Cultural Heritage (CH) is recognised as being of historical, social, and anthropological value and is considered as an enabler of sustainable development. As a result, it is included in the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 11 and 8. SDG 11.4 emphasises the protection and safeguarding of heritage, and SDG 8.9 aims to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products. This paper briefly reviews the geoinformatics technologies of photogrammetry, remote sensing, and spatial information science and their application to CH. Detailed aspects of CH-related SDGs, comprising protection and safeguarding, as well as the promotion of sustainable tourism are outlined. Contributions of geoinformatics technologies to each of these aspects are then identified and analysed. Case studies in both developing and developed countries, supported by funding directed at the UN SDGs, are presented to illustrate the challenges and opportunities of geoinformatics to enhance CH protection and to promote sustainable tourism. The potential and impact of geoinformatics for the measurement of official SDG indicators, as well as UNESCO’s Culture for Development Indicators, are discussed. Based on analysis of the review and the presented case studies, it is concluded that the contribution of geoinformatics to the achievement of CH SDGs is necessary, significant and evident. Moreover, following the UNESCO initiative to introduce CH into the sustainable development agenda and related ICOMOS action plan, the concept of Sustainable Cultural Heritage is defined, reflecting the significance of CH to the United Nations’ ambition to “transform our world”.

https://re.public.polimi.it/bitstream/11311/1051304/1/1-s2.0-S0924271618300017-main.pdf

Geoinformatics for the conservation and promotion of cultural heritage in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Review of built heritage modelling: Integration of HBIM and other information techniques

Preventive strategies for the conservation of heritage sites have gradually been preferred to curative approaches because of their ability to maintain their significance. Furthermore, most experts now agree that conservation management of heritage places based on a common understanding of their cultural values is essential to address all the particularities of their contexts. Recently, significant research has demonstrated the potential of Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) for the collaborative data management in conjunction with conservation projects. The recent development of HBIM web platforms illustrates the value of strengthening the link between the digital model and the physical realm of heritage assets. This paper advocates the application of Digital Twin’s (DT) principles, using HBIM models as a digital replica, to support the preventive conservation of heritage places. Based on an extensive literature review, a comprehensive framework that integrates the DT into the management plan process for the preventive conservation of built heritage is proposed. Several recommendations for its implementation are finally discussed, such as the identification of tangible features of significance, the threats associated with their integrity and the corresponding mitigation strategies, with particular emphasis on the value assessment process. The result is a data model for structuring information on preventive conservation strategies. This framework provides the basis for future implementation and demonstrates the need for a DT approach in this context.

https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/9/4/228/pdf

Digital Twin: Research Framework to Support Preventive Conservation Policies

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a globally adapted methodology by government organisations and builders who conceive the integration of the organisation, planning, development and the digital construction model into a single project. In the case of a heritage building, the Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) approach is able to cover the comprehensive restoration of the building. In contrast to BIM applied to new buildings, HBIM can address different models which represent either periods of historical interpretation, restoration phases or records of heritage assets over time. Great efforts are currently being made to automatically reconstitute the geometry of cultural heritage elements from data acquisition techniques such as Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) or Structure From Motion (SfM) into BIM (Scan-to-BIM). Hence, this work advances on the parametric modelling from remote sensing point cloud data, which is carried out under the Rhino+Grasshopper-ArchiCAD combination. This workflow enables the automatic conversion of TLS and SFM point cloud data into textured 3D meshes and thus BIM objects to be included in the HBIM project. The accuracy assessment of this workflow yields a standard deviation value of 68.28 pixels, which is lower than other author’s precision but suffices for the automatic HBIM of the case study in this research.

From point cloud data to building information modelling: an automatic parametric workflow for heritage

Built heritage has been documented by reality-based modeling for geometric description and by ontology for knowledge management. The current challenge still involves the extraction of geometric primitives and the establishment of their connection to heterogeneous knowledge. As a recently developed 3D information modeling environment, building information modeling (BIM) entails both graphical and non-graphical aspects of the entire building, which has been increasingly applied to heritage documentation and generates a new issue of heritage/historic BIM (HBIM). However, HBIM needs to additionally deal with the heterogeneity of geometric shape and semantic knowledge of the heritage object. This paper developed a new mesh-to-HBIM modeling workflow and an integrated BIM management system to connect HBIM elements and historical knowledge. Using the St-Pierre-le-Jeune Church, Strasbourg, France as a case study, this project employs Autodesk Revit as a BIM environment and Dynamo, a built-in visual programming tool of Revit, to extend the new HBIM functions. The mesh-to-HBIM process segments the surface mesh, thickens the triangle mesh to 3D volume, and transfers the primitives to BIM elements. The obtained HBIM is then converted to the ontology model to enrich the heterogeneous knowledge. Finally, HBIM geometric elements and ontology semantic knowledge is joined in a unified BIM environment. By extending the capability of the BIM platform, the HBIM modeling process can be conducted in a time-saving way, and the obtained HBIM is a semantic model with object-oriented knowledge.

https://www.mdpi.com/2220-9964/8/7/301/pdf

HBIM Modeling from the Surface Mesh and Its Extended Capability of Knowledge Representation

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a new process that is spreading in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction field. It allows the creation of virtual building models, which can be linked to numerical data, texts, images, and other types of information. Building components, such as walls, floors, etc. are modelled as “smart objects”, i.e. they are defined by numerical parameters, such as dimensions, and are embedded with other kinds of information, such as building materials and properties. Stored data are accessible and modifiable by all different professionals involved in the same project. The BIM process has been developed for new buildings, and it allows to plan and manage the whole building life-cycle. BIM for built heritage has started to be researched recently, and its use is still not widespread. Indeed, built heritage is characterised by complex morphology and non-homogeneous features, which clash with BIM’s standardised procedures. Moreover, to date, BIM does not allow fully automated procedures to model heritage buildings. This review focuses on the survey and digitisation phases, which can be seen as the initial phases of application of BIM in conservation projects. It also briefly covers the modelling stage. Here we present the main methodologies developed for BIM for built heritage. Issues about digitisation are also highlighted, principally in connection with the unavailability of automated processes. During the last 10 years, research has led to promising results; for example, videogame interfaces have been used to simulate virtual 3D tours that display in a single interface the 3D model and the database containing metadata, and new software plug-ins have been developed, to easily create “smart objects”. Nevertheless, further research is needed to establish how BIM can support the practice of building conservation. There is a gap in BIM’s information holding capacities, namely the storage of cultural and historical documentation, as well as monitored and simulated data relevant for preventive conservation. Future work should focus on the development of new tools that will be able to store and share all the relevant metadata.

/pdf/bim-for-heritage-science-a-review-1qapcu68iz.pdf

BIM for heritage science: a review

. This paper analyses the use of BIM in heritage buildings, assessing the state-of-the-art and finding paths for further development. Specifically, this work is part of a broader project, which final aim is to support stakeholders through BIM. Given that humidity is one of the major causes of weathering, being able to detect, depict and forecast it, is a key task. A BIM model of a heritage building – enhanced with the integration of a weathering forecasting model – will be able to give detailed information on possible degradation patterns, and when they will happen. This information can be effectively used to plan both ordinary and extraordinary maintenance. The Jewel Tower in London, our case study, is digitised using combined laser scanning and photogrammetry, and a virtual model is produced. The point cloud derived from combined laser scanning & photogrammetry is traced out in with Autodesk Revit, where the main volumetry (gross walls and floors) is created with parametric objects. Surface characterisation of the facade is given through renderings. Specifically, new rendering materials have been created for this purpose, based on rectified photos of the Tower. The model is then integrated with moisture data, organised in spreadsheets and linked to it via parametric objects representing the points where measurements had been previously taken. The spatial distribution of moisture is then depicted using Dynamo. This simple exercise demonstrates the potential Dynamo has for condition reporting, and future work will concentrate on the creation of a complex forecasting model to be linked through it.

/pdf/building-information-models-for-monitoring-and-simulation-2betgd7f3f.pdf

Building Information Models for Monitoring and Simulation Data in Heritage Buildings

New approach for monitoring historic and heritage buildings: Using terrestrial laser scanning and generalised Procrustes analysis

‘Cultural heritage is the lasting remains of our cultural tradition … a representation of our history and our identity; our affiliation to the past, to our present, and the future for the next gene...

3D Recording, Documentation and Management of Cultural Heritage

. Creating accurate models of the Earth’s surface is an essential step when analysing geomorphological changes through time. Alongside photogrammetry, airborne lidar is an established method for measuring and modelling the Earth’s surface. However, improvements in size, weight and power requirements mean that lidar is now increasingly capable of being operated from Unpiloted Aircraft Systems (UASs). While academic literature is currently weighted towards issues associated with airborne laser scanning, UASs operate under different parameters to piloted aeroplanes and helicopters. In order to achieve desired results from UAS lidar, mission planning parameters and ground control requirements therefore need to be tailored to data collection from UAS platforms. This paper presents the preliminary results of how a variety control target designs responded to a UAS lidar survey flown along different trajectories at different heights above ground level. This research draws upon previous airborne laser scanning work and aims to provide guidance on considerations for UAS lidar specific ground control targets.

/pdf/airborne-to-uas-lidar-an-analysis-of-uas-lidar-ground-3hgdr8jka1.pdf

Paul Bryan

Papers

BIM for heritage science: a review

Building Information Models for Monitoring and Simulation Data in Heritage Buildings

New approach for monitoring historic and heritage buildings: Using terrestrial laser scanning and generalised Procrustes analysis

3D Recording, Documentation and Management of Cultural Heritage

Airborne to uas lidar: an analysis of uas lidar ground control targets