HBIM for monitoring and preservation of a cultural heritage structure : case study of the UNESCO-protected Emona Roman wall

Portela, Afonso (author), Bosiljkov, Vlatko (mentor), Urbančič, Tilen (comentor)

Building Information Modelling (BIM) asset management´s capabilities are currently extending into heritage conservation through Historical/Heritage BIM (HBIM). This work explores HBIM’s potential for supporting the diagnosis and maintenance phases of historical structures in heritage contexts. We propose a methodology which pairs mesh geometry with a high Level of Information (LoI) and apply them in Ljubljana’s Roman Wall, as a case study. It focuses on an HBIM model creation by bringing real world geometry into Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), via a Scan-to-MesHBIM workflow. These mesh entities are segmented into smaller IFC elements (i.e., IfcWall) and semantically enriched with linked data such as material, diagnosis, and previous tests, stored as off-file metadata and exposed via ontologies. This approach can thus be seen as turning the page towards the future IFC5 standard, which will allow mesh1 and texture2 to be properly handled by IFC. We also propose an openBIM methodology to interact with this information by deploying it on a common environment: a server running webIFC. We argue that this is the future of IFC collaboration: online, permissionless and software agnostic.

• Language: English
• Keywords: master thesis, photogrammetry, automatic surface reconstruction, ontology, Scan-to-MesHBIM, OpenBIM
• Work type: Master's thesis/paper
• Typology: 2.09 - Master's Thesis
• Organization: FGG - Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Publisher: [A. Portela]
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (XIX, 145 str.))
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-173783
• UDC: 004.42:338.483.13:691(497.451.1)(043.2)
• COBISS.SI-ID: 253329667
• Publication date in RUL: 23.09.2025

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Ohranjanje in monitoring objektov kulturne dediščine z HBIM : master thesis

Abstract

Možnosti upravljanja z informacijskim modeliranjem gradbenih objektov (ang. Building Information Modelling, BIM) se danes širijo tudi na ohranjanje dediščine preko zgodovinskega/dediščinskega BIMa (ang. Historical/Heritage BIM, HBIM). To raziskovalno delo preučuje možnosti HBIM-a kot podpore pri diagnostiki in vzdrževanju zgodovinskih objektov v kontekstu različnih faz razvoja. Predlagamo metodologijo, ki združuje geometrijo z visoko ravnjo informacij (ang. high Level of Information, LoI) in jo uporabimo v študiji primera rimskega zidu v Ljubljani. Študija se osredotoča na ustvarjanje modela HBIM z vključitvijo dejanske geometrije v standard IFC (ang. Industry Foundation Classes) preko delovnega toka Scan-to-Mesh HBIM. Mrežne (ang. mesh) objekte nato razčlenimo na manjše, semantično pomembne predmete (npr. ifcWall) in obogatimo s povezanimi tekstovnimi podatki (metapodatki, posredovani preko ontologij), kot so material, diagnoza in predhodni testi. Ta pristop lahko vidimo kot korak proti prihodnjemu standardu IFC5, ki bo omogočal pravilno upravljanje z mrežami in teksturami v okviru standarda IFC. Prav tako predlagamo metodologijo OpenBIM za interakcijo s temi informacijami, ki jih izvajamo v skupnem okolju: strežniku, ki poganja webIFC. Predpostavljamo, da je to prihodnost IFC sodelovanja: preko spleta, brez potrebnih avtorskih pravic za dostop in neodvisno od uporabljene programske opreme.

• Keywords: magistrska dela, HBIM, LiDAR, fotogrametrija, avtomatska rekonstrukcija površin, ontologija