Heritage cities are facing unprecedented pressure, due to the combination of climate change impacts, rapid urbanization and uncontrolled growth. Historic urban centres in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries are particularly exposed. This paper discusses the benefit of applying digital technologies, and in particular Building Information Modeling (BIM), in supporting heritage conservation, by developing a proof of concept based on a purposely chosen case study, i.e. the traditional Jordanian city of As-Salt near Amman. Building on and moving forward the tradition of paper-based Conservation Handbooks for historic cities, this study aims at exploiting the potential of digital technologies for enhancing the development and implementation of Digital Conservation Handbooks. Documentation and promoting of As-Salt will be conducted through developing a set of virtual models (3D models and BIM objects) suitable to support the construction sector and traditional architecture and heritage, framed and delivered in form of Digital Conservation Handbook. This will be achieved by: developing a new set of BIM (Building Information Modeling) objects related to the traditional architecture heritage in Jordan, suitable to be used by engineers and architects in the development of interventions on the built environment; creating a library of 3D models of exemplar buildings (Jordan heritage and traditional architecture), suitable to be used to promote the tourist image of Jordan. This will set a precedent for further documentation and heritage conservation of traditional cities in Jordan, MENA countries and internationally. Finally, the paper will discuss issues and challenges of documenting traditional heritage and architecture in As-Salt and the impact that such process may achieve in raising awareness across the local communities, thus offering insights to the larger community of architects, conservationists, and planners.
Ti t l eTow a r d s s m a r t pl a n ni n g c o n s e rv a tio n of h e ri t a g e citi e s : di git al t e c h n olo gi e s a n d h e ri t a g e c o n s e r v a tio n pl a n ni n g
International research is moving towards the development of BIM (Building Information Modelling) libraries applied to the built heritage where one of the main issues to be addressed is the modelling of complex or unique shapes that represent the specific construction components of every single asset. This perspective addresses the generation of parametric families of representative architectural geometry in the context of the management and representation of a building of heritage value. Jordan’s architectural heritage has gone through a long period of evolution and development: the result is a mixture of influences and traditions, making a great stride to conserve its buildings and Historical Heritage but has never adopted advanced digital technologies such as Building Information Modelling. In this framework, the present research aims to bridge the gap in Jordan by applying digital technologies to support heritage conservation plans by creating a 3D library of BIM objects related to typical elements of Jordanian and Arabic architecture, specifically in two cases of study. Co-production and collaboration with diverse stakeholders were central to the development of the methodology and design of the research.As a result, the first open-access HBIM shared library of historical features of Jordanian built heritage will be consolidated; this is crucial because it will set a precedent for the further documentation and conservation of the heritage of traditional cities in Jordan, MENA countries and internationally by promoting social cohesion, economic and technological development, tourism and the awareness of Jordan’s cultural heritage.
Jordan’s architectural heritage has gone through a long period of evolution and development: the result is a mixture of influences and traditions, from both Europe and the Middle East characterised by an optimal integration with the surrounding landscapes, making a great stride to conserve its buildings and historical heritage but has never adopted advanced technologies such as BIM. This is attributable to the lack of specialist training for the professionals within the sector, who remain unaware of the benefits that this methodology can offer. This paper aims to optimise the management process to remedy the natural loss and misplaced historical documentation of heritage over time by creating a 3D library of BIM objects related to typical elements of Jordanian and Arabic architecture, specifically the House of Art in Amman and the Qaqish House in the World Heritage City of As-Salt. This object database, represented through parametric BIM families (easily adaptable to any project of similar elements), will store information related to the geometry of individual objects, but also on the materials and their properties. By creating a library of 3D models of elements typical of the traditional Jordanian architecture, Jordan can acquire attractiveness on the part of tourists and art lovers, starting a chain reaction to get even more digital documentation and heritage conservation of the most historic cities in Jordan and, in general, in the Arabic world.
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