Leonardo Paris

This research addresses the enhancement of outdoor Cultural Heritage by exploring innovative methods for integrating different digital models applied to external environments, with a specific focus on so-called ‘Vegetal Architectures’. These spaces, shaped by the interaction of natural and built elements, embody historical processes of continuous transformation and therefore require survey methodologies capable of combining material data with the reconstruction of the site’s evolutionary history. Among the case studies examined, the Pincio Promenade in Rome plays a central role. Designed by Giuseppe Valadier from 1810, it represents one of the most significant nineteenth-century urban interventions in the city. Despite its cultural relevance, existing graphic documentation remains fragmented and inadequate for an accurate architectural-scale description of its metric and geometric features. A key historical reference is the Plastico di Roma da Piazza del Popolo a Piazza Colonna con il Pincio, a maquette made by Tommaso Falcetti under Valadier’s supervision from 1822, which provides a valuable topographical record of the area. The study aims to produce a detailed digital survey of the Pincio Promenade through the integration of Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) and Simulta- neous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) technologies, generating numerical discontinuous and continuous models suitable for the analysis of Vegetal Architectures. In parallel, a high-resolution digital reconstruction of the Plastico di Roma is developed using colour-calibrated Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry and hybrid laser scanning. The resulting models are then compared to validate the contemporary survey and to investigate the historical transformations of the garden.

[ENG] The Ministry of Culture has commissioned the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio to conduct a study for the seismic vulnerability assessment of the Montecassino Abbey complex. Therefore, it was necessary to plan an accurate survey activity to develop digital models for interdisciplinary studies and analyses. The operational workflow focused on creating a data sharing environment for the data already available, in a disarticulated form, and those that can be implemented based on the different types of in-depth analysis, geometric, historical-documentary, structural, and diagnostic. Considering the big dimensions of the Abbey, it was decided to investigate a part, the most significant from a historical point of view, characterized by a very articulated stratigraphy and a complex geometric conformation. The database was organized on a pyramidal structure and implemented with integrated digital survey activities that can be integrated according to subsequent economic availability. The Abbey of Montecassino, repeatedly severely damaged by seismic events and lastly razed to the ground in the Second World War, was rebuilt entirely immediately after the war's end based on careful studies done, fortunately, shortly before its almost destruction. This documentation of inestimable historical value preserved in the archive of the abbey has allowed the recognition, cataloguing and recovery of much raw material used in the reconstruction. Therefore, the development of an appropriate information system based on reliable, accurate and interoperable geometric models becomes strategic for both the bodies responsible for the protection and the community. [IT] Il Ministero della Cultura ha chiesto all’Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale uno studio di vulnerabilità sismica del complesso abbaziale di Montecassino. Si è reso pertanto necessario programmare un’accurata attività di rilievo con l’obiettivo prioritario della messa a punto di modelli digitali per studi e analisi a carattere interdisciplinare. Il workflow operativo si è incentrato sulla creazione di un ambiente di condivisione dei dati già disponibili - in forma disarticolata - e di quelli implementabili sulla base delle diverse tipologie di approfondimento, geometrico, storico documentale, strutturale, diagnostico. Considerata la notevole dimensione del complesso abbaziale, si è stabilito di approfondire come primo step una parte, quella più significativa dal punto di vista storico, caratterizzata da una stratigrafia molto articolata e da una complessa conformazione geometrica. Il database ha una struttura di tipo piramidale implementato con attività di rilievo digitale integrato ed integrabile in funzione delle successive ulteriori disponibilità economiche. L’abbazia di Montecassino, più volte fortemente danneggiata da eventi sismici e da ultimo rasa al suolo nella seconda guerra mondiale, è stata completamente ricostruita subito dopo la fine della guerra sulla base di studi accurati fatti, fortunatamente, poco prima della quasi totale distruzione. Questa documentazione di inestimabile valore storico conservata nell’archivio dell’abbazia ha consentito il riconoscimento, la catalogazione ed il recupero di molta materia prima utilizzata nella ricostruzione. Diventa quindi strategico per gli organi preposti alla tutela e per la collettività la messa a punto di un idoneo sistema informativo basato su modelli geometrici affidabili, accurati e interoperabili.

BIM represents a significant step towards digitalization and innovation in the public construction sector in Italy, and as of 1 January 2025, its adoption became mandatory for all public work. Recognizing the importance of this shift, the Sapienza University of Rome developed a set of standards and guidelines between 2018 and 2024. These guidelines have now been officially adopted by the Buildings Maintenance Area of Sapienza for the application of BIM in service and work contracts. They are consolidated into a document known as the Sapienza Protocol, which serves as a reference for the creation of information-rich models of university heritage buildings, encompassing both existing structures and those to be constructed from scratch. The Sapienza Protocol outlines a modeling process that integrates surveying, geometric modeling, and an informational framework, combining theoretical principles with methodological approaches tested in the HBIM research domain. This approach ensures that both the technical and historical characteristics of buildings are appropriately represented. The purpose of this manuscript is to describe the evolution of the Sapienza Protocol, from its initial version to its current form. It highlights operational procedures and technical solutions, showcasing how the protocol has adapted to address the complex needs of managing and preserving architectural heritage in a digital context.

HBIM modeling presupposes a series of methodological and content questions depending on the type of historic building being investigated. A particular case refers to a multitude of buildings, isolated or aggregated, that sprinkle our territory that do not stand out for their valuable architectural characteristics abandoned for different reasons and turned to ruins. This building category retains a valuable judgment when the typological constructive characteristics are recognized as explanations of “making architecture”, strongly linked to a place and to a time and that are worth preserving. The study of a ruin as a building typology involves various issues starting from the survey, both in terms of structure stability and room accessibility, and in terms of survey techniques to be used to acquire geometries that have lost their original conformation. The loss and deformation of the shape are therefore the main obstacles in the reconstruction of the historical evolutionary phases, fundamental for the definition of a recovery project that respects the nature of the building, now in a state of instability. Informed digital models, soon mandatory by law in most building processes, applied to the ruins thus become not only a means of documenting, cataloging, and communicating the built heritage but, above all, a tool that serves the project.

Keywords: Fontana Rustica, Survey, 3d laser-scanner, Photogrammetry, Modeling, Quirinale The paper illustrates the results of a research on integrated digital survey of the "Fontana Rustica" in the gardens of the Quirinale, artifact somewhat atypical for its particular organical configuration, and whose history is still to be discovered. The activity is performed by Critevat, interdepartmental research center in Rieti, within of the scientific collaboration with the Office for the conservation of artistic heritage of the Quirinale Palace. The integrated digital survey in recent years has had a strong impulse thanks to the technological development of the shape acquisition instruments. The research has analyzed the problems of interaction and integration of digital data obtainable using the latest digital technologies such as 3D laser-scanner and digital photogrammetry. A further level of research has focused on the possibility of management of 3D models in relation to data obtained by instruments and methods of investigation of different scientific culture such as seismic transmission tomography and thermografy.