On Visual Computing for Architectural Heritage

Aim of the chapter is to present a critical discourse on the use of visual computing for the study of historic architecture. From the analysis of the experiences of other scientific fields and of current researches in the architectural one, the paper highlights how visual computing has become an important approach in built heritage study and how it could favor new lines, in particular according to the non-linear spatial narratives of the 3D models. They are useful to analyze and describe the buildings and provide an aggregative core for the heterogeneous bulk of information related to historic buildings (drawings, texts, images, data, metadata, etc.). In this way visual architectural modeling and database modeling correlate together, and the whole system gives rise to complex informative models – manipulable, navigable and interactive –, helpful for the understanding, knowledge, preservation, communication and enhancement of architectural heritage.