Urban Space and Places of Memory: The Survey as a Tool for Investigating the Process of Transformation

Abstract

In the broader context of the survey and digital documentation of the urban scene, which applies traditional and advanced methodologies integrated, the metric-morphological data analysis and its representation can be assumed as an interesting research opportunity on processes of urban space modification. The topic of survey and representation of urban spaces is dealt with as a conservative action and as a tool for the protection of heritage and memory. The 3D laser scanner technology, which allows quantitative and qualitative surveys, allows to set up metric-morphological data in databases and to access, over time, to the “geometric memory” of architectures and urban spaces as a tool for knowledge, research, or as a basis for conservation and restoration works. The research, focused on the survey of urban spaces and places of memory, is the result of several experiments on historical contexts made in recent years, and resulted in the latest integrated three-dimensional survey of the public space of “Largo della Memoria”, in the city centre of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The main purpose was to define a methodology for documenting urban space in anticipation of restoration and conservation interventions, by enhancing the preservation of the “urban memory”.