Informative Models for Architectural Heritage

BIM (Building Information Modeling) processes are the most effective way to know existing architectural structures, integrating the most advanced potentials of 3D modeling and the structured storage of heterogeneous information. Many HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modeling) applications lead to the systematization of survey data, even though a univocal working method is not yet clearly defined. This research considers the decomposition of architecture, based on structured criteria, and its reconstruction, through ideal models, as the main moments of the HBIM process. This hypothesis is verified through a procedure that links the survey 3D data with the characteristics of the ideal HBIM model, which allows a continuous comparison between the project model and as-built. The research provides for the setting up of a general methodology that, according to a growing approach to the complexity of the analyzed buildings, compares the process followed on two architectural structures. The study analyzes some important HBIM issues: The relationship between the semantic modeling and the surfaces’ continuity of architectural heritage; the relationship between the elements standardization, geometric irregularities, and material heterogeneity; the reliability of the built models; and the evaluation of the gap between an ideal model and the objective accuracy of surveying.