Reconstruction of Lost Architectural Volumes by Integration of Photogrammetry From Archive Imagery With 3-D Models of the Status Quo

Abstract

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Cultural heritage includes several cases of missing architectural element or entire buildings, due to destruction, replacement or radical changes caused over time by other structures. The investigation of these lost elements aimed at their virtual reconstruction, for both scientific and cultural-leisure applications, is therefore a topic of great interest. To this purpose, methodologies for surveying and photogrammetric processing provide a very powerful tool, extracting descriptive and geometric information, both 2-and 3-D, using diverse archive images. This paper presents the issues related to the use of archive images in photogrammetry, pointing out the need for an integrated approach to operations of virtual reconstruction of lost volumes. This approach provides a multidisciplinary effort, in order to evaluate all iconographic sources, of which images processed by geomatics techniques are a component. The paper also presents the early results of a reconstruction project of the <i>Palazzo di Cosimo de’ Medici</i>, in the <i>Fortezza Vecchia</i> site (Livorno, Italy), heavily damaged by World War II bombings and subsequently razed.</p>

An automatic workflow for orientation of historical images with large radiometric and geometric differences

“…In interactive and semi‐automatic workflows, Grün et al (2004) were able to reconstruct the Buddha of Bamiyan in Afghanistan using least‐squares matching, while Bitelli et al (2007) calibrated three historical images using additional control points and geometric constraints in PhotoModeler. Recent examples of semi‐automatic calibrations are the reconstruction of the civic tower of Sant’ Alberto in Ravenna, Italy (Bitelli et al, 2017), the Fortezza Vecchia in Livorno, Italy (Bevilacqua et al, 2019) and the Borough at Biskupin in Poland (Zawieska and Markiewicz, 2016) using manually determined tie points (also referred to as feature points) due to image quality. Schindler and Dellaert (2012) compared a manual selection of tie points with an automated use of scale‐invariant feature transform (SIFT) features (Lowe, 2004) but still received better results for their 4D city model of Atlanta using the interactive approach.…”

A 4D information system for the exploration of multitemporal images and maps using photogrammetry, web technologies and VR/AR

“…It was also possible to reconstruct and texturize the collapsed dome of the San Pietro Church in Tuscania using an automatic SfM approach with 23 images (Beltrami et al, 2019), while the Great Mosque of Aleppo could be reconstructed with image data on 16 CD-ROMs (Grussenmeyer & Al Khalil, 2017). For the automatic 3D modeling of the Zwinger in Dresden, a dataset of over 800 archival images had to be reduced to around 50 images manually (Maiwald et al, 2017) for the subsequent SfM approach, and recently, parts of the Fortezza Vecchia could be recreated using archive images and plans from different analog sources (Bevilacqua, Caroti, Piemonte, & Ulivieri, 2019).…”

The Secrets of S. Maria Delle Grazie: Virtual Fruition of an Iconic Milanese Architecture

“…In this regard, it is possible to mention the well-known surveys of the Cathedral of Milan (Tommasi et al, 2016) and of Pietà Rondanini (Mandelli et al, 2017), that are two important references for deeply understanding the complexity of survey and the management of data in a web platform for maintenance. Since the surveying techniques started offering the possibility to produce detailed results in terms of point clouds and (consequently) meshes, digital survey and 3D modelling are considered as the first natural step for designing virtual and augmented simulations, becoming an effective and powerful medium for CH dissemination: it is the case of the virtual reconstruction of the Roman theatre of Benevento (Campi et al, 2019) or of the reconstruction project of the Palazzo di Cosimo de' Medici, in the Fortezza Vecchia site (Livorno, Italy), heavily damaged by World War II bombings and subsequently razed (Bevilacqua et al, 2019). Besides developing an important market in terms of new hardware and software (Gaitatzes et al, 2001), these simulations are able to allow the transmission (in user-friendly ways) of knowledge and content that have been, until today, the prerogative of specialists and experts.…”