Digital processes for the conservation and valorisation of built heritage

The impact of digital technologies on heritage sciences has increased the speed and automation of processes and practices aimed at the survey, representation, modelling, and information management of the built, architectural, and archaeological heritage. These digital resources are progressively increasing, but only some of them are stored and disseminated, resulting in data loss, which means loss of connection between past, present and future and dispersion of memory and knowledge of the crafts, cultural traditions and genius loci related to the design and construction of historic buildings. This paper intends to illustrate, based on experiences in the field of built heritage modelling, the potential that a model-based approach can offer in order to build a main point of contact for architects, expert conservators, and researchers interested in implementing digital-based methodologies and strategies in the search for information models that can represent the uniqueness of the architectural heritage, and thus provide the ideal space in which data can take on a richer meaning and value, becoming an integral part of an information network that allows its correlation with different disciplines and fully reveals its value.