PhD thesis
Scanning Information
From architectural survey to semantic web awareness for HBIM.
Summary
The ability to pass on both our achievement and the already existing cultural heritage is at the basics of sustainability, maintaining change in a balanced environment. Contemporary cultural achievements like architecture, are subject to criticism and evaluation. That usually requires the necessary distance in time, in contrast to the assessed and recognised legacy of past times. Our culture will also be evaluated by what we left behind, and architectural heritage is the most noticeable. Spreading knowledge, not only among professionals but also the whole society, is one of the heritage management tasks. The use of modern Information and Communication Techniques (ICT) raises cultural awareness and extends the access boundaries. Rapidly developing systems like Historic Building Information Modelling (HBIM) or Cultural Heritage Markup Language (CHML) enrich not only the professional architectural environment but also the whole Society of Knowledge.
The purpose of this article is to outline the methods related to recording as-built space and its possible extensions for digital heritage and awareness. The key to managing this goal is comparing different methods by a level of contained information and its clarity to the use of contemporary technologies.
Keywords
TLS, BIM, AD-BIM, AS-BIM, HBIM, BIM, semantic modeling, reality based modeling, point cloud, parametric library, semantic web
Research goals
Identifying and systematising the architectural inventory systems.
Develop a method for classifying architectural elements.
Exploring automation processes in as-built modelling.
Proposing an algorithmic aid tool for assembling HBIM elements.
Research questions
How can we use Semantic Webs other than collecting and sharing information?
To what degree can HBIM and CHML interact with each other?
How do those systems affect society heritage awareness?
Application fields
Creating Semantic Web aid tools.
Designing computer-aided architectural HBIM tools.
Introduction
The history of architectural surveys goes back to the time of ancient Egypt. Since then it has been a crucial element in the development of the human environment all around the world. The meaning of surveying existing elements can relate to a broader field of human activity. Nearly every form of construction requires that essential part. Its importance in planning and execution processes is often forgotten. Recording and sharing information about as-built space are essential; none of the significant architecture would happen without them.
The object of historical and architectural research is not only architecture but also its surroundings and dependencies. The scope of research depends on the type of building and the purpose of the research. The purpose of such research is to determine the spatial and temporal boundaries of the object, the original design and the course of implementation and changes. Architecture and construction are a combination of historical issues: material, culture, economy, politics, geography. The historic building contains many facts and problems, resulting both from the investment conditions (location, area, investor) as well as the physical, functional and symbolic space. Architecture is not the sum of parts, but the indivisible whole of integrating elements (Brykowska, 2003).
Up until the Digital Revolution, architectural inventory was restricted by human skills, abilities and knowledge. With the progress of computers and mapping techniques, the process of architectural survey became faster, more precise and more accessible. Nowadays, by the expansion of digital information techniques, the main problem is how to collect, manage and use a large amount of detailed data in one place. Moreover, how to effectively use it to conservation, repair and maintenance (CRM) of architectural heritage. One of the developing solutions is Heritage (or Historic) Building Information Modelling (HBIM).