Research database

INFORTREAT is aimed at the production of digital information systems to collect, transfer and translate the knowledge about construction of bastioned fortifications in Early Modern treatises on military architecture, in order to create an original knowledge tool in the field of conservation of the fortified heritage, as the latter is today exposed to ever-increasing environmental risks. For this purpose, a selection of relevant Italian and international fortification treatises from the 16th to the 18th century is at first deeply analyzed: textual and visual information is extracted from the treatises, and then made accessible and comparable through the use of 3D representations and Heritage-Building Information Modeling (H-BIM) environments. Building Information Models of the bastioned fronts are generated, assembling and visualizing the knowledge shared among Early Modern construction professionals, both in terms of materials, geometric characteristics, and of construction techniques. The apparatus of data, rules and references is therefore made accessible to a current public of scholars, heritage professionals and administrators through a new digital environment, with a both graphical and lexical readability key. A BIM library of parametric objects is then developed, translating into a graphic and digital language the components of historical fortifications, according to the historical sources. The transfer of rules and techniques enables the generation of specific digital models such as bastions, curtains, and outworks of fortified works. These elements can be virtually accessed and compared, but also extracted, modified, modeled and re-adapted, leveraging the use of Visual Programming Languages within an open source environment. The information models are then compared to a sample of case studies of existing fortifications, in order to evaluate the interactions of theoretical and conceptual models with the real consistencies, and to suggest a new modus operandi for the approach and the analysis of bastioned constructions. As such, realitybased models of present-day artifacts are later compared with ideal constructions, so as to evaluate the presence of recurring construction schemes and structures. The results of the study and BIM models are finally brought together in a web-based digital platform, fully accessible for research and conservation purposes (restoration, maintenance etc.), as well as for higher education and other activities in the field of Cultural Heritage