BIM, GIS and semantic models of cultural heritage buildings

Pavel Tobiáš

doi:10.14311/gi.15.2.3

Abstract

<p>Even though there has been a great development of using building information models in the AEC (Architecture/Engineering/Construction) sector recently, creation of models of existing buildings is still not very usual. The cultural heritage documentation is still, in most cases, kept in the form of 2D drawings while these drawings mostly contain only geometry without semantics, attributes or definitions of relationships and hierarchies between particular building elements. All these additional information would, however, be very providential for the tasks of cultural heritage preservation, i.e. for the facility management of heritage buildings or for reconstruction planning and it would be suitable to manage all geometric and non-geometric information in a single 3D information model. This paper is based on the existing literature and focuses on the historic building information modelling to provide information about the current state of the art. First, a summary of available software tools is introduced while not only the BIM tools but also the related GIS software is considered. This is followed by a review of existing efforts worldwide and an evaluation of the facts found.</p>

Highlights

If we want to perform the tasks related to the administration and maintenance of cultural heritage buildings, we urgently need comprehensive information about the objects of interest
It is necessary to realise that building information models (BIM) workflows, currently relatively well developed in the AEC sector, are in most cases focused on the design and construction of new buildings
Speaking about historic cultural heritage buildings the situation is even more difficult because such buildings contain a lot of irregular architectural elements which can be damaged or wornout

Summary

Introduction

If we want to perform the tasks related to the administration and maintenance of cultural heritage buildings, we urgently need comprehensive information about the objects of interest. An integrated information system, which covers all physical and functional characteristics of a building, can be created. The required data can be highly heterogeneous – we are talking about textual and graphical historical documents, plans, maps and about up-to-date data from structural-historical investigations, geodetic surveys or photographic reconnaissance. Considering that all architectural heritage objects inherently have three-dimensional spatial characteristics, the resulting information system, which will comprise all the mentioned documents, should allow the management of 3D models. Even that might not be sufficient because we often need a 4D representation of a historic building to describe its changes in time

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion