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The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia is one of Ravenna’s UNESCO protected monuments, globally renowned for the extraordinary mosaic decorations that cover the internal surfaces. The famous starry vault profoundly engages and inspires the observer. It has been studied for its accuracy in the representation of the real sky, but also because of its mystical and symbolic meaning in relation to the iconographic tradition of the time. The building has also been subject of archeoastronomical research (Romano in Orientamenti ad sidera. Astronomia, riti e calendari per la fondazione di templi e citta. Un esempio a Ravenna. Edizioni Essegi, Ravenna, 1995), which is here presented in depth. The present contribution also examines other architectural elements beyond orientation: particular attention is payed to the small slit windows of the building to investigate their possible archaeoastronomical significance. In the study of these elements, particular attention should be payed to the elaboration of architectural survey data, which has to be produced following established procedures and techniques. A functional 3D model will be developed from the data of the archaeoastronomical analysis to display the original morphology of the building (the floor was about 1.4 m lower because of subsidence movements), astronomical phenomena, and allow for multimedia communication of the scientific content produced. Finally, the related issues will be investigated: the geometric and projective transformations of the starry dome, the geometric shape of space also in relation to the unit of measurement used.

The paper presents the first results of the Cortona Heritage Project, which takes the opportunity to use the techniques of Virtual heritage to implementing concrete and innovative modes making the very rich cultural heritage of ancient Tuscan cities accessible for more people and engaging new publics by promoting its knowledge among young generations.

Considering the built environment as the most enduring receiver of human behaviour, one can easily assume vernacular heritage as an objective consequence of the essential features of specific local communities. [...]

Here we address the roadmap of the Digital Cultural Heritage research group DigitCH group, which was set up in 2013 at the Department of Architecture, University of Florence. The aim of DigitCH group was to realize the link between scientifically validated methodologies and contents, innovative storytelling, and technological instrumentation. The spread of electronic devices has enabled rapid and easy technological fallout of research in the field of the acquisition-representation of the survey data expanding audiences and accelerating even an innovative approach to the whole knowledge of CH.

In the field of documentation of cultural heritage, the employment of surveying instruments and methods and graphic representation that use digital technology has become a consolidated praxis in the past decades. The literature of such issues tends to show, with few exceptions, the potential (often not fully expressed) of the latest hardware and software, throughout surveying experiences, some more intriguing than others (from a figurative point of view), without really indulging on the true problems behind their overall usage: from the very first data-acquisition to the final graphic panels. In truth, the procedures for digital survey are relatively new and not unanimously shared by the scientific community, and the central role taken by 3D digital models in such a processes is often mystified. Maquettes with apparent-colour textures, achieved throughout the integrated use of image-based techniques (digital photogrammetry) and range-based tools (laser scanner), do not always lead to a correct understanding and interpretation of the architectural artefacts, hence impedes to proficiently describe them throughout the codes of representation. The contribution aims to provide, with the chosen examples, some indications in this apparent paradox, with special emphasis on the limitations of nowadays technologies and the complications that could arise due to a-critical construction of digital models.

The paper through an excursus on the technological development of virtual fruition systems, intends to reflect on the methods of communication and dissemination of cultural heritage, taking as a reference part of the results of research recently conducted on some case studies. The museum, configured in its new immaterial form and no longer as an exclusively physical place, amplifies the availability of space open to visitors, revolutionizing its role as cultural mediator in the extension of a potential connective that increases the dynamics of social development. The present research was aimed at programming a methodological protocol for the documentation and the virtualization of museum assets, collections and architectural heritage of tourist interest, based on a new approach to fruition of the space and the work of art in it contained.