A computational design workflow towards a comprehensive digitization of historic buildings

Abstract

The rapid technological development in recent years and the ability to collect a huge amount of information affects the field of archaeology of standing buildings and conservation. Digital technology is an emerging tool that can be applied in recent works in this field, leading to an effective and efficient recording of building heritage and accompanied information. Hence, such technology can provide a deeper understanding, learning and justification of its behavior as well as utilization of these information throughout a maintenance process. The present study aims to formulate a new computational design workflow based on the 3D modeling of historic buildings, through the creation of an as-build model of a registered listed building. This is achieved through parametric clustering and schematic modeling based on computational methods for developing 3D surfaces and shapes that correspond to building parts. Challenges of 3D modeling originated in the complexity of form, such as the selected building part under investigation, are discussed. For the implementation of the research, the Holy Church of Agios Georgios Tropaiophoros in the village of Dali in the district of Nicosia (CY) is chosen as a case study. The results derived from the specific workflow are evaluated and then used for the development of an Augmented Reality (AR) platform, an emerging technology with great potential in perception and navigation of building heritage.