Documentation Of Historical Buildings Research Articles

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

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.

The Role of Collaboration in Survey and Documentation of Historic Buildings. Case Study: Akre Historic Area in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

The Role of Collaboration in Survey and Documentation of Historic Buildings. Case Study: Akre Historic Area in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Deep Learning for the Segmentation of Large-Scale Surveys of Historic Masonry: A New Tool for Building Archaeology Applied at the Basilica of St Anthony in Padua

ABSTRACT In the last decade, the documentation of historical buildings has made tremendous progress in generalising the use of high-precision laser scanning and drone photogrammetry. Yet the potential of digital surveying is not fully exploited due to difficulties in manually analysing large amounts of collected data. Machine learning offers immense potential as a game-changer in building archaeology, especially for the documentation of structures composed of millions of units. This paper presents the first segmentation of large-scale surveys of historic masonry using machine learning, using the thirteenth-century Basilica of St Anthony (Padua, Italy) as a case study. Based on a drone survey of the north façade of the building (110 × 70 m), a state-of-the-art non-learning segmentation approach is described and its limitations for historical structures are illustrated. Then, a new workflow based on convolutional neural networks (CNN) is presented. The result is a precise mapping of about 300,000 individual bricks showing a large variety of formats and bonds. The automatic surveys are analysed using visual programming language (VPL), enabling a rapid and feature-based identification of building phases and repair interventions. The outcome demonstrates the validity of machine learning for the analysis of historical structures and its potential in the field of heritage.

Safe Documentation of Historical Monuments by an Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

The use of robotic systems, especially multi-rotor aerial vehicles, in the documentation of historical buildings and cultural heritage monuments has become common in recent years. However, the teleoperated robotic systems have significant limitations encouraging the ongoing development of autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The autonomous robotic platforms provide a more accurate and safe measurement in distant and difficult to access areas than their teleoperated counterpart. Through the use of autonomous aerial robotic systems, access to such places by humans and building of external infrastructures like scaffolding for documentation purposes is no longer necessary. In this work, we aim to present a novel autonomous unmanned aerial vehicle designed for the documentation of hardly attainable areas of historical buildings. The prototype of this robot was tested in several historical monuments comprising scanned objects located in dark and hardly accessible areas in the upper parts of tall naves. This manuscript presents the results from two specific places: the Church of St. Anne and St. Jacob the Great in Stará Voda, and St. Maurice Church in Olomouc, both in the Czech Republic. Finally, we also compare the three-dimensional map obtained with the measurements made by the 3D laser scanner carried onboard UAV against the ones performed by a 3D terrestrial laser scanner.

From Site Survey to HBIM Model for the Documentation of Historic Buildings: the Case Study of Hexinwu Village in China

Architectural heritage surveying plays a fundamental role in the preservation of historic buildings for scientific research, education and tourism. The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Terrestrial Laser Scanning techniques are essential for architectural heritage surveying and mapping. In recent years, the combination of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with heritage studies has been presented as Historic BIM (HBIM) which, integrated with UVA and TLS, is a technique that is able to deal more efficiently with the management and protection of historic buildings. This paper focuses on the integration of UVA images and point clouds from laser scanning to build a 3D architectural model for the documentation of Chinese historic buildings. In particular, the method, tested in the case study of the traditional village, Hexinwu, China, can contribute further to the analysis, evaluation and heritage planning of this remarkable architectural structure, thus increasing its historical significance for the future.

Combined Methodologies for the Survey and Documentation of Historical Buildings: The Castle of Scalea (CS, Italy)

In the last few years, new technologies have become indispensable tools for specialists in the field of cultural heritage for the analysis, reconstruction and interpretation of data but also for promotion of artefacts or buildings sometimes inaccessible or in a bad state of conservation. The discipline of geomatics offer many opportunities and solutions for integrated digital surveys and the documentation of heritage (point-based methods, image-based photogrammetry and their combination): These data can be processed in order to derive metric information and share them using databases or GIS (geographic information system) tools. This paper is focused on the description of combined survey methodologies adopted for the geometric and architectural documentation of the site and surviving structures of the Castel of Scalea (Cosenza, Italy). It is a typical context where traditional survey procedures do not fully succeed or require a longer amount of time and great effort if a high level of accuracy is requested: For this reason, aerial close-range digital photogrammetry enhanced by the GNSS (global navigation satellite system), and total station positioning systems have been used at various levels of detail for the production of a detailed 3D model and 2D thematic maps with an excellent level of in the positioning of the structures and in the architectural drawing. Thanks to the collected dataset, it was possible to better identify the building units (CF), to digitize the limits of the masonry stratigraphic units (USM), and to draw up a first constructive diachronic sequence hypothesis on which to base chronology. Moreover, some particular masonry techniques have been sampled and compared at the regional level with the aim to better dating of constructive expedients. It was finally demonstrated how the use of integrated methodologies allows us to obtain a complete and detailed documentation including information regarding not only architectural and geometrical features but also archaeological and historical elements, building materials and decay evidences—all useful as support of the interpretation of data.

Laser Scanning for Architectural Conservation

Laser scanning has, over the past five years, become a technique of interest to those undertaking or requiring architectural measured surveys for archaeology, architectural conservation, and documentation of historic buildings. Variously called 3D or terrestrial laser scanning, the technique provides an interesting opportunity to augment existing recording and measurement methods and offers new ways of displaying and presenting spatial relationships. This paper outlines the technique and examines its application in architectural conservation, and includes a selection of examples that illustrate its use. Finally, it provides a summary intended to help users understand when and how laser scanning could be used.

A Multimedia System for Organizing Architectural Documentation of Historic Buildings

A Multimedia System for Organizing Architectural Documentation of Historic Buildings