ABSTRACT:The article describes a pipeline, based on image-data, for the 3D reconstruction of building façades or architectural elements and the successive modeling using geometric primitives. The approach overcome some existing problems in modeling architectural elements and deliver efficient-in-size reality-based textured 3D models useful for metric applications. For the 3D reconstruction, an opensource pipeline developed within the TAPENADE project is employed. In the successive modeling steps, the user manually selects an area containing an architectural element (capital, column, bas-relief, window tympanum, etc.) and then the procedure fits geometric primitives and computes disparity and displacement maps in order to tie visual and geometric information together in a light but detailed 3D model. Examples are reported and commented.