Palazzo Dei Tribunali in Via Giulia

The study presents the very first results of research carried out on the Palazzo dei Tribunali in via Giulia, designed by Bramante but realised only in part. The only fragments that have survived are a few portions of a massive ashlar masonry structure, which characterized the base of the palace. The objective of the research was to carry out an analysis of the site but one that would combine the documentary biblio-iconographic aspect of the study – which would take full account of existing and published articles – with an enquiry based on a direct approach to the site within the metric and perspective-visual frame of reference. This type of analysis can be carried out through direct observation “in situ” and through an integrated digital survey campaign on various levels. This study can be considered an important contribution to the knowledge of the Palazzo and to the documentation of Cultural Heritage.

Definition of a Protocol for the Knowledge, the Analysis and the Communication of the Architectural Heritage

The communication of architecture is a complex and multidisciplinary process, indispensable for enhancing a monument properly and to allow understanding and knowledge to a large number of users. The European Architectural Heritage, and the Italian one in particular, is enormous; the processes of knowledge, cataloguing and analysis are far from being complete. This fact has prompted the European Union to invest, especially in recent years, in research projects designed to increase the communication strategies and put a value on the present assets in its territory. For example, the programs of the European Commission for Research and Innovation, found in “Horizon 2020”, define the communication based on the new media as the new frontier for the enhancement of architectural heritage (Reflective Cities). The main goal is to develop a better awareness of the Architectural Heritage through increased interaction between the citizen, the monument and the scientific community.

Representing Architectural Heritage

Architectonical artefacts are in many ways one of the most extraordinary legacies that past civilizations have left to us from a cultural, technological and functional standpoint, because of the impact that the development of the material culture and building techniques had for ancient communities. The definition of a protocol designed to achieve an understanding of the object of Cultural Heritage consents the realization of various models. These models are the bases for all the critical, selective, specialist next analyses and elaboration. This work discusses the possibilities offered by the integration of heterogeneous method, traditional and innovative, for massive surveying and digital representation technologies.

A Second Look for a New Cycle of Life

It is not news that the material life of buildings transcends the function that gave rise to them. This circumstance is the leitmotiv of the rehabilitation and recycling works as part of architectural design practice. In the case of the former headquarters of the Buenos Aires Main Post Office, the development of new means of communication made the traditional postal traffic volume decrease, resulting in an oversized building according to present circumstances. In this context, the need was inevitable – and cultural and technical possibility – to give another meaning to the building, starting a new cycle of social use from a program compatible with its urban and architectural features. The present work refers to the graphic documents of the old substance of the building, focusing on the existing element on which the intervention was planned, with the objective of studying the components on which the conservation, restoration and intervention would develop.

Residential Architecture of Russian Imperial Age (1703-1843) in Drawings of Italian Architects

The object of research is the residential architecture of the heyday of the Russian Empire that has undergone many changes under the influence of time and urban transformation. However, the drawings of Italian architects as primary sources, can tell a lot about architectural and landscape heritage of the Russian cities of XVIII-XIX centuries. That was the period of origination and development of architectural drawing and Building Code in Russia. Domenico Trezzini, Francesco Rastrelli, Giacomo Quarenghi, Luigi Rusca, Domenico Gilardi, Giuseppe Bova, and others created their precious works of art. Thanks to the remaining drawings it is possible to write not only the history of architecture, but also restore the monuments of the Russian Empire.

San Pietro di Deca in Torrenova

In this chapter San Pietro di Deca represented an opportunity for scientific knowledge process experimentation applied to a small building with a great past, an unknown monument standing in north west of Sicily that recently has been studied by a team of Austrian archeologists. The first scientific survey carried out by the authors by means of the latest technology as well as all the stages of the research are presented: the historical research, the laser scanner survey, the critical analysis leading to the interpretation of the architecture's masonry structures, and an accurate analytical representation of the transformation processes experienced by the structure from its origin until today. The evaluation of the survey and its comparison with similar Byzantine Sicilian buildings were major steps confirming the hypotheses inferred on the morphological evolution of the structure.

Use of Laser Scanner for Digital Surveying of the Sarnicli Inn and the Byzantine Cistern Underneath

Measurement methods including traditional measurement methods, topographic and photogrammetric measurement methods, measurements via laser scanning devices and aerial photogrammetric measurement methods obtained using model airplane or model helicopters are used in documentation of the cultural heritage and protected areas in our country. Although data obtained by Aerial Lidar technology accepted as advanced technology over the past decade, enables faster data comparing to others as data obtained by terrestrial laser scanners provide millimetre level accuracy close-range scanning methods are preferred in architectural facades scanning during the process of surveying of a single building. Inclusion process of a Byzantine cistern in Istanbul, Turkey, which was undiscovered for centuries, in our cultural heritage as well as surveying stages of the cistern along with the inn structure built over, using 3D scanning technology shall be described within this study.

A Reality Integrated BIM for Architectural Heritage Conservation

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has attracted wide interest in the field of documentation and conservation of Architectural Heritage (AH). Existing approaches focus on converting laser scanned point clouds to BIM objects, but laser scanning is usually limited to planar elements which are not the typical state of AH where free-form and double-curvature surfaces are common. We propose a method that combines low-cost automatic photogrammetric data acquisition techniques with parametric BIM objects founded on Architectural Treatises and a syntax allowing the transition from the archetype to the type. Point clouds with metric accuracy comparable to that from laser scanning allows accurate as-built model semantically integrated with the ideal model from parametric library. The deviation between as-built model and ideal model is evaluated to determine if feature extraction from point clouds is essential to improve the accuracy of as-built BIM.

“Discretizzazione” and Data Analysis at the Time of “Total Survey”

The chapter contains considerations and methods of analysis of data acquired using modern surveying technologies, applied to cultural heritage. Three case studies are carried out. They are different in type of monuments, aim of survey and survey techniques used. The large amount of data acquired through innovative techniques of photographic survey and laser scanning requires an adequate process of “discretizzazione”. It will change an uncritical “total survey” into a selective and effective analysis and communication process. An excess of information could distract from the actual purpose of survey, and it could provide the illusion of a comprehensive understanding of the monument. Actually, the real knowledge does not come from the amount of data acquired but from the ability to analyze them, to relate and communicate to potential users.

Between Faith and Reason

About the church of Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza, masterpiece of Borromini, it has been said: it was stressed above all its oddness, eccentricity, which critics have always led back to the essence of the Baroque, without examining the possible links that bind their characteristic elements of this building. So, proceeding abduction and venturing to approach sources also apparently alien to each other, it is possible to formulate a thesis: Sant'Ivo is a poem in stone dedicated to Wisdom. Borromini may have scope to create a consideration of Dante's Divine Comedy, and specifically the third poem dedicated to Paradise and to meet God; and at the same time to draw up a formal summary of the binomial reason / faith, so long discussed the dawn of Christianity. The survey chase the poetic and literary references, and found correspondence with indisputable texts of Dionysius the Areopagite, Dante and Boethius. A thesis deeply innovative than the critical pre-existing, that opens new research and an integral vision of this highly consistent “bizarre” building.