Giorgio Verdiani

E.Stone, an archive for the sardinia monumental witnesses

The “E.Stone” project is based on the survey, documentation investigation and physical, geochemical and petrographic characterisation of the great zoomorphic and phytomorphic stones of Sardinia. The name chosen to indicate this project means the full value of these stones, standing before the beginning of human history. The main task of this project is to survey and to document, with an accurate laserscan survey, supported by topographical survey and integrated by GPS tracing and photographic and photogrammetric survey and supported by specific investigations on the rock characteristics. The further development of the collected data will be aimed to the definition of a digital “state of the knowledge” about the stone. This research will produce two main benefits: the creation of a clear and stable archive of these monuments and on the second hand will create the possibility to reply at any distance, a copy in any material of the original item.The focal point of this conference was digital heritage, which all of us involved in the documentation of cultural heritage continually strive to implement. The excellent selection of papers published in the proceedings reflects in the best possible way the benefits of exploiting modern technological advances for the restoration, preservation and e-documentation of any kind of cultural heritage. The topics covered included experiences in the use of innovative recording technologies and methods, and how to take best advantage of the results obtained to build up new instruments and improved methodologies for documenting in multimedia formats, archiving in digital libraries and managing a cultural heritage.

Contribution of petrophysical analysis and 3D digital survey in the archaeometric investigations of the Emperor Hadrian’s Baths (Tivoli, Italy)

This work studies the Heliocaminus Baths. From an architectural point of view, this is a special and unique building in the complex of the Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. This research is carried out with a multidisciplinary approach combining petrophysical, petrographic and mineralogical characterization with the techniques of digital survey. The purpose of the research is to contribute to the understanding of Roman construction through the study of materials and from architectural aspects. Using mineral-petrographic and physical analysis, a set of samples (mortars and stones) was investigated for composition and physical properties (density, porosity, water absorption, mechanical strength, etc.). In the case of mortars, these parameters, together with the particle size distribution and the binder/aggregate ratio determined in two ways using image analysis (on thin sections and on specimens), have shown a relationship between the physical and compositional characteristics and the function of mortars within the structure of the Heliocaminus Baths. However, in some cases, different characteristics were detected between the mortars belonging to the same masonry and with same function in the building, showing a slight inhomogeneity in the production of mortars. Furthermore, some relationships between compositional, physical aspects (i.e. porosity, sorting and size of aggregate) and mechanical strength have been found. All the gathered data, linked to the point cloud 3D model, allowed an accurate location of the traces from the construction story of this structure.

Digital Survey and Material Analysis Strategies for Documenting, Monitoring and Study the Romanesque Churches in Sardinia, Italy

The position of the Sardinia Island made it the crossing point of many cultural and political events, but at the same time its isolation has favored the manifestation unique Cultural Heritage phenomena. The network of the Romanesque churches disseminated all around this island clearly shows how an architectural language can be declined. On the bases of different architectural characteristics and petrophysical features of lithologies used, 18 significant churches have been chosen from the different medieval geographical-political areas of the Sardinia named “Giudicati”. Each of these were surveyed with the following methods: photography, 3D Laser Scanner for the whole interior and exterior parts, photogrammetry of a selected set of stone surface samples, direct sampling of representative rocks for geochemical and petrophysical analysis. All data were then treated and analyzed to deepen the knowledge about the most meaningful aspects of different construction techniques and use of materials, provenance of raw geomaterials, stone alterations and structure decay As the result, a base was created to read common behaviors, design choices, recursive constructive solutions, and the “models” guiding the ancient intentions. This contribution will present the progress state of this research and its results.

Bringing Impossible Places to the Public:Three Ideas for Rupestrian Churches in Goreme,Kapadokya Utilizing a Digital Survey,3D Printing, and Augmented Reality

Abstract The churches of St. Eustache, the Meryemana and St. Daniel are located in the Göreme area in Kapadokya, Turkey. Each of the three structures is composed of a main church with a refuge system. Nowadays these churches have limited access: they cannot be visited by a common tourist. Thus, they are a meaningful sample of rupestrian architecture, containing important mural paintings and suggestive spaces. Using digital survey techniques, 3D modelling and 3D printing to produce physical copies from the originals, this research project tries to find articulate and well working solutions to bring these architectural structures to the public.

The Elephant Stone - Tracing a New Path for the Digital Approach to Unsurveyable Monuments

Abstract— The stone of the elephant is a well known monument in the northern part of Sardinia, one of the main island in the Mediterranean sea. It is a large volcanic stone with a particular shape which recall the shape of an elephant. The natural forces worked on it giving to the stone a strange elephant shape; the ancient humans worked on it carving sepulchers for their deaths; in the contemporary age, after centuries when the monument was lost and forgotten, the works for a new road brought to light the stone. This monument it’s a mix of natural and architectonic events and it’s a very interesting case study for any real surveyor because it has a shape almost impossible to survey with traditional measuring solutions. At the same time its strange and original shape gives no guaranties about the health status of this monument: if a small part should get lost it will not be easy to verify the real damage. Moreover the stone is now placed along a road and it’s freely accessible night and day without any kind of surveillance; so, what will happen in case of a car crash or in case of some tourist with a hammer and bad intentions? At the same time it is not a simple strange shaped stone, it is one of the symbol of an ancient age in a very ancient land. In this way the monument offer natural and artistic characteristic, in a special mix that makes this object a real challenge for any surveyor or 3D drawer with serious intention to reproduce correctly this monument. In the 2006 a team from the Survey Laboratory of the “Dipartimento di Progettazione dell’Architettura” has decided to face this challenge and realized the first digital survey of the stone. After two years it is time to bring here, for the first time, the result of all the processing applied to the gathered data, from the first survey data treatment to the multi resolutions modeling and then straight forward to the 3D model printing. It is not only a matter of a single survey operation, it is the developing of a whole new approach to this kind of landscape items, with a powerful workflow capable to satisfy the very different needs from the Cultural Heritage management to the dissemination of information, to the didactic approach and the quality multimedia presentations.

The Mausoleum of Giuseppe Tonietti on the Elba Island. From a masterpiece of Adolofo Coppedè to a compromising state of decay

This study shows the results of the digital and photographic surveys carried out on an architectural work of great importance: the Mausoleum of the Tonietti family, designed by Adolfo Coppedè, built on the island of Elba in Tuscany at the beginning of the 20th century. The current alarming conditions of the building invite us to reflect on the unpleasant but common fate of many buildings of the Liberty and Eclectic periods in Italy. With the evolution of rationalism of the architectural form and thus the gradual elimination of decorative elements from architectural objects, architectural research, and with it the observation and conservation of cultural heritage, has increasingly focused on the new rational style, omitting many examples of floral style equally deserving of attention. The alarming state of preservation of the Tonietti Mausoleum, combined with the total absence of conservation projects by local authorities, set the conditions for the dissolution of the work and the consequent loss of the cultural and territorial connotation that it created. Processing of the survey data and the collection of documentation are intended to create the basis for the comparison of the work’s original state and its current form, determining the current conditions of decay. One may hope that this work can lead to a practical impulse to conservation of this cultural property designed by the youngest of the Coppedè brothers, while giving it due recognition for its inherent qualities and position in the history of architecture.

DESTROYED PLACES AND ANCIENT WARS, DIGITAL TOOLS FOR THE MONTECASTRESE FORTRESS IN CAMAIORE, LUCCA

In the XXth century, a series of archaeological excavations brought to light the settlement named “Montecastrese,” a system of Medieval fortifications located on the top of a hill near the town of Camaiore, on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. The site had been abandoned for centuries before the archaeologists brought to light traces of the fortress and of the village, exploring the monumental ruins of the northern tower, still in place but consisting of ruins in two main areas. In the first half of the XIIIth century, the castle of Montecastrese was conquered and destroyed by the army of Lucca. At the time of its major development, the small fortress was organized around two main towers, with walls and houses. A quite extensive village was located on the southern side of the hill. In 2015, the municipality of Camaiore commissioned the Dipartimento di Architettura in Florence to make a complete digital survey of the area. The general survey plan was made using an aerial photogrammetric survey, a 3D laser scanner survey and terrestrial photogrammetry. The 3D modeling of all the lost parts, from the houses, to the defense walls, to the system of towers, was one of the focal points in this work, which used the modeling process from the survey and supported the reconstruction hypothesis with previous archaeological data. At the same time we matched the missing parts with similar architecture and took into account the defensive and offensive features of the medieval fortress. For the northern tower, a specific operation based on the use of 3D printed models was employed in order to settle the debate about the sequence of the tower’s collapse. This was quite important to the digital reconstruction of the building, and the direct manipulation of a scaled model turned out to be a fundamental step for the completion of this part of the research.

Drones for architectural surveying. Their use in documenting Towers of the Valencian Coast

We continually hear about the virtues of the use of drones, but not about the real possibilities of the existing ones in the market applied to the work of architectural survey; and neither about the advantages and problems it solves in the incorporation of aerial photographs in the photogrammetric survey, covering topics such as the necessary software, turnaround times, the accuracies achieved or costs …. Additionally, there is a legislative part which is necessary to highlight, so below we have also summarized the legal and facultative needs to perform these work as established by AESA (We use the word drone (drones in plural) because it has been recorded in the 23rd edition of the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, meaning unmanned aircraft. It can also be referred to as a UAV (Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle) or as the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency, has recorded it RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems)).

Comprehensive Methodology for Documenting the Defense Towers of the Valencian Coast (Spain)

For years we have approached the architectural heritage through the traditional drawings, based on data collection taken from sketches and point to point measurements; however, today we can rely on different systems that make necessary to consider not only the phases of the elevation but the methodology to follow, constituting in itself a study that needs to be addressed from the knowledge of advanced data collection techniques. Thus we must analyze what is special about the work and what are our research needs, which will give rise to a list of products to be obtained and will result in a number of plans to scale, photogrammetries, 3D models, pictures and videos. Only then will we obtain the appropriate methodology which may include traditional direct surveys, photogrammetric surveys (2D correction, 3D restitution), 3D laser scans, drones, photographs, spherical panoramic photographs, video, etc. In the present communication we describe the process followed in determining the methodology that is being carried out in the elevation of a building corpus that presents special characteristics due to the diversity of geographical locations and the dimensions and materials used, as well as its conservation status. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/FORTMED2015.2015.1741

The Piacenza Cathedral, from the digital survey to a complete multimedia documentation

The survey work of the Piacenza Cathedral was an extended, articulated and involving operation. Being the survey of such a complex building it took time and attention to produce a correct and complete documentation and a full and judicious coverage of all the exterior and interior parts of the whole church. The whole survey was a digitally born work, based on the use of both time of flight and phase shift technologies to allow a good, reliable, and easy to manage dataset. All the models were completely textured from the data gathered in an extended and specific photographic campaign. Even if a meaningful part of the data post processing was aimed to the creation of classic 2D drawings, the digital survey was also the base for the developing of multimedia presentations, while the 3D digital model was developed according to a logic aimed to produce a good and versatile base, capable to be reused for further BIM usage while for certain specific parts there was the testing of innovative visualization solution, like direct point cloud visualization inside a rendering software based on the voxelization of the points. In general the work on this large building was guided to produce a “state of the art” work, careful about the architectural language, useful for documentation, monitoring and visualization and in its own way a “summa” of all the good procedure such a Built Heritage monument was worth to deserve for a contemporary and well working documentation.