exploitation of Cultural Heritage. Target of its future use will be Public Territorial Bodies and professionals.
It aims to obtain by means of testing on selected case studies:
- integrated survey methods optimization, both traditional and innovative one’s, together with definition of 3D digital integrated models accompanying model metrical properties with high surfaces recognition (digital high definition pictures – texture mapping – of models made by laser scanner acquired points and/or others technologies);
- development and improvement of integrated and spatially referred on 3D models data base procedures;
- quick operating digital models referred to built architectural space implementation and referencing;
- material and immaterial data collecting and organization processess integration in order to make it available in integrated knowledge practices;
- GIS-type simulations pre or post project evaluations. <<<

Principal Investigator

Mario Centofanti Università degli Studi de L'AQUILA

Research Objectives

STRATEGICAL AIM
The strategical aimof the research program is based on the definition of the organizational and procedural methods aimed at the construction of databases integrated for the architectural and environmental heritage, in order to:
-document, protect, preserve and enhance the architectural and urban heritage;
-increase its use by territorial public bodies and professionals.

SPECIFIC AIMS
SURVEY METHODS
Optimization of survey methods integrated, not only innovative ones but also traditional.
Development of methodologies and application space for technologies to film and reproduce, together with the definition of new operating protocols and the pointing out of new hypothesis for the use.

RESTITUTIVE MODEL
Construction of integrated 3D digital models, which can combine the mesurability of the model with a high definition of surfaces.
Integration with high definition digital photographies of models derived from the elaboration of clouds made of points acquired by laser scanners and(or) with other techniques photogrammetrics(Texture-mapping).
The conservation, in the model, of photographed surfaces’ qualitative characteristics helps, for example, the mapping of the superficial macroscopic deterioration.

DATABASE SUPPLIED WITH REFERENCES ON 3D SUPPORT- PROTOTYPE 3D-GIS
Develop and improve the process of databases’ building integrated and spatially supplied with references on 3d support.
Implement the referring with the utilization of a rapid method to represent with digital informative models extended on the architectural and environmental space “built”, which permit the achievement of spatial informations by visual methods, quick and cheap.
Pursue criteria of unification of procedures to gather and tidy up the data, physical and not, in order to make them compatible for the integrated knowledge model’s realization.
Elaboration of operative protocols which can lead and orient people involved in phases of documentation and conservation.
Experimentation of 3D-GIS programs which permit not only the formulation of spatial queries and the extraction of informations, organized by databases, but also the simulation of the three dimensions of the space.
Experimentation of methods and tools via opportune applications, and in the definition of procedural protocols and methodologies with the aim of utilising as fully as possible the opportunities and hyper- and multimedia dynamics of digital technology without neglecting correct and careful scientific and critical management of data, and with the aim of sharing knowledge as widely as possible. For this reason, particular care will be taken with regards to accessibility, conservation, stability, identity of contents and protection in terms of security, privacy, integrity and authenticity of data.

EVALUATION SIMULATIONS
Evaluation simulations pre- or post-planning, on the analogy of what consent on territorial scale the GIS.
Experiment of possible ways of architectural and urban image multimedia communication using the most modern and recently discovered techniques of simulation.
Validation of procedures got ready by their verification in actual fact on study cases. <<<

Timescale

24 months

National and international background

Knowledge and Cultural Heritage

The twentieth century gave us an interesting development of the idea of architectural/Urban Cultural Heritage itself, from the monument singling out to its deep connection with the context to its (natural environment, historical buildings, land use history and so on) evaluation as a monument itself. Such kind of evolution widened and specified deeply the conservation, protection and exploitation processes and operations whose application implies a well organized, interdisciplinar and broad knowledge basis in order to select and orient project and operational decisions.
One of the knowledge aspects is cataloguing activity which under institutional point of view is managed in Italy by the “Istituto Centrale del Catalogo e della Documentazione (Central cataloguing and documentation institute - ICCD), by means of “Sistema Informativo Generale del Catalogo (General Informative Cataloguing system – SIGEC).
The same Cultrural Heritage and Landscape Code (Codice dei beni culturali e del paesaggio - D.LGS 22 January 2004 n. 42) in its art. 17 c.3, regarding the cataloguing process, says: “Ministry and Regions, besides Universities assistance, bands together in defining research, studies and scientific programs regarding cataloguing and inventoring methodologies.” These words implies a specific Universities role in that field, together with Ministry and Local authorities, in order to look at cataloguing innovative and experimental ways.

Architecture documentation and new technologies

Even if digital tools for architectural documentation are already widespread in expertise field, they don’t yet have a business like worthiness in designing process, least of all in stewardship and development of Architectural Estate and Urban Landscape.
The blending and balancing of different efforts on preservation of Cultural Heritage, Architectural Estate, urban Landscape and Environment is already headed to earn an European working platform, above all to develop a world wide web digital documentation.
The European Programme “Minerva” (lined up to Lund’s strategy) speeded up to create a wide web of cultural operators of Union Members.
This Research aims to organise different national and international accumulation of knowledge of groundbreaking ways of representation and sharing of measured drawings, documentation and designing Databases, in existing situation of Architectural Estate and Urban Landscape maintenance and emphasising tools.
Many newness publicised in key issues on digital tools for aided designing and architectural state case history (we remember the Stewart Brand and Nikolas Negroponte work at M.I.T. and Mitchell e McCullough intuitions about advanced digital media uptake and European Research Centres parts proved by Tzonis and White and also in “Ancona 2004” convention about “Architecture Communication Technology”) are still not a resource for local governments and professional being accountable of real events on these resources.
Cultural heritage and informative systems
The cultural heritage and geographic information sectors are currently the object of particular interest and numerous initiatives in Europe. This growing interest is shown principally by progress in the field of cultural heritage reference, no longer understood simply as a context within which the individual artefact is located, but as a cultural heritage artefact in itself.
The ‘contextualisation’ of the artefact provided by geographical information makes explicit and tangible the fabric of qualitative and quantitative relations between the individual artefact and the territory, drawing these into the definition of the cultural heritage artefact.
In this perspective, geographical information systems allow us to consider cultural heritage in its entirety, entrusting to the territory and the natural and human-created landscape the new role of systematic cultural heritage, expression of the collective system of relationships between artefacts, and between artefacts and the context itself.

Architectural heritage and informative systems

Less numerous, however, are experiences regarding architectural heritage, above all urban architectural heritage, even though our country is characterised by an exceptional concentration of architectural and landscape heritage artefacts of great value. As the 2003 Cencis Report shows, this collection of cultural resources is distinguished by the diverse nature of the artefacts distributed over all the territory: around 40,000 noble buildings and villas, more than 3,000 historic gardens, 20,000 castles, more than 1,500 convents, as well as numerous examples of less easily definable types, such as farms, coastal towers, hermitages, etc.
The data on settlements proves even more interesting: over 22,000 historic town centres (walled citadels or towns with antique foundations and smaller settlements – hamlets, frazioni (administrative divisions of a municipality), villages, military and religious sites) were identified by the ICCD ‘National Census of Historical Centres’ Project which was completed in 1994
Chiefly in status quo representation, available documentation isn’t still used in businesslike and comprehensive way, with digital filing, numbering and classification tools, least of all running on free onerous 3D drawings, while SIT are already pervasively used and enhanced tools for city districts, for a needful 3D.
Setting-up openings of these tools are so few!
Is already pointed out a claimed 3D representation inclusion to GIS proofed cartographic pictures.

Survey role

Architectural survey plays a very specific role between different disciplinar approaches to this topic, if understood (conceived / intended) as a knowledge open system intended for investigation of a wide range of approaches as: dimensions, geometries, state of repair, building techniques and materials and so on. As a result of recording process, survey gives to the complex representative models construction which are in itself documents, that join to the critical-filological apparatus related to the study case. Such kind of models, as a 3D representations, can play the media role in the architectural informative system becoming data spatial basic reference in order to reach its specific location. In that way survey techniques development (digital photogrammetry and laser scanner procedures) is related with the GIS (geographical information system) technology applied to the Cultural Heritage.

In the scientifical-disciplinar sector ICAR 17 (DESIGN) in the last few years the attention was focalized on problems of the architectural and urban survey, also together with application of new survey technologies integrated and the experimentation of 3D-GIS systems.
About this it’s important to mention the acts of naples meeting(1994) “The rules of building drawing , by CUNDARI C. and MARTONE M.;the monographic number of ‘Disegnare’, X 18-19, 1999, which was about the results of the research work, coordinated by Mario Docci; the acts of the meeting in Valmontone (1999) about ‘knowledge instruments for the project of restoration’, by DOCCI M.,FIORUCCI T.,CHIAVONEE; the results of the research (1999 and 2001) coordinated by Diego Maestri about ‘Survey emergence. Applications of operative methods on the survey for the exploitation and the restoring of architectural and environmental heritage.’;the acts of the meeting in Rome about ‘Survey of architectural heritages for preservation” by CUNDARI C. and CARNEVALI L.; the book (2001) by Riccardo Migliari, ‘Frontiers of survey. From the pencil to 3D scanning’ ”.
More recently the meeting in Ancona (2004) “eArcom04-technologies to communicate architecture”, by MALINVERNI E.S.. And in the end the results of researches published in 2005: “Urban survey for complex systems. A new protocol for an information system of documentation and management of the city.”, coordinator Cesare Cundari; and “ Innovative methodologies integrated for architectural and environmental survey”, coordinator Mario Docci. <<<