Cultural Heritage Conservation and Sustainability Based on Surveying and Modeling: The Case of the 14th Century Building Corral del Carbón (Granada, Spain)

Abstract

Cultural Heritage buildings face major challenges trying to combine a usability function with conservation and restoration obligations. Suitable conservation involves a complex set of activities, some concerned with historical documentation (functionality, construction materials, physical developments, etc.). Other activities require a geometrical description in order to detect pathologies related to walls tilting, displacements or roofs and beams deformation. Here, we propose a methodology that takes into account all those requirements when modeling a key 14th century Cultural Heritage building in Granada (Spain): Corral del Carbón. Known in the Moorish period as "Alhóndiga", the building was used as an inn and a warehouse for merchandise. We survey the building with the most accurate techniques currently available (scanner laser and photogrammetry). After surveying it, we model the building at different levels of detail taking into account the various phases known to comprise the building. Finally, we propose an HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modeling) for building maintenance and facilitate its sustainability and usability over time.

Ranking of Heritage Building Conversion Alternatives by Applying BIM and MCDM: A Case of Sapieha Palace in Vilnius

“…According to Dore and Murphy [10], HBIM simply can be described as a system designed for modeling built heritage objects from remotely obtained data (laser scanning or photogrammetry) using BIM software. While, Reinoso-Gordo et al [11] observe that the HBIM development process requires additional features that are lacking in standard BIM software packages, such as the lack of tools to model highly complex and irregular shapes, sloped walls or variable geometry elements. HBIM is a new approach to historical building modeling, which consists of a library of parametric objects based on historical architectural data.…”

“…HBIM, respectively, can be divided into three major sub-models: structural, architectural and engineering [11]. Assigning valuable properties of a building to the appropriate sub model helps proper maintain and manage a building.…”

“…The use of BIM technologies in the renovation and restoration processes of existing historic buildings is called the Historical Building Information Modeling (HBIM) [10] or heritage building information modelling (HBIM) [11]. In general, the use of BIM technologies in historical, cultural heritage, and reconstruction of old reconstructed buildings is similar as it differs only at the level of available information and potential intervention.…”

Structure-from-Motion (SFM) Photogrammetry as a Non-Invasive Methodology to Digitalize Historical Documents: A Highly Flexible and Low-Cost Approach?

“…In the last few years, a photogrammetric computer vision approach based on structure-from-motion algorithms has been applied for documentation of cultural heritage [18,20,21]. In the present-day, it is widely applied for many purposes in different fields and disciplines such as archaeology [22][23][24], architecture [25,26], geology [27], and geomorphology [28,29].…”

Innovative Upscaling of Architectural Elements for Strengthening Building Structures

“…Architectural conservation and restoration have gained significant momentum over the last two centuries. It began with the preservation of ancient structures [1] and has then been extended to the restoration of heritage buildings for cultural, religious, social and architectural reasons [2]. There is also a growing interest to prolong the life of older buildings for adaptive re-use from the perspectives of resource management and environmental sustainability [3,4].…”