This paper presents a comprehensive scoping review of the application of 3D digital technologies in the documentation, conservation, and management of historic gardens and related cultural heritage. By analyzing a curated selection of literature, this study assessed the current state of research, highlighting trends in publications, the geographic distribution of contributors, and the key technologies employed. Using bibliometric methods and visualization tools, followed by a case study review, this review identified significant research hotspots and technical methodologies, particularly focusing on advanced techniques such as mobile laser scanning, UAV photogrammetry, and point cloud processing and their relationships with end users. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating multiple technologies to capture the diverse elements of historic gardens, including architectural features, vegetation, and topography. This review also underscores the significance of dynamic landscapes facing challenges posed by environmental degradation and urban development pressures. Moreover, it discusses the limitations of existing research and outlines future opportunities, such as the development of 4D documentation systems and the incorporation of AI for improving heritage management. This paper concludes by recommending interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement to enhance the accessibility, understanding, and sustainable management of historic gardens through innovative technological applications.

Large archaeological areas or archaeological parks located within urbanized areas suffer more than other sites from anthropic pressure (urbanization and tourism), to which are added all the problems related to their conservation, safeguarding, fruition, management, maintenance, etc. Effective management strategies are essential. The use of Web Platforms in the management of 3D data is emerging as an effective solution for balancing conservation and development within large archaeological sites. This paper presents a case study of the Naxos Archaeological Park, Sicily, Italy. This case study highlights the role of advanced survey techniques, such as Mobile Mapping Systems and UAV-based photogrammetry, in generating extensive and comprehensive 3D datasets. It explores the possible contribution given by commercial web platforms for 3D data management in supporting design and development projects with reality capture data. Web platforms offer significant advantages by providing a shared environment for visualizing, interacting with, and processing large datasets. These platforms enable real-time collaboration among professionals with varying levels of expertise, fostering data sharing and reducing the need for local computing resources. This article provides a comparison methodology by testing and evaluating four commercial platforms: FlyVast, ATIS.cloud, Flai, and Cintoo, testing their functionalities and performances. It is then presented the adopted platform, Cintoo, and explained the reasons of the choice and its suitability for the project goal. Finally, it is provided an overview of the principal reasons that support the adoption of web platforms for sharing and collaboration supported by accurate 3D data, focusing on the potential cost reduction and efficiency.

The increasing request for digitized data among several fields, including the built environment and cultural heritage (CH), highlights the need for proficient ways to access, archive, and share 3D data and related information among users. The sector of reality capture produces accurate and reliable products that can support building management and CH maintenance, at the price of heavy and resource-demanding data. An emerging solution to this problem is represented by the web platforms for 3D data management, that promise to relieve users from the costs of archive and hardware, providing effective visualization, access and sharing tools. The panorama of commercial web platforms is analyzed according to the Software-as-a-Service business model, and the features of some representative platforms are exposed. The paper discusses the main advantages of diffused access and collaboration and the potential issues concerning long-term archival and data persistence. It provides a general overview of the main available platforms and describes their main features, comparing their specific pros and cons according to their category. The future perspectives of the web platform sector are promising as, according to the current development path, they may be able to empower built environments and the CH sector with a diffused, systematic, and conscious use of 3D data.

The 1618 Piuro landslide (Val Bregaglia, Italy) is known as one of the most catastrophic historical landslides in the Central Alps, which destroyed an ancient village and claimed at least 1000 casualties. The town of Piuro was famous for its opulence and commercial strategic role. Since the half of the twentieth century, the remains of buried buildings were discovered. Among them, the famous Palazzo Belfort survived the landslide although it was partly destroyed by the shock wave. The Belfort buildings were constructed on an ancient alluvial terrace between the trunk river and the northern valley slope, leaned against a boulders deposit. Archaeological excavations revealed some parts of the ancient Piuro town providing hints on the pre-event landscape. By coupling these observations with geological and geomorphological surveys, geomechanical investigations, well-log and geophysical data, a reconstruction of the landslide deposit was obtained. The integrated use of different 3D survey techniques such as Long- and Medium-Range Terrestrial Laser Scanner and Backpack Mobile Mapping System permitted to obtain a multi-resolution Digital Terrain Model of the area, with a resolution of 0.50 m for the Piuro valley floor and of 0.10 m at the Belfort site. Coupling these models with geological analyses, an interpretation of the pre-1618 landscape of the Belfort archaeological area is proposed, to understand the setting of the village and its subsequent evolution. This study developed in the framework of the Interreg V-A IT-CH 2014–2020 Cooperation Program-Axis 2 "Cultural and natural enhancement". A.M.AL.PI.2018—ID 594,274 with the aim to increase the awareness of natural hazards in mountain settings and to promote a risk and resilience culture.

This paper focuses on managing the Cultural Heritage maintenance process through web platforms, exploring a data-driven new approach that relies on the framework of Master Data Management (MDM). The MDM framework is based on data quality, revisioning and auditing of information, and the Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services (MDS) was used. It is a highly customizable commercial tool that proved to be effective and able to manage extended and articulated databases and provide stability and long-term software support. MDS provides powerful tools to avoid duplicates, ensure data quality, and record all the modifications that occurred on the dataset over time. These are key features to build a reliable platform for information management of complex CH assets.The paper presents some first tests applied for the Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy case of study. It is a UNESCO wide religious architectural complex site in northern Italy’s mountainous part. The paper compares approaches and previous experiences of Sacri Monti management using web platform information systems, such as the BIM3DSG, Chimera, and Main10ance, to support Sacri Monti management activity.

Natural disasters, such as postglacial landslides in Alpine valleys, recurrently reshape the natural and human landscape, impacting on settlements, land-use and architecture. Historical catastrophes were sometimes narrated and painted, so that in these cases chronicles and artistic representations can be integrated to geological, geomorphological, geophysical and archaeological data to describe the co-evolution of the natural and cultural landscape. This is the case of the Piuro landslide that in 1618 almost completely buried this renown and rich trading town in the Bregaglia Valley (Italy), on the way to the relevant alpine Maloja pass. Since it totally modified the valley floor, the catastrophe represents a turning point that permits to i) attempt the 3D reconstruction of the natural and archaeological landscape before and immediately after the disaster, ii) unravel the post-1618 increments of evolution of the natural landscape and settlements, iii) retrieve the memory of the area that underwent the disaster. To accomplish these aims we integrated: a new detailed DTM; a reconstruction of the relative chronology of burial, erosion and stabilization of the landforms after natural and anthropic processes pre- and post-dating the 1618 landslide; some subsurface stratigraphic logs and images based on new boreholes and geophysical surveys; age determinations based on radiocarbon and archeological/historical data; chronicles and paintings depicting the Piuro area before and after the disaster. The images we could draw show how human settlements were continuously controlled by the occurrence of landslides and other catastrophic processes like debris flows, before and after the 1618 landscape turning point. In the valley center we could detect a pre-1618 landslide body, whose mega-boulder reliefs were settled at least since the 4th – 5th century AD, at present buried below the Middle-ages and Renaissance Piuro villages. These landslide bodies provided also favorable settings for food preservation, whose memory and usage survived and reached the present-day under the vernacular denomination of “crotti”. At the millennial time scale no stable geomorphological surfaces do exist on the valley floor and lower slopes, since we could map the chronology of building of the debris flow-fan lobes, demonstrating how they evolved before and after the 1618 landslide, burying and/or being buried by the two major landslide bodies and interfingering with the trunk river alluvial sediments. Radiocarbon age determinations, archeological findings and the known ages of historical buildings permitted to recognize the geomorphological surfaces that remained stable on a shorter, secular, time scale, where the settlements could resume still competing with catastrophic processes that led to repetitive burial of several buildings during the last three centuries. Based on these results we could draw the 3D models of the Piuro area predating and immediately postdating the 1618 catastrophe. Historical paintings and chronicles largely confirm the relative chronology of landscape changes that we propose.The present work was co-funded through the EU, Regional Development European Fund, by Italian State, Helvetic Confederation and Cantons under the Interreg V-A IT-CH 2014-2020 Cooperation Program - A.M.AL.PI.2018 “Alpi in Movimento, Movimento nelle Alpi. Piuro 1618-2018", ID 594274 – Axis 2 “Cultural and natural enhancement”.

This paper describes the digitization test of Fonte Giuturna (Giuturna spring) in the Roman Forum area, from survey to data management through the in-use monitoring system, the WebApp SyPEAH of the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo. The location of Giuturna Spring, characterized by the presence of heterogeneous archaeological remains from different ages, was surveyed in May 2022 as part of a research project that aimed to superintend the entire Cultural Heritage digitization pipeline to provide the Archaeological Park Administration the digitization guidelines as a tool to standardize future surveys and data deliveries.Inspired by the desire to build a system of protection and conservation at the service of sustainable exploitation, SyPEAH is a web platform based on open-source modules designed to manage archaeological records with a WebGIS approach. It supports the use of several 3D data formats, including point clouds. The paper focuses on the web platform, describing the web app’s main features, especially in terms of point cloud data management. Moreover, possible future development of the platform intended to implement usability for single archaeological objects is described.

Point clouds are nowadays a standard format of three-dimensional data. Various survey techniques are available, differing in characteristics, mode of use, and target applications, nevertheless producing point clouds that are similar, comparable, and combinable. According to recent literature, combining data from multiple sensors is an established practice for large surveying projects, particularly in Cultural Heritage, where the geometric complexity of buildings encourages the employment of many sensors. This paper presents a multi-sensor approach to surveying complex architectural spaces. The case study is the Cathedral of Aosta (AO) in Italy, which is interested in a conservation project that requires investigating the two bell towers of the cathedral. The survey aimed to produce a point cloud of 5 mm resolution and 1–2 cm accuracy compatible with the 1:50 scale of representation. The following survey techniques were employed: (i) laser scanning, (ii) terrestrial photogrammetry, (iii) UAV photogrammetry, and (iv) multi-camera fisheye photogrammetry. The distinctive feature of our approach lies in the multi-camera survey, conducted using a prototype composed of five fisheye cameras. The paper describes the data acquisition phase conducted with the different techniques, the mutual verification of the data performed by cross-sections check, the segmentation, and the final assembly of the various portions until a complete point cloud with homogeneous characteristics is obtained. All the data were then collected in a web platform (FlyVast) enriched with data and info made available to the professional to plan future interventions.

The Covid-19 outbreak has greatly impacted society behaviours fostering proximity tourism and valorising the social role of peri-urban natural protected areas as key locations for outdoor activities. FOSS and FOSS4G can play a critical role to support the value creation for these sites. This work evaluates its application in the context of two different protected areas for the creation of 3D digital products, the monitoring of touristic fluxes and the conduction of parks management activities. To this aim three solutions that copes with the mentioned aspects are presented and gaps, weakness and limitations evaluated. The investigated solutions consists in: the data workflow from survey to 3D rendering using Blender and GIS plugin; the touristic fluxes monitoring system based on a machine learning algorithm for image recognition from captured video data streams and istSOS; and finally the park assets management system which is based on PostGIS and OpenLayers.

The contribution aims at providing an overview on urban planning and on 'modern' vernacular architecture of the rural founding villages built during the Agrarian Reform (1950-1970) in Italy, in the inland areas of Basilicata Region. In particular there are settlements not yet sufficiently known, in which the important of inventorying the considerable built heritage must be the objective of a necessary, urgent safeguarding. With the 'Agrarian Reform' (Law 841/1950), the Italian government carried out a redistribution to settlers of the lands of uncultivated or abandoned large estates. The purpose was to increase productivity in the reformed areas, as long as a better profitability of labor and an adequate 'social equity'. As a consequence, new villages were created that had to fulfil the task of reorganizing rural centers of socio-economic concentrations, able to reconstitute environments similar to the agglomerations from which the laborers, once employed in the latifundiums, came. Among the numerous centers built in Basilicata, Borgo Taccone is representative of this system of agrarian colonization of the Lucanian territory. The settlement, in which the modern construction techniques were broadly experimented, is the service center for farmers living in farmhouses in the surrounding funds and for this reason it was equipped with core services such as the church, the school, the post office, the clinic, cinema/theater, etc. After an initial period of demographic expansion, in the seventies the ‘Borgo’ began to depopulate and is now in a state of abandonment and decay. Despite this, this settlement, surrounded by agricultural land in a well-preserved landscape, still retains a strong formal character in both its urban and architectural layout. The contribution traces the physical, social and cultural transformation line that led this rich asset to the contemporary world, outlining a possible future cultural theoretical debate on its safeguard and sustainable enhancement.

In the field of geomatics, the development of 3D surveying techniques that can produce dense point clouds and high-resolution three-dimensional models has opened the possibility of using these techniques to generate digital replicas of a given asset to be used in contexts of cultural promotion or entertainment.These non-traditional applications have been made easier by the spreading of low-cost but fast surveying techniques, allowing them to be used in contexts or projects with fewer resources. Close-range photogrammetry is nowadays the cheapest, most flexible, and fastest technique that can be used to produce high-resolution and high-quality digital copies of reality. In this paper, we present an application of the Ant3D multi-camera system, a novel photogrammetric device designed for the rapid 3D surveying of sites characterized by poor accessibility and narrow spaces. The paper describes the three-dimensional acquisition of underground tunnels in a hazardous abandoned mining site. The digitalisation work aims to create 3D models to be experienced safely in a virtual- or augmented- reality immersive navigation of the site for cultural promotion. A workflow is proposed to turn raw reality-based 3D models into refined and efficient 3D assets that can be exploited in a game engine. Applications for mobile devices, desktop, and VR headsets, using the produced 3D assets are described.

Indoor Mobile Mapping Systems (IMMS) are attracting growing attention, especially when LiDAR sensors are considered, thanks to the possibility to obtain wide range and complete data in those areas where GNSS signal is not available. However, the drift error that accumulates during the acquisition is often inadequate in the absence of quality constraints in case of extensive acquisitions. Concurrently, recent developments regarding multicamera mobile solutions have shown promising results in containing the drift error, but data produced are too noisy and not enough complete in terms of acquisition range. This paper compares a Laser Scanner IMMS and a multicamera system in a stress test concerning the survey of a complex and extended route. The two systems are the Laser Scanner Backpack IMMS Heron MS Twin Color produced by Gexcel and a laboratory prototype of a handheld photogrammetric multicamera named Ant3D. The objectives are to calculate and compare the drift errors and to evaluate the quality of the produced point clouds. Quantitative results demonstrate that the drift error per meter of trajectory for the Heron Backpack is 10 times greater than the one of the multicamera. From a qualitative aspect, Heron Backpack generates 3D data in a wider range, allowing a more complete reconstruction of the environment when compared to the multicamera system one. On the other hand, the encumbrance and manoeuvrability of Ant3D make it more versatile in surveying very narrow spaces.

Indoor Mobile Mapping Systems (IMMSs) technologies are becoming increasingly popular thanks to the possibility of acquiring a massive amount of 3D data in a fast and effective way in those areas where GNSS signal is unavailable, like urban canyons, densely vegetated areas, underground sites and buildings. They offer an efficient way to produce point clouds but with noticeably lower accuracy than the traditional Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS). The present paper wants to analyse two different methods to improve the accuracy of the point cloud coming from an IMMS survey in a vast urban scenario. The first approach uses points collected during an RTK GNSS survey as Ground Control Points (GCPs). The second one involves TLS static scans as Ground Control Scans (GCSs). Both these procedures allow us to introduce constraints before generating the rigid final point cloud. The tested IMMS is the Backpack Heron MS Twin Color, produced by Gexcel S.r.l. The instrument was tested during the acquisition of the historical centre of Meda (MB) in the northern part of Italy. Results show that in those areas between the constraints, the maximum error of residuals on checkpoints is some decimetres. The IMMS has allowed us to quickly survey a vast area not otherwise obtainable with traditional survey techniques. The developed procedures proved to be essential for proper reconstruction of the environment.

The preservation of cultural heritage through education and training has always been a relevant issue and, sure enough, can contribute to the accomplishment of the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 (e.g., 4: Quality education, 8: Decent work and economic growth, 11: Sustainable cities and communities). The pandemic experience substantially influenced this topic for two key reasons. First, it has revolutionized the approach to teaching and learning activities, involving technological and digital innovations in this area for extreme and urgent necessities. The second aspect is that it has encouraged the rediscovery of minor heritages closer to one’s own territorial identity, strengthening the link with the local community. Understanding the role and importance of cultural heritage begins in the school; therefore, education is an essential and indispensable stage. At all educational levels, beginning with primary school, the necessary training activities for specific professional figures should be implemented. The transformation related to the cultural heritage professional figure must include both awareness of heritage value and excellent practical and theoretical skills. The research presented focuses on proposing new training paradigms that are highly professionalizing and involving.

The paper presents the first part of a research project concerning the creation of 3D terrain models useful to understand landslide movements. Thus, it illustrates the creation process of a multi-source high-resolution Digital Terrain Model (DTM) in very dense vegetated areas obtained by integrating 3D data coming from three sources, starting from long and medium-range Terrestrial Laser Scanner up to a Backpack Indoor Mobile Mapping System. The point clouds are georeferenced by means of RKT GNSS points and automatically filtered using a Cloth Simulation Filter algorithm to separate points belonging to the ground. Those points are interpolated to produce the DTMs which are then mosaicked to obtain a unique multi-resolution DTM that plays a crucial role in the detection and identification of specific geological features otherwise visible. Standard deviation of residuals of the DTM varies from 0.105 m to 0.176 m for Z coordinate, from 0.065 m to 0.300 m for X and from 0.034 m to 0.175 m for Y. The area under investigation belongs to the Municipality of Piuro (SO) and includes both the town and surrounding valley. It was affected by a dramatic landslide in 1618 that destroyed the entire village. Numerous challenges have been faced, caused both by the characteristics of the area and the processed data. The complexity of the case study turns out to be an excellent test bench for the employed technologies, providing the opportunity to precisely identify the needed direction to obtain future promising results.

The study presents a part of the operational framework of the “Project for Infrastructure and Strategic Strengthening of the Somali National University”, funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The project, coordinated by Politecnico di Milano, aims to reconstruct the Gahayr campus of the Somali National University of Mogadishu, which is today almost destroyed due to the civil war. The preliminary phase for reconstruction is a detailed survey of the buildings and the area over which the Campus will be re-built. In a normal situation, the team in charge of the survey would have gone on-site in Mogadishu; nevertheless, the risky local conditions and the Covid-19 pandemic made it impossible to have foreign personnel on-site. Consequently, the choice was to train a local team remotely, giving them the theoretical and practical instruments to face a complete 3D survey of the area and the buildings. Harsh times cannot stop works and activities that usually need the presence of the survey team on the field. Careful planning of the activities, the online staff training and the continuous sharing of the information permitted to get high quality 3D metric results quickly and to have at disposal all dimensional and qualitative valuable information for the project, usable in real-time by the designers and architects without going directly on the site.

Abstract. The concept of combining learning activities and Cultural Heritage is a highly effective approach, both in the pandemic era and no. Knowledge and awareness of a place cultural identity by the local community is itself a conservation action. Therefore, a training activity was tested at the “Liceo Leopardi” (Lecco) according to the guidelines of Italian work-school projects. It is an innovative didactic methodology that allows students to combine school training with practical experience in a public or private institution. Since 2015, it has been compulsory in Italy for all high school students. The didactic tool used to face innovative topics related to heritage digitisation and its remote access was the Virtual Tour of the Monumental Complex of Laorca. The VT is a very effective immersive tool and easy to use even for non-expert users. Through some frontal lessons and laboratory activities, the students learned the basic concepts about the acquisition techniques to realise multimedia data (artistic photography, light painting, panoramic photography, video, etc.) to enrich the Laorca complex VT frame. The didactic experimentation was very engaging for the students who created a cultural game for the younger middle school students. The game is structured like a path consisting of 10 phases, designed in two versions: one version played directly on-site and another available online within VT. The research presented aims at the CH digitisation for the involvement and participation of the local community in the territorial identity promotion. The didactic experiment involved students reinforcing the link with their territory.

Cultural Heritage (CH) 3D digitisation is getting increasing attention and importance. Advanced survey techniques provide as output a 3D point cloud, wholly and accurately describing even the most complex architectural geometry with a priori established accuracy. These 3D point models are generally used as the base for the realisation of 2D technical drawings and 3D advanced representations. During the last 12 years, the 3DSurveyGroup (3DSG, Politecnico di Milano) conduced an omni-comprehensive, multi-technique survey, obtaining the full point cloud of Milan Cathedral, from which were produced the 2D technical drawings and the 3D model of the Main Spire used by the Veneranda Fabbrica del Duomo di Milano (VF) to plan its periodic maintenance and inspection activities on the Cathedral. Using the survey product directly to plan VF activities would help to skip a long-lasting, uneconomical and manual process of 2D and 3D technical elaboration extraction. In order to do so, the unstructured point cloud data must be enriched with semantics, providing a hierarchical structure that can communicate with a powerful, flexible information system able to effectively manage both point clouds and 3D geometries as hybrid models. For this purpose, the point cloud was segmented using a machine-learning algorithm with multi-level multi-resolution (MLMR) approach in order to obtain a manageable, reliable and repeatable dataset. This reverse engineering process allowed to identify directly on the point cloud the main architectonic elements that are then re-organised in a logical structure inserted inside the informative system built inside the 3DExperience environment, developed by Dassault Systémes.

The research addresses the theme of the enhancement of two devotional cultural sites according to the principles of Responsible Research Innovation (RRI). The methodology provides for the involvement of various designers and local stakeholders, and is supported by digital technologies, both to speed up communication between those within the design process and to facilitate envisioning possible solutions by non-professional individuals. The aim is to enable new educational uses of the cultural heritage of the two historical-devotional sites, which are the focus of enhancement in a circular cognitive process based on collective construction of opportunities.

Given the growing relevance, at national and international levels, of restoration and conservation interventions on existing buildings, the Universities have developed degree courses with specific addresses in “Conservation of Architectural and Environmental Heritage”. The students that attend this course become a graduate with specific, extensive, and updated skills in the field of knowledge, protection, conservation, reuse, and enhancement of architectural and environmental heritage. The complexity of the intervention is faced through the contribution of the various disciplines that contribute to the training of the architect, at the same time they studied modern instruments and tools for collecting and managing data, from on-field survey to sharing projects and ideas. The goal is to learn to manage, in its entirety, the project and the range of possible interventions with deep conservative sensitivity, with skills ranging from maintenance to restoration and redevelopment, both in the dimension of the single building and at the urban and landscape scale.