Integration of 3D modelling with photogrammetry applied on historical images for cultural heritage

Abstract

The recovery of past architecture through 3D modelling is an important challenge today to the preservation of heritage. Decisive support for the interpretation of architecture can certainly come from historical images and old photographs that fix a portion of space at a specific time, keeping it unchanged over the years. This acquisition is decisive for studying architectures of the past that can be reinterpreted and analysed. Photos, in fact, capture the advance of time and the life of a building at a precise historical moment, becoming essential documents for the study and knowledge of heritage. An additional advantage is when these old images can be processed through Structure for Motion procedures and, the results obtained, used as support for a 3D model of buildings that no longer exist. The work shows an interesting pipeline applied to the Caltanissetta Centrale Station and the possibility of “recovering”, even if virtually, a phase of its architectural evolution through the integration of photogrammetry from historical images and 3D modelling. The case study is an opportunity to analyse the procedure still under development, as well as to identify the main difficulties encountered in this process and possible future developments.