A metrological study of the Late Roman Fort of Umm al-Dabadib, Kharga Oasis (Egypt)

This article contains a first metrological analysis of the Late Roman Fort of Umm al-Dabadib, built at the beginning of the 4th century AD at the outskirts of the Kharga Oasis, in the Egyptian Western Desert. This site is currently under study by the Italian Archaeological Mission to Umm al-Dabadib; after completing the 3D survey of the building, the team moved to the study of its dimensional patterns. The resulting 3D model was tested for the use of Roman and Egyptian units of measurement, and revealed that the building was planned and built according to the Egyptian Reformed Cubit. The Fort of Umm al-Dabadib, therefore, currently represents the latest attestation of the use of the Egyptian cubit in architecture

Virtual Representations of Cultural Heritage: Sharable and Implementable Case Study to Be Enjoyed and Maintained by the Community

This paper is related to the field of digital-informed modelling of heritage assets (HBIM). The scientific literature has been addressing this topic for years with many different facets: focusing digitalization on the analysis and modelling of heritage asset geometries, construction, development over time, or the representation of materials and degradations. This research aims not only to optimize the common digital workflows but also to demonstrate the effectiveness of digitalization and virtual reality applications in preserving the memory of places. Furthermore, a strategy for the maintenance of cultural heritage through virtual reality in a participatory process is proposed. The applied method develops appropriate new workflows and tools to enable enjoyment of monuments of the developed case study remotely; moreover, it allows the creation of content from ordinary users that can be incorporated into the digital models over time. Therefore, virtual and augmented reality environments are proving to be effective methods even for non-experts to understand space, allowing for active citizenship involvement

UAV photogrammetric survey and image-Based elaborations for an Industrial Plant.

The proposed application of the HBIM methodology for digitising a productive-industrial structure is based on the integration of data from different sources. An aerial photogrammetric survey (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - UAV) was considered the most appropriate technique for the case. Therefore, a Scan-to-BIM modelling was carried out, keeping in mind a subsequent texturisation of the smart objects employing the photogrammetric images obtained from the UAV survey. Currently, applying the BIM methodology to the built environment is still a challenge; indeed, three-dimensional modelling based on survey point clouds is not automatic. Any BIM software is designed for new constructions, whereas the existing Heritage is characterised by unique and distinctive shapes, where each element has a specific and variable inclination, shape and thickness; therefore, it is necessary to adapt the available tools. Creating intelligent parametric objects capable of representing the unique and singular shapes and geometries of historic architecture is a significant challenge of HBIM modelling. A workflow for the acquisition, processing and management of the survey data and the consequent modelling in a BIM environment of a disused industrial plant previously used as a tobacco factory was formalised. The aim was, therefore, to develop a model that is as close as possible to the real one and, at the same time, still keeps the informative aspects in order to promote the conservation and possible refurbishment of the cultural heritage through the use of photorealistic visualisation tools in real-time. The results confirm the proposed strategy hypotheses and seem to lead to promising future developments

Automated Mapping of the roof damage in historic buildings in seismic areas with UAV photogrammetry

The paper presents a fast methodology to quantify the damage to the roof in historic buildings, suggested soon after a light seismic event occurs, in order to evaluate the necessity of provisional interventions to prevent further damages. The survey is based on UAV photogrammetry, a well-known technique that allows inspection and digital documentation even in hardly accessible or dangerous areas. The research aims to analyze the feasibility of the automated mapping of roof damage using an image classification procedure based on supervised machine learning. The procedure is summed up in an efficient workflow, where UAV photogrammetry is combined with other 3D survey techniques, such as terrestrial photogrammetry and laser scanning, to provide comprehensive documentation and quantitative data on a historical building. The methodology was validated on a large historical building, now suffering from a serious state of neglect, which roof was never surveyed before and with different damage types. The output orthoimage of the tiled roof allowed us to understand the past interventions and the current serious damage state with promising outcomes regarding the speed of the survey method

3d Surveying and modelling of the Archaeological Area of Paestum, Italy

[EN] The intention of this interdisciplinary work is the integration of different 3D recording techniques and instruments to survey the archaeological area of Paestum (Italy) and obtain digital models of the main structures and temples of the site. The ancient city of Paestum, included in the UNESCO World Heritage list since 1998, is one of the most important archaeological sites in Italy, preserving the vestiges and ruins of Greek and Roman times, including three Doric temples. Photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) acquisitions were integrated in order to exploit the intrinsic advantages of the actual 3D surveying techniques and produces digital models, orthoimages, maps and other geometric representations useful for archaeological, architectural and communication needs.[ES] El objetivo del presente trabajo interdisciplinario es la integración de diferentes técnicas de levantamiento 3D e instrumentos para el estudio de la zona arqueológica de Paestum (Italia), con el fin de obtener modelos tridimensionales digitales de las principales estructuras y templos del yacimiento arqueológico.La antigua ciudad de Paestum, Patrimonio Mundial desde 1998, es uno de los yacimientos históricos más importantes de Italia, ya que conserva vestigios de las épocas griega y romana, entre ellos tres templos dóricos. La toma de datos se ha realizado a través de técnicas de fotogrametría y láser escáner terrestre (TLS), con el objetivo de aprovechar plenamente las ventajas intrínsecas de las técnicas de levantamiento en 3D basadas en objetos reales.Fiorillo, F.; Jiménez Fernández-Palacios, B.; Remondino, F.; Barba, S. (2015). 3d Surveying and modelling of the Archaeological Area of Paestum, Italy. Virtual Archaeology Review. 4(8):55-60. https://doi.org/10.4995/var.2013.4306OJS556048ABATE, D., MIGLIORI, S., PIERATTINI, S., JIMENEZ, B., RIZZI, A., REMONDINO, F. (2012): Remote rendering and visualization of large textured 3D models. Proc. VSMM Conference, Milan, Italy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/vsmm.2012.6365951BARBA, S., FIORILLO, F. (2010): "Restitucion de datos laser escaner para el analisis del deterioro de bovedas de ladrillo", Proceedings of del X Congreso Internacional Expresión Gráfica aplicada a la Edificación, Alicante, Spain, Vol. II, pp. 305-313.PIERROT-DESEILLIGNY, M., DE LUCA, L., REMONDINO, F. (2011): "Automated image-based procedures for accurate artifacts 3D modeling and orthoimage generation". Proc. 23th Int. CIPA Symposium, Prague, Czech Republic. http://dx.doi.org/10.14311/gi.6.36REMONDINO, F. (2011): "Heritage Recording and 3D Modeling with Photogrammetry and 3D Scanning", in Remote Sensing, Vol. 3(6), pp. 1104-1138. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs3061104REMONDINO, F., RIZZI, A., JIMENEZ, B., AGUGIARO, G., BARATTI, G., DE AMICIS, R. (2011): "The Etruscan in 3D: from space to underground", Proc. 23th Int. CIPA Symposium, Prague (Czech Republic). http://dx.doi.org/10.14311/gi.6.35SAN JOSE ALONSO, J.I., MARTINEZ RUBIO, J., FERNANDEZ MARTIN, J.J., GARCIA FERNANDEZ, J. (2011): "Comparing time-of-flight and phase-shift. The survey of the royal pantheon in the basilica of San Isidoro (Leon)", Int. Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol. 38 (5/W16), Trento (Italy)

VR for Cultural Heritage. A VR-WEB-BIM for the future maintenance of Milan’s Cathedral.

The work presented here is the final step of a multidisciplinary research project conducted on the Milan Cathedral for eight years (2008–2015). Three main topics, consequentially related, will be here addressed: (i) the survey of the structure, meant to update the old drawings; (ii) the construction of an accurate and detailed 3D model to be used to produce measurements at a 1:20–1:50 representation scale; (iii) the development of a Building Information System (BIM) to collect all the data relating to the restoration projects, as well as all information relating to past, current and future maintenance activities of the cathedral. The result of this research project is a complex and accurate digital 3D model of the main spire of the cathedral and of other parts of the building. This model can be visualized, navigated and used by the Veneranda Fabbrica technicians as an info-data catalogue, thanks to a common web browser connected with the remote BIM System Server and the modelling software where ad hoc I/O plugins are implemented. The last step of this long project was to take advantage of the nascent potential of immersive visualization techniques and to transpose the BIM system in a VR environment, thus obtaining two main results. The first was a high-appeal visualization system that allows a virtual visit of the Main Spire of the cathedral, the building’s highest part that has been closed to visitors since the beginning of the XX century. The second was the possibility to use this technology to virtually explore the cathedral from a technical point of view: by using an immersive visualization technology, operators can improve their understanding of the structure and obtain real-time information about the state of conservation, including current and past maintenance activities, in a sort of “augmented reality system in a virtual environment”

Approccio interdisciplinare nella didattica: applicazioni di rilievo finalizzati alle attività di progettazione

I temi, le lezioni e i progetti degli studenti contenuti in questo libro sono il risultato del Laboratorio di Progettazione Architettonica 1 presso la Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni del Politecnico di Milano, A.A. 2017-2018, tenuto da Vittorio Prina (Composizione Architettonica e Urbana) con: Andrea Vercellotti (Progettazione Architettonica) Fausta Fiorillo (Tecniche della Rappresentazione), Tutor: Riccardo Genta, Alessandro Mandelli

Two methodologies for the virtual reconstruction of the architectural remains of a Late Roman archaeological site based on the 3D point cloud

This paper presents and discusses two approaches to the virtual reconstructions of the architectural remains of the Late Roman site of Umm-al Dabadib, at the outskirts of the Kharga Oasis (Egypt's Western Desert). The dense settlement is clustered around a central building resembling a fortlet. The primary construction material was mudbrick, completed by a few stone elements. Elliptical pitched-brick barrel vaults covered the small rooms that compose the various buildings. The unit of measurement used in the planning and building was the ancient Egyptian (reformed) cubit. The first method adopted to study these remains consists of direct 3D modelling on the photogrammetric point cloud using the parametric approach of the BIM software Autodesk Revit. This process allowed the complete reconstruction of all levels of the well-preserved fort in the settlement center. The second method tested, on the domestic unit in the northwest corner of the settlement, involved 3D modelling of hypothetical original form starting from 2D technical drawings elaborated from the photogrammetric point cloud in its current state and its hypothetical original form. These drawings were used as a reference to model the domestic unit in Rhinoceros software, which is more suitable to model complex shapes, such as typical living room of the local domestic units, covered by two intersecting barrel vaults of different sizes. The complex morphology of the biaxial vaulted system would have been difficult to model with a more rigid software such as Revit. Instead, Rhinoceros allowed recreating the biaxial vault using tools to extrude profiles, subtract and add simpler shapes. The photogrammetric model was used to adapt the reconstruction to accurate measurements

Interpretation of archaeological data based on direct and remote retrieval of information

This paper focuses on the archaeological and architectural analysis of the Late Roman settlement of Umm al-Dabadib (Kharga Oasis, Egypt). The available information on the archaeological remains of this site includes on-site hand-made sketches, photographs, 3D surveys. The final aim of this specific research is the interpretation and reconstruction of the historical context of this site by combining sources of different nature. This paper presents the methodology employed to elaborate the 3D data in order to achieve a digital restitution of the archaeological map of the entire settlement, which covers an area of about one hectare. The starting point was the elaboration of the close-range photogrammetric survey of the Fortified Settlement that allowed the creation of a 3D point cloud of the whole area, based on the elaboration of over 5,000 photographs, from which a complete and detailed metric model was derived. This 3D model played a key role to extract metric information and to reconstruct the geometrical structure of the settlement, but this result could only be achieved thanks to the successful combination of the digital data with the hand-made sketches and the pictures taken in situ in the recent past. This paper represents an outcome of the project LIFE (Living In a Fringe Environment), funded by the ERC CoGrant 681673