Analysis of historical cartography and data presentation for an educational purpose: The case of the historical centre of Vimercate

Founded by Romans, Vimercate had an important geographical position in Lombardy. Layers of history are visible throughout the town, yet there is the inconsistency of historical data and neglect of the historical centre in the past decades. Only recently researchers and professors from Politecnico di Milano pointed out the importance of studying layers of history in the built environment. In the past years, Vimercate was used as an example for students from masters and bachelor courses in preservation studios. This is where the idea for the master’s thesis was developed which focuses on the collection, digitalisation and investigation of primary historical cartography and then other historical documents. Historical cartography can offer extensive knowledge about the past of this town and it is one of the main sources of information. For the creation of the project was selected free and open-source software QGIS where the selected historical maps were vectorised, compared and investigated. A new understanding of the development of the city was studied and some discoveries appeared. Effective application of the thesis project started in the courses of Architectural preservation studio at Politecnico di Milano. This was followed by the interest of citizens in the project who were actively participated in the creation of the same. Other stakeholders showed interest in involving in future developments. The thesis found its application in didactic activities of students and pupils.

(Hydroxy)apatite on cement: insights into a new surface treatment

(Hydroxy)apatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2], has emerging potential as a cement coating material, with applications in environmental remediation, nuclear waste storage and architectural preservation. In these low temperature environments and when precipitating from...

The Hidden Heritage of Ankara Citadel: an Ambigous Future between Conservation and Transformation

Although Ankara gained international attention mainly after its declaration as Capital of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the city hosts many buildings and monuments from different historical eras. The remains of Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman Empires discovered in the center of the city, clearly bear witness to the rich and diverse heritage of the capital. However, this heritage appears as less documented, studied and even not properly conserved. The citadel of Ankara, which dominates the narrow streets of the old city has withstood its long history very well and today houses a small neighborhood made up of valuable Ottoman wooden buildings. The link to the Roman and Medieval periods is still tangible. The Roman theatre remains at the foot of the hill are still observable, while the stone columns and beams used in the construction of the walls in a later era. The aim of this paper is to document and present the different historical eras of the castle, focusing on the remains of the medieval era. Analyzing the key features of the castle and the previous intervention on it will support the identification of the potentials of the site. Finally, recommendations for future work of architectural preservation will be elaborated on the basis of national and international conservation guidelines.

La lacuna di Notre-Dame come paradigma della complessità Imparare dai restauri ottocenteschi per l'intervento sul contemporaneo

The architectural preservation project regarding Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris in the mid-19th century by Lassus and Viollet-le-Duc constitutes a case-study of great interest not only for the analysis of the constructional choices that led to the final result but, above all, for the design managing and attitude that the two architects have maintained throughout the course of the intervention on the building. Analysing these restorations, and in particular the design methodology on the building, it could be of high interest due to the future restorations that the building will undergo, following the fire of April 2019. The main purpose of this article is therefore to make a careful critique of the design approach of restorations that are only apparently stylistic, in order to understand how the transformation of an asset is an architectural intervention that requires clear methodological rules in order to achieve the objectives related not only to the transformation or completion of the asset but also to its enhancement.

Conclusion

The final chapter concludes by deliberately returning to present day, presentist concerns—ones explicitly engaged through the archaeology of the contemporary. Here, Jackson Park’s current reappearance on the world stage as the future home of the Obama Presidential Center is reckoned with, along with the Charnley House and related contemporary archaeological and architectural preservation efforts. By looking at these “strangely familiar” experiences of time, domesticity, consumption, and disposal of the recent past through the frame of contemporary archaeology, the chapter argues that these historical trends that impact the present are, in fact, of the present itself.

Preserving and Promoting Colonial Architecture

Da Nang’s urban landscape reveals more than a half century of colonization and French presence on its territory. The buildings carry the imprint of the colonial experience, as they were once considered a symbol of domination, linking Da Nang to the global history of colonization. After years of independence and reconstruction, the public attitude towards French colonial heritage has changed. Despite its roots and historical origins, today, French colonial architecture is engrained into the collective understanding of Da Nang’s urban landscape and has shaped the local visual identity of the urban space. More importantly perhaps, this architectural style contributes to the city’s connection with cultural tourism, an important tool for economic development. As Da Nang is on a path of constant growth, this paper engages with issues around architectural preservation of built colonial heritage, in terms of both the values of preservation, and the challenges it presents for contemporary urban planning.

HBIM LEVEL OF DETAIL-GEOMETRY-ACCURACY AND SURVEY ANALYSIS FOR ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The development of advanced survey techniques in the last years is offering a wide set of tools for implementing the building analysis. In the preservation field, the use of 3D interactive models is a prerogative of few and rare excellent cases and the information contained in high-resolution virtual representation are only partially developed. In the past centuries, the representation was centred on the theoretical roles of the descriptive geometry devoted to the representation of the architectural elements complexity in the space to manage the construction site process. It has been progressively lost the past skill to managing 3D objects in the space. Being HBIM based on 3D solids representation, the theme of the 3D model comes back to the foreground. The complexity of the architectural heritage and its components is evidencing a gap of best practices, protocols and specification in the HBIM-modeling. Do-It-Yourself modeling process has been characterised by the first phase of HBIM generation in the last years. Modeling phase within HBIM is left to the single responsibility, with lack of specification on the accuracy and level of geometry.</p><p>This paper presents a first tentative to summarize the relationship among the surveying accuracy, the Level of Geometry and the Level of Accuracy (LOA) of each BIM object, starting from a series of experiences, in which advanced survey techniques were applied to condition assessment required by architectural preservation HBIM approach. The objectives of the surveying and HBIM can change for different aspects: but in the preservation context the specificity of each single objects and their complexity need to be taken into account. As in the surveying, the choice of a scale implies a range of accuracy and tolerance in the data acquisition and processing, in HBIM modelling the choice of the Grade of Accuracy drives within the Level of Geometry the scale model that is expected to be performed and required by the different actors involved by the different phases (i.e. restoration, Energy Efficiency, Finite Element Analysis, CoSiM). On the base of different experiences occurred in the last years, the specifications conventionally adopted for the surveying have been here proposed and extended to the HBIM domain, particularly in the modelling of objects, in order to classify different accuracies. A transparent choice of accuracy allows to define the LOG and to support the adoption of the proper Grade of Generation among the different options (GOG1-10) in function of the point clouds geometry and of the scales chosen by the different actors. The architectural scale together with the urban scale (Heritage Urban Level) is considered as well to keep advantage of a multi-resolution model, diversified in function of the objectives, thus of Level of accuracy (and Level of Information) and Level of Geometry.</p>