Systematic analysis of the digital technologies used in the documentation of historical buildings

Abstract

Cultural heritage buildings have values that provide a connection from past to present. The first stage of ensuring that these values are preserved and transferred to future generations is the documentation and diagnosis studies. The digital acquisition of the documentation data of historical buildings by digitizing, the creation of 2D drawings and 3D models with numerical data, provides an accurate analysis of the current situation of cultural heritage buildings and allows the evaluation of damage status of the building in the process after the documentation works. Although current studies in the literature mostly focus on the use of a certain method, device or software, it has been determined that there is no study that examines digital documentation methods in detail and systematically addresses the current technologies, programs and tools used in this process. Based on this gap in the literature, in this study, firstly, the documentation of cultural heritage and its importance are mentioned, the components of documentation are explained, and the methods, tools, applications and software programs that could be used in the documentation, recording and data processing of cultural heritage structures were systematically brought together. By comparing the data obtained as a result of this research study, in which the qualitative research method was used, with the documentation methods, it points out that digital documentation of cultural heritage structures allows for a more precise assessment by increasing the accuracy of data collection and analysis studies. The study also highlights the importance of the use of digital technologies, which makes it easier to store, share and manage the data at hand.