Massimiliano Lo Turco

From structure from motion to historical building information modeling: populating a semantic-aware library of architectural elements

Abstract. In recent years, we have witnessed a huge diffusion of building information modeling (BIM) approaches in the field of architectural design, although very little research has been undertaken to explore the value, criticalities, and advantages attributable to the application of these methodologies in the cultural heritage domain. Furthermore, the last developments in digital photogrammetry lead to the easy generation of reliable low-cost three-dimensional textured models that could be used in BIM platforms to create semantic-aware objects that could compose a specific library of historical architectural elements. In this case, the transfer between the point cloud and its corresponding parametric model is not so trivial and the level of geometrical abstraction could not be suitable with the scope of the BIM. The aim of this paper is to explore and retrace the milestone works on this crucial topic in order to identify the unsolved issues and to propose and test a unique and simple workflow practitioner centered and based on the use of the latest available solutions for point cloud managing into commercial BIM platforms.

BIM Use in the Construction Process

Building Information Modeling or BIM, is a new approach to design, construction, and facility management in which a digital representation of the building process is used to facilitate the exchange and interoperability of information in digital format. With BIM technology, an accurate virtual model of a building is constructed digitally. When completed, the computer-generated model contains precise geometry and relevant data needed to support the construction, fabrication, and procurement activities needed to realize the building. In this research we describe a practical application of the BIM use in the construction process.

Cultural Heritage Documentation, Analysis and Management Using Building Information Modelling: State of the Art and Perspectives

This chapter presents current issues relating to the use of a building information modelling (BIM) approach in the field of cultural heritage, which is better known as historic-BIM (H-BIM). Technological innovation in the field of automatic metric data acquisition (e.g., 3D laser scanning, digital photogrammetry techniques) requires data processing to produce a coherent parametric model that is congruent with metric survey information. Working with historical artefacts, this process becomes very complex, because the existing tools used to support BIM methodologies are mainly oriented towards new design interventions. From this perspective, the aim of our research is to explore the state of the art of current data acquisition techniques and their integration to obtain a master model, which is defined in the literature as an “inventory BIM model”. We will analyse the different scan-to-BIM approaches aimed at creating building object model (BOM) components that, using different acquisition techniques to obtain geometric data, allow the user to define the level of accuracy with which they are generated; in addition, the integrated development of new technologies for existing management (in terms of data enrichment of non-geometric information) will be analysed. Future research perspectives in this field are directed toward the design of a mechatronic system that optimizes computing systems, thus improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire process, and making use of a wealth of interdisciplinary knowledge in order to arrange a hierarchy of knowledge that can be shared with other professionals involved in interventions for the protection of cultural heritage.

BIM-QA/QC in the architectural design process

ABSTRACT This paper describes a procedure for quality assessment in architectural design based on Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies and investigates how the evaluations can affect the decision-making process. Based on techniques already defined in the literature, a method of evaluating the BIM processes and BIM model based on the definition of a BIM Quality Assurance (BIM-QA) that is applied through BIM Quality Control (BIM-QC) will be shown. The proposed method integrates into a general BIM methodology and its common procedures several tools and approaches. The method uses customised checklists and queries performed on a database management system that also perceives data from the use of model-checking software in order to achieve data that will be used for the evaluation of quality. The method was validated by applying the procedure to three projects in Italy, where quality issues play a fundamental role and influence the design solution on public building with health care functions. It was found that the procedure for integrating QA/QC into a design process based on BIM provided a range of possibilities for assessing quality during the design process.

From Integrated Survey to the Parametric Modeling of Degradations. A Feasible Workflow

This work fits into an international research field about 3D modeling to evaluate the Building Information Model performance for infographic representation of Cultural Heritage. Modeling an historic building involves the creation of parametric objects library starting by data survey. The primary purpose of the research is the translation of these information into a parametric model, through the definition of a proper methodology. The main focus of the research is the creation of parametric object representing the preservation status of material and building components: some recurring schemes of the traditional representation have been identified, in order to find a methodology that leads to link these data to the HBIM (Historic BIM) model, improving their capabilities.

From SfM to Semantic-Aware BIM Objects of Architectural Elements

The huge diffusion of Building Information Modeling approaches in the field of architectural design has characterized the research of the last decades; however very little research has been undertaken to explore the advantages and criticalities of BIM methodologies in Cultural Heritage domain. Moreover, the last developments in digital photogrammetry lead to easily generate reliable low cost 3D textured models, that can be used to create semantic-aware objects of reusable library of historical architectural elements. The aim is to test a novel workflow practitioner centered, based on the use of the latest solutions for point cloud managing into BIM.

Project and Quality Management at Politecnico di Torino

The profitable collaboration between Building Service and DISET -Building Engineering and Territorial Systems Department- applied to last works concerning some redevelopment areas of the Politecnico di Torino had brought to test the latest technologies in order to improve the quality of the whole design process, from the conceptual phase to the facility management one. In this regard, two case studies drawn up using Building Information Modeling technology are analyzed: they constitute the basis for further experiments in terms of software interoperability, that means the ability to exchange information automatically, without loss of data between different applications (structure, cost evaluation, building physics) that develop specific domains.

From Tradition to Practice: Bringing Up-to-Date the Holistic Approach of the Masters of the Past Through Digital Tools

The aim of this paper is to compare the increased value of the new digital tools in supporting multidisciplinary knowledge; this similarly regards the design process conceived by the “masters” of the past, trying to describe what recent graphic representation is and how it was ostensibly handled in the past: particular attention will be devoted to the relationship between classic 2D drawings with respect to 3D modeling tools, enriched by heterogeneous data of a fully integrated approach. Moreover, a broader look at the construction process and the actors involved will focus on the separation between the design conception phase and the design development stage, given the role of Information Technology in documenting our cultural heritage as well as managing integrated building processes.

Three-Dimensional Nature of Architecture and Its Representation: A Suspension Bridge Between the Interpretations of Italian Treatise Writers of the Sixteenth Century and the Processing Methods of the Contemporary Era

The paper is intended to deepen a specific theme, which affects almost uninterrupted continuity the architectural culture, related to the relationship between three-dimensional nature of architecture and its representation; the topic is developed through critical reflections on the relationship between the concept of spatial designed conformations and the expressive forms of figuration drawn, figured as interpretations qualified by distinctive knowledge values. We try to answer to the following questions: which products can be compared with the representative transcriptions of the past? Is it possible to define some common elements or the differences are too substantial to evoke an unlikely continuity?