H-BIM App intends to analyse the potentialities and critical aspects resulting from the integration of BIM systems in the processes of documentation, knowledge, communication and management of the Built Cultural Heritage (BCH). It deals with the conceptual extension of "virtual model" triggered by BIM approach and its possibilities of stratifying knowledge.
The potential of BCH-oriented BIM systems (the so-called Heritage-BIM or H-BIM) is undeniable. However, there remain operational and theoretical issues related to the unresolved aporia between the rigidity of modelling tools and the high flexibility needed when BCH elements are involved.
This line of research has been incorporated in the wider context of the H2020 CHAREMI proposal (Cultural Heritage Adaptive Re-use Models for Innovation) submitted within the SC5-22-2017 Call. The aim of CHAREMI was to suggest better integrated strategies for the preservation and valorisation of BCH considering its adaptive re-use as a way for securing its sustainability. Although the focus of the call (and thus of the proposal) was to outline actions intended mainly as economic drivers, a significant role was reserved to "knowledge" (as a means for value assessment of BCH tangible and intangible aspects) and to structuring a suitable digital environment for data storing, modelling, managing and querying.
In this framework, CHAREMI had identified the BIM as a very promising technology to respond to such issues provided it would better address the specific problems connected with BCH. The simple fact that BCH is composed of existing artefacts changes in fact radically the theoretical and operational perspective of conventional BIM and actually represents the reason for adding an "H" before the BIM acronym.
H-BIM App proposal will thus deal with this problem considering a number of case studies spanning from XX century architecture to archaeological edifices as well as from monuments to conventional buildings.
Differently from new constructions where the information attached to each digital object is consistent and known in advance, an existing object permanently hides the majority of its information. This evidence summarizes the many issues that still obstacle the massive application of BIM to BCH. This relevant theoretical/applicative research topic is though coupled with what it is quickly becoming a real urgency: the decree n. 560/2017 has in fact provided the timeline for the application to public constructions' procurements of "new electronic methods and instruments for modelling". In other words, the BIM will become mandatory for public procurements from 2019. As Italian BCH is more than 70% of the whole built stock, and the percentage of new constructions (except for infrastructures) is quickly decreasing in favour of interventions on existing ones, it is quite clear the relevance, not only "scientific" of researches in this field.
In this framework, H-BIM App proposal is high innovative and potentially groundbreaking because aims at introducing a new perspective in the strategic sector of constructions.
Although this proposal will profit of limited resources in comparison with the original H2020 one, the three main objectives presented in the previous section (setup of a protocol for the drafting of the ideal model; "as built" definition by integrating data coming from 3D capturing technologies and non-destructive investigations; finally, release of guidelines for producing consistent H-BIM models for BCH) represent a feasible core capable of a high impact especially in the national context.
Quite apart from the general influence in connection with 560/2017 decree, we must enlighten other expected impacts and results of the H-BIM App project.
In fact, the CHAREMI H2020 proposal has incorporated the H-BIM topic only after assessing the preliminary results of some studies developed by our research group with the objective of putting together speculative research and tests on the ground. In particular, we have chosen as prototypes the Institute of Geology and Mineralogy by Giorgio Michelucci and the Faculty of Botany by Gino Capponi both inside Sapienza Main Campus. Even if very different from each other, these buildings are both remarkable products of Italian rationalism and thus artefacts of undeniable historical and cultural relevance. Considering that the layout of such architectures derive from the composition of elementary geometries and the repetition of "simple" elements, we have judged these pieces of BCH as particularly suitable for the knowledge processes driven by the construction of semantic-aware models in a H-BIM environment. In brief, we started from the analysis of 1D (text) and 2D data retrieved in bibliographic and archival research, and from an in-depth analysis of the 3D data collected during a survey campaign. The data processing has been followed by a general phase of structuring for the BIM models, with the main objective of creating databases that could be enriched over time.
The outcome of these tests was quite positive. We proved that the different sub-models composing the general database can coexist in the one workspace created by the BIM system. This is in fact the environment where has taken place the interactions among the 1D information (text), the 2D support drawings (including the project documentation) and the numeric model made by the captured point clouds (topographic, 3D scanning, Structure from Motion). Although the goal of H-BIM processes is to transform the material elements of the object into BIM-elements, we outlined a possible pathway for ensuring that the "breakdown" of each building in architectural elements and the ontological definition of entities would be overall smooth and consistent with the expected performances of a H-BIM model.
What we could define a "top-down" approach was though coupled by a "bottom-up" one. We kept constantly in touch, in fact, with Sapienza Management Office (AGE) considering its requests and needs as "operational" constraints for our high-end work. Again this feed-back process concurred in enhancing and refining our H-BIM prototype incorporating some managerial features we realized are representing a relevant part of what stakeholders expect from H-BIM systems. While this cooperation is still ongoing (a research grantee is in fact listed in the external personnel) we must underline the impact in terms of innovation coming from investigating the potential of the H-BIM model in terms of intervention and management of BCH.