Jean-Yves BLAISE ... & ... Iwona DUDEK

Abstract:

The "SESAMES compilation" is a document bringing together a selection of heterogeneous written productions resulting from the research activities conducted throughout the SESAMES project -ANR-18-CE38-0009-01. It includes traditional scientific publications, but also summary notes, dissemination products, structured data, descriptions of research prototypes, etc.
This compilation is presented as a single PDF document, structured into 4 main parts:
Part 1: Eight classic scientific articles
Part 2: Five formal models, synthesis documents
Part 3: Six dissemination products or open documents
Part 4: Definition sheet for eight research prototypes

This document is not an exhaustive list of the various scientific products resulting from the project, but has been designed to illustrate their variety. However, neither the selection of classic articles nor the other productions mentioned should be considered as representative of the project as a whole and of all the areas of concern of the various project partners (UMR 3495 MAP, UMR 7061 PRISM, UMR 7324 CITERES-LAT, EA 6300 LIFAT Université de Tours).

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The SESAMES project was born out of the realisation that the way in which we observe, document, analyse and promote understanding of built heritage is being challenged in the digital age, particularly by our growing capacity to produce 'masses' of observations, to process and cross-reference them. Interdisciplinary in both its conception and its results, the project has also explored original methods that combine the skills of different academic players to serve the corpus under study (in the data acquisition phases as well as in the upstream knowledge representation and downstream visualisation phases). The SESAMES project was conducted with the aim of challenging the applicability ‘in real-life’ of the project's general scientific approach. Nine online research prototypes, open to both academics and local players, have been developed. Each prototype provides analysis data and methods on different aspects of the project (combining metric and acoustic data, historical clues, ontology of architectural vocabulary, perceptual aspects, etc.). SESAMES has enabled progress to be made on three major fronts: the question of integrating skills in the service of heritage architecture, in order to draw up an overall picture of individual assets and to enhance their comparability; the question of long-term traceability and scientific justification behind a given result; and finally the question of the usability of the results obtained (in terms of dissemination, open publication and the construction of research prototypes).

ANR >

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3D virtual reconstructions have become over the last decades a classical mean to communicate about analysts’ visions concerning past stages of development of an edifice or a site. However, they still today remain quite often a one-shot output, neither reusable, nor expressing visually the diversity of the evidence behind the reconstruction. A 3D virtual reconstruction - obtained by means of a synchronic or diachronic study - is a hypothesis, but also a technical work, and ultimately confronts researchers with the challenge of finding a compromise between interpretation and assertions, even within the graphical encoding of a 3D model.

This research is based on a methodological proposal: introducing justification matrices that associate “indicators” to the components of a 3D virtual reconstruction, that formalise in a synthetic way an assessment of plausibility. These matrices allow assigning individual 3D objects or groups of objects a quantitative evaluation of their plausibility by crossing four criteria: shape, dimensions, existence, and position.

The experiment led to the creation of a proof-of-concept prototype allowing a user to interact in real time with the graphic appearance of each object, represented in a 3D reconstruction, according to the values of its justification matrix. The approach is applied to four phases of the evolution of Marmoutier abbey's hostelry (corresponding to four synchronous states - 12th, 13th, 15th and 18th centuries), and re-uses 3D virtual reconstructions produced several years ago for communication. The paper positions and discusses the three families of issues the research intersects (knowledge modelling, visual encoding and 3D content reuse), presents the case study, details the services offered by the prototype and assesses lessons learned and limitations. The experiment should be seen as an attempt to reason about heritage data sets by drawing on practices from the InfoVis field and is thought of as a call to design and discuss in the scientific community news ways of visualising architectural data, information, and pieces of knowledge.

zenodo

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The paper presents an exploratory web information system developed as a reaction to practical and epistemological questions, in the context of a scientific unit studying the architectural heritage (from both the historical sciences perspective, and an engineering science standpoint). The article presents the methodological and analytical potential of this system for the description, analysis and information sharing of research workflows.
The MEMORIA prototype is first and foremost an effort to build a tool that should help us to ensure the traceability, transmissibility and verifiability of scientific results and fulfil the challenges of open science (providing free access to the content produced). The specificity of the system is to empower a formal characterisation of processes that led to this or that research result by listing the most important elements necessary for a proper understanding of the result. An important point is the ambition to deploy visual interfaces providing access to resources and enabling direct analysis of the information collected. Ultimately, the project aims to depict a cognitive and methodological approaches behind scientific results using the possibilities offered by Information Visualisation.
The paper presents and defines the key concepts behind our approach and describes how they develop in practice. The theoretical aspects are illustrated with practical examples. The paper concludes with an analysis of the benefits and potential of the systematic approach to scientific process documentation that we introduce, highlighting its advantages and discussing its limitations.

PCIArchaeology

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zenodo

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This paper presents an online application - called 3D integrator - enabling visual cross-examinations of architectural and acoustic data on web browsers, and explains the rationale behind its development. The tool consists of a series of overlays developed over the Potree 3D point cloud renderer. It is used to display visually, in an interactive environment, the 3D point clouds resulting from a survey protocol tailored to the specific needs of the corpus under scrutiny – fifteen small scale edifices often referred to as “minor heritage assets” - and to the research’s overall ambition, reasoning on architectural and acoustic features at an interdisciplinary level. One of the tool’s distinctive features is to project abstract information (acoustic descriptors) in a “close to real” 3D space (point clouds), hence merging scientific visualisation and information visualisation practices. The paper first shortly sums up the particularities of the survey protocol, and discusses the implementation of the analytical add-ons that have been introduced (visual trace of the survey protocol itself, volume calculation, and exploratory 3D representation of acoustic descriptors). It then focuses on use cases that illustrate what the approach helps to observe concerning interiors of edifices when capturing and co-examining dimensional and acoustic features.

MDPI

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"Grey literature" document not controlled by commercial publishing

This document was formatted by N. Renaudin (MAP-Gamsau, UMR 3495 CNRS/MC).
The implementation of the online system was carried out between 2019 and 2022 by M. Rabefandroana (MAP-Gamsau, UMR 3495 CNRS/MC).
The maintenance of the IS is ensured by P. Bénistant (MAP-Gamsau, UMR 3495 CNRS/MC).
Knowledge elicitation work conducted with the participation of : N. Renaudin, L. Bergerot, N. Carboni, A. Alaoui M'darhri, L. De Luca, A. Pamart, P. Bénistant, J.Y. Blaise, F. De Domenico (MAP-Gamsau, UMR 3495 CNRS/MC) and X. Rodier, E. Lorans, G. Simon, O. Marlet (LAT, UMR 7324 CITERES).

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The document presents the classification of the 285 activities present in the MEMORIA information system in May 2022.
Activities are the 'atomic' elements of this system. They identify the different actions carried out during a research process. Within the MEMORIA IS activities are used in to build/elaborate graphs representing workflows mobilised to produce research outputs.
In the structuring stage of a process, activities are organised in sequences reflecting their relative order (e.g., chain sequences, parallel sequences, iterative sequences ...). Then, at the specification stage, they are detailed and annotated – picking up the relevant descriptors, singling out people involved in the activity, mentioning sources and inputs upon which the activity is based, instruments, temporal clues (e.g. dates or duration of activities), and so on.

To enable this use, activities were first identified through an elicitation campaign. Each activity was defined, exemplified and documented, and in most cases characterised by a set of specific descriptors. Activities are divided into five groups corresponding to different phases of work (data acquisition, data filtering and treatment, data analysis, exploitation protocols, finalisation). Within each group, activities are organised hierarchically from the most general to the most specific ones and represented in what we call "wheels of activities". This hierarchy is intended to provide flexibility: it allows the user to select a relatively generic activity where information is unclear or incomplete.

It should be noted that the list of activities present in the MEMORIA IS at this stage is not universal: it only corresponds to the needs of those who created and then extended it. Consequently, the definitions and their descriptors correspond to a specific context - this of the research and development activities of the laboratory of origin of the system (UMR 3495 CNRS/MC MAP) - the proposed definitions are therefore to be understood as aligned with the practices, knowledge or know-how of this laboratory. The initial set of activities was extended so as to include a group of activities related to building archaeology as a result of collaboration between UMR MAP-Gamsau and the LAT team (UMR 7324 CITERES).
It should be mentioned that the list of activities presented in this document represents a milestone in the development of the system, which we expect to be enriched as future collaborations are initiated. It therefore does not claim to be exhaustive, and the reader will note that while certain branches of the wheels of activities are quite developed, while others remain very general. Each extension will require the identification and organisation of discipline- or user- specific activities, and therefore will require further knowledge elicitation campaigns.

Memoria project

Memoria IS

introduction EN

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This paper presents an online application called 3D integrator enabling visual cross-examinations of architectural and acoustic data on web browsers, and explains the rationale behind its development. The tool consists of a series of overlays developed over the Potree 3D point cloud renderer. The 3D integrator is used to display visually, in an interactive environment, the 3D point clouds resulting from a survey protocol tailored to the specific needs of the corpus under scrutiny – fifteen small scale edifices often referred to as “minor heritage assets- and to the research’s overall ambition, co-reasoning on architectural and acoustic features at an interdisciplinary level. One of the tool’s distinctive features is to project abstract information (acoustic indicators) in a “close to real” 3D space (point clouds), hence merging scientific visualisation and information visualisation practices. The paper shortly sums up the particularities of the survey protocol, and discusses in detail the implementation of the analytical add-ons that have been introduced (visual trace of the survey protocol itself, exploitation of panoramas, volume calculation, and exploratory 3D representation of acoustic indicators). Finally, early uses of the tool are summarised and the services it actually offers at this stage are commented.

ISPRIS

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The MEMORIA prototype is an online information system offering a practical solution to formalize and describe research workflows. The initiative is based on the idea that beyond metadata describing outputs themselves, scientific results - especially in historical and heritage sciences - should be depicted with indicators that would allow for a better understanding of the process through which these results were achieved. The contribution summarizes the objectives of the system and briefly presents its main principles and its intrinsic limits.

video

RNTI-E-38

Memoria IS

poster

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Mid-term report, SESAMES research project

Description of the research works and of the results obtained at mid-term of the ANR-18-CE38-0009-01 SESAMES project (Program AAPG ANR 2018 - CES 38 The Digital Revolution: relations to knowledge and culture).

Abstract:

This paper reports on an interdisciplinary data acquisition and processing chain, the novelty of which is primarily to be found in a close integration of acoustic and spatial data. It provides a detailed description of the technological and methodological choices that were made in order to adapt to the particularities of the corpus studied (interiors of small scale rural architectural artefacts) keeping in mind the backbone objective of the research: facilitate comparisons (among buildings, among spatial and acoustic features). The research outputs pave the way for proportion-as-ratios analyses, as well as for the study of perceptual aspects from an acoustic point of view. Ultimately, “perceptual” acoustic data characterized by acoustic descriptors will be related to “objective” spatial data such as architectural metrics. The experiment is carried out on a set of fifteen “small-scale” rural chapels, which is a corpus intended at fostering cross-examinations in the context of an architectural programme acting as a constant. The specificity of this corpus, in terms of architectural layout, usage, and economic or access constraints, will be shown to have had a significant impact on choices made during the acquisition and processing chains.

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ACTA IMECO

Memoria IS

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Extension of the visual formalism called "diachrogram" (original knowledge visualisation device created and developed by I. Dudek and J.Y. Blaise) exploiting a model of description of the diachronic evolution of heritage objects (buildings)
The diachrograms‘role is to recap visually the lifeline of an architectural object as reported by a particular analyst, i.e. with regards to one and only one interpretation and understanding of the historical evidence. Diachrograms show successive Transformations of an object, with detailed consideration of the type, character and effects of particular alteration. They operate like a classic timeline – distance represents time with a given time granularity. Events are positioned in time, and the relative proportion of durations of particular states and transformations is retained. This naturally implies being able to define, position and quantify in time each alteration, and this univocally.
When analysing the evolution of an architectural object, there may be periods in the object’s lifeline for which that level of constraint is out of reach. The main weak point of the diachrograms formalism lies there: the necessity to choose one and only “path of evolution”. The reality may look different - the analyst sometimes does not have enough data to exclude alternative possibilities, and accordingly may need and want to retain them.
Privileging this or that interpretation in order to end up with one unique storyline also has an indirect consequence: it pushes the analyst into micro information spaces. The object is isolated from possible alternative causal relations, its storyline is marked by hidden choices that are made, and are relevant, only in the context of this object. The framework requires a good analysis of the artefacts before making any sense, implies to thoroughly describe the evidence (including by uncertainty “measurement”) and therefore is of little support in the early phases of investigations. However, the framework meets two principles for the analysis and presentation of data quoted by (Tufte, 2006): show causality, mechanism, explanation, systematic structure and integrate evidence.
The first methodological framework proposed in 2008 identified seven transitions and states occurring within a life cycle (abandon, decay, annexation, demolition, modification, secession and segmental anaesthesia), as well as 8 transitions and states starting or ending a life cycle (creation, extinction, hibernation, internment, merge, reincarnation, split and translocation). Tags used to denote these transitions and states have been chosen as illustrative enough to let the reader grab their semantics.
The "diachrogram" formalism has been questioned and extended since then, through a series of real cases encompassing a wide range of architectural settings (from urban civil and religious architecture to isolated, poorly documented rural chapels) . This document is a preliminary compilation of changes in the model itself, and consequences on the visual formalisms that are attached to it.
It comprises definitions of the concepts behind the approach, definition of the presentation grid, and tables that include a detailed definition of each state and/or transformation, along with the corresponding glyphs (“visual language”).
The role of this document is to present the method in a more in-depth way than what could be done previously through classic publications, to update it with recent research results, and to facilitate its cross-examination in the scientific community.

language: English
language remarks: all main concepts are also present in Polish and French

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MEMORIA IS>

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This document is an open working document resulting from the idea of making data and information available within the SESAMES project (ANR-18-CE38-0009-01).
The corpus studied is composed of fifteen rural chapels, spread over three departments of the SUD region (formerly Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): it comes under the notion of small heritage, presents similarities in terms of initial function, but was chosen with a view to diversity (spatial organisation, relationship to the site, architectural forms, etc.).
The present document is to be understood as working document that will provide a starting point for anyone interested in the buildings concerned. This openness is all the more important as the corpus under consideration may be largely ignored by the major institutional study and conservation programmes.
The present document brings together heterogeneous primary and secondary sources - bibliography, webography, iconography and cartography - concerning the developments (architecture, historical context) of the following corpus:

Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bethléem (Bras), Chapelle Saint-Probace, Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Salette, Chapelle Sainte-Marie de Seisson (Tourves), Chapelle Saint-Étienne (Saint-Martin-de-Pallières, Var), Chapelle Notre-Dame (Brue-Auriac, Var), Église Sainte-Marie, Chapelle Saint-Pancrace (Puyloubier, Bouches-du-Rhône), Chapelle Notre-Dame-du-Revest (Esparron-de-Pallières, Var), Chapelle Saint-Roch (La Verdière, Var), Chapelle Saint-Pierre (Peynier, Bouches-du-Rhône), Chapelle Notre-Dame d'Astors (Peyrolles-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône), Chapelle Saint-Patrice (Pierrevert, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Chapelle Saint-Pierre (Pierrerue, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), Chapelle Saint-Honorat, Chapelle Saint- Roch (Les Mées, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence)

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MEMORIA IS>

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This document is an open working document resulting from the idea of making data and information available within the SESAMES project (Semantisation and Spatialisation of Multi-Scale Heritage Artefacts: 3D annotation, Sonification and formalisation of reasoning).
The interactive PDF document provides a compilation of ensemble of 16 graphs of potential interactions produced for the fifteen chapels studied within the framework of the SESAMES project. The corpus studied is composed of fifteen rural chapels, spread over three departments of the SUD region (formerly Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): it falls under the notion of small heritage, presents similarities in terms of initial function, but was chosen with a view to diversity (spatial organisation, relationship to the site, architectural forms, etc.).
These visualizations organise visually in ordinal time heterogeneous pieces of information collected on each building (indications established or discussed, specific to the history of the building itself or to the context in which it evolved) with links to the sources.

Note: to take advantage of the interactive nature of these variations, the PDFs must be opened in AcrobatReader or FoxitReader and not in the web browser.

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MEMORIA IS>

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This document is an open working document resulting from the idea of making data and information available within the SESAMES project (Semantisation and Spatialisation of Multi-Scale Heritage Artefacts: 3D annotation, Sonification and formalisation of reasoning).
The interactive PDF document provides a compilation of ensemble of 16 graphs of potential interactions produced for the fifteen chapels studied within the framework of the SESAMES project. The corpus studied is composed of fifteen rural chapels, spread over three departments of the SUD region (formerly Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): it falls under the notion of small heritage, presents similarities in terms of initial function, but was chosen with a view to diversity (spatial organisation, relationship to the site, architectural forms, etc.).
These visualizations organise visually in ordinal time heterogeneous pieces of information collected on each building (indications established or discussed, specific to the history of the building itself or to the context in which it evolved) with links to the sources.

Note: to take advantage of the interactive nature of these variations, the PDFs must be opened in AcrobatReader or FoxitReader and not in the web browser.

HAL-SHS

MEMORIA IS>

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This document is an open working document resulting from the idea of making data and information available within the SESAMES project (Semantisation and Spatialisation of Multi-Scale Heritage Artefacts: 3D annotation, Sonification and formalisation of reasoning).
The present document proposes a compilation of all the chronographs produced for the fifteen chapels studied in the framework of the SESAMES project. The corpus studied is composed of fifteen rural chapels, spread over three departments of the SUD region (formerly Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): it falls under the notion of small heritage, presents similarities in terms of initial function, but was chosen with a view to diversity (spatial organisation, relationship to the site, architectural forms, etc.).
These visualisations (similar to the chronological frieze) allow the chronology of the transformation of each building studied to be synthesised. The 'diachrogram' highlights key moments in its evolution by differentiating the types of change and the successive states. The 'variogram' characterises the particularities of the transformations by differentiating the types of change: morphological (red), structural or material (yellow) and functional (blue).

Note: to take advantage of the interactive character of these variations, the PDFs must be opened in AcrobatReader or FoxitReader and not in the web browser.

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MEMORIA IS>

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This document is an open working document resulting from the idea of making data and information available within the SESAMES project (Semantisation and Spatialisation of Multi-Scale Heritage Artefacts: 3D annotation, Sonification and formalisation of reasoning).
It details in a structured form the information extracted from heterogeneous historical documentary sources in order to give a synthetic view of the evolution of the fifteen rural chapels in the PACA region. This information is the basis from which the visual synthesis work presented in other open documents (chronographs and Potential Interaction Graphs ) could be conducted.
The corpus studied is composed of fifteen rural chapels, spread over three departments of the SUD region (formerly Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): it falls under the notion of small heritage, presents similarities in terms of initial function, but was chosen with a view to diversity (spatial organisation, relationship to the site, architectural forms, etc.). These buildings have been the subject of a survey combining metric and sound data, and a diachronic study by restoring the major phases of evolution, in connection with the appropriate historical sources.
Within this framework, a series of synthesis documents, which the project wanted to be "open" for consultation by the scientific community, was produced with the aim of bringing together, by family of indices, the data and information produced for all the buildings. These documents are to be understood as working documents that will provide a starting point for anyone interested in the buildings concerned. This desire for openness is all the more important as the corpus under consideration may be largely overlooked by the major institutional study and conservation programmes.
This document should not be considered as a finalized document: it is a working document, in which the reader is likely to find typos, typological errors, variable formatting, etc.

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MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

Goals
Achievements
- new stages of conceptualization due to thematic enlargement
- creation of visual interfaces
- development of the information system
- database feed
- verification, validation and development of system evaluation metrics
- scientific collaboration and supervision of technical staff
- valuation
- list of publications (2019/2020)
- list of IT products/tools
Means mobilized
Appendices

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MEMORIA IS

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This contribution reports on a data acquisition and processing chain the novelty of which is primarily to be found in a close integration of acoustic and visual/metric data. Its outputs pave the way for proportion-as-ratios analyses, as well as for the study of perception aspects from the acoustic point of view. Ultimately, “perceptive” data will be related to “objective” data such as acoustic descriptors or architectural metrics. The experiment is carried out on a set of fifteen “small-scale” rural chapels, which is a corpus intended at fostering cross-examinations and comparative analyses. The specificity of this corpus in terms of architectural layout, of use, and of economic and access constraints, will be shown to have had a significant impact on the technical and methodological choice made all along the acquisition and processing.

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IMECO >

MEMORIA IS>

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In the last decades, many methods (e.g., digital photogrammetry, laser scanning, dense image matching, etc.) have been introduced that result in a renewed capacity of academics to produce large 3D datasets. Naturally research objectives, technological suites, levels of accuracy expected, or scales of objects under scrutiny strongly vary - hence a wide range of “outputs” corresponding to various data interpretation strategies.
But with that renewed capacity a methodological question emerges: does the “massive amount” of 3D data a survey results in really corresponds to the analytical need? Ultimately, is the added-value of “going massive” undeniable?
We argue that this capacity to “go massive” can also open opportunities to investigate new analytical filters. We base on the idea that more 3D data does not imply abandoning our capacity to synthesize - low cost survey suites can in fact give us a chance to revisit fundamental metrics in the history of architecture: proportions, rather than exhaustive dimensioning.
We investigate how a low-res 3D point cloud can be re-read with the aim of identifying simple ratios and geometric relations, in other words of extracting meaningful architectural features, in the context of a citizen-science initiative.
The paper underlines the cognitive potential of reading proportions in the history of architecture (both at design and analysis levels) and focuses on an experimentation conducted on a set of “comparable” edifices. The approach exemplifies a shift from a one-shot, exhaustive documentation of one edifice to a workflow dedicated at decoding and visualising relations inside a collection.

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As a result of the massive introduction of computer-assisted research workflows in and around the analysis of heritage items, we are today witnessing a blooming of highly specialized, and sometimes obscure for outsiders, data processing chains. Operations conducted on this or that site include a vast range of digitization activities and an equally vast array of post-processing roadmaps.
The amount, diversity, and sometimes complexity of these operations are definitely a challenging aspect of the heritage science community’s move towards “more” digital data acquisition and processing. It hinders that community’s ability to identify and share, beyond results, methods and argumentation. In particular, it jeopardizes its capacity to preserve and explain research processes on the long term, and therefore to ensure their reproducibility (obviously a key methodological issue if processes should fall within a “scientific” approach).

The paper presents the MEMORIA research, aimed at experimenting a practical solution for the formalization and intersubjective description of research workflows.
The initiative bases on the idea that, beyond metadata describing outputs themselves, the scientific community concerned is awaiting for means to ensure their verifiability, reproducibility and comparability. The paper focuses on two aspects:
• A real-case experimentation on a series of investigations we have conducted on the historical centre of Krakow (Poland) over the last 15 years.
• A feedback on difficulties to foresee at a methodological level, for instance in terms of grain (what exactly should be recorded? Each and every click inside a given computer software? Certainly not...)

HAL-SHS

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Analysing and depicting in 3D the design and transformations of urban structures have been concerns ever since the nineteenth century, for both historians and urban planners. What exactly is the impact of the digital humanities on the way we use today’s means of investigation? How can we usefully support the analyst’s tasks, by visual means, in the context of historical research and on the large scale of a city? This chapter describes real experiments that were carried out on the city centre of Krakow, former capital of Poland. Through these experiments, the authors consider the fundamental issues of imperfect knowledge in the historical sciences, the need to and constraints of handling ill-defined temporal data, and the necessity to at least complement “classic” virtual reconstruction efforts with visual solutions that better match the nature of the underlying data. The data are a heterogeneous collection of structures that differ in terms not only of morphology and use but also of documentation quality. The authors introduce an approach that is based on the idea that the gap between the historical sciences and information visualisation (via InfoVis) should and can now be filled. They show the potential added value of InfoVis-inspired abstract graphics in supporting analysis tasks regarding the evolution of urban structures, with the hope that this methodological bridge can be a solution particularly in the context of urban analysis.

GoogleBooks>

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The citizen science paradigm and the practices related to it have for the last decade called a wide attention, beyond academics, in many application fields with as a result a significant impact on discipline-specific research processes and on information sciences as such. Indeed, in the specific context of minor heritage (tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets that are left aside from large official heritage programmes), citizen-birthed contributions appear as a major opportunity in the harvesting and enrichment of data sets. With more content made available on the net by a variety of local actors, we may have reached a moment when collecting and analysing spatio-historical information appears “easier”, with citizens acting as potential (and legitimate) sensors. But is it really “easier”? And if so, at what cost? Having a closer look on practical challenges behind the curtain can avoid turning the above-mentioned opportunity into a lost one. This contribution discusses feedbacks from a research initiative aimed at better circumscribing the difficulties one has to foresee if wanting to harvest and visualise pieces of data on minor heritage collections and then to derive from them spatial, temporal and thematic knowledge. The contribution focuses on four major aspects: a feedback on the information and on the information available, a description grid for factors of imperfection to be anticipated, visual solutions we have experimented in order to support analytical tasks, and lessons learnt in terms of relations between academics and information providers.

SpringerLink

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Knowledge management systems are today part of many research protocols where they act as powerful means to share, use, organize and maintain knowledge and information. They remain however tricky to apply in the specific context of heritage science where workflows include a long tail of subjective human decisions, of non-explicit research protocols, of poorly formalised pieces of knowledge, of undocumented, non-reproducible, intuitive interpretations, etc. Yet the heritage science community has witnessed over the past decades the emergence of huge quantities of digital outputs, either following massive digitization efforts, or as a result of the growing capacity of actors to produce digital-born material. How can this move be supported in terms of reproducibility, reusability and cross-examination of results if research protocols remain non-formalised one-shot efforts?
The presentation will introduce a research program MEMORIA, aimed at experimenting a practical solution for the formalization and intersubjective description of research workflows. This initiative is based on the idea that, beyond metadata describing outputs themselves, the scientific community concerned is awaiting means to ensure their verifiability, reproducibility and comparability.

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URL workshop

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The research presented in this paper basis on the premise that segmenting textual content into successive situations according to four components - space, time, actors and motion – can help depicting a storyline in a way that facilitates comparative analyses across texts, and ultimately fostering knowledge discovery.
The paper presents the original aim of the project and sums up the knowledge modelling choices made in order to formalise the segmentation procedure through which sequences of situations are extracted. We then present several proof of concept visualisations that facilitate visual reasoning on the structure, rhythm, patterns and variations of heterogeneous texts, and summarise how the space, time, actors and motion components are organised inside a given narrative.
The approach was tested across various types of text, in three languages, and the paper details some of the potential benefits of the resulting visualisations on the specific case of R. Queneau’s "Exercises in style". The paper is concluded with a straight to the point analysis of the approach’s actual weaknesses and limitations

HAL-SHS

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Project objectives and context, Results (Objects of study and type of data collected, Experimental platform, Exploratory developments, Workshop days and final study day, Conclusions), Annexes

Territographie >

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The citizen science paradigm and the practices related to it have for the last decade called a wide attention, beyond academics, in many application fields with as a result a significant impact on discipline-specific research processes and on information sciences as such. Indeed, in the specific context of minor heritage (tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets that are left aside from large official heritage programs), citizen-birthed contributions appear as a major opportunity in the harvesting and enrichment of data sets (notwithstanding data quality and heterogeneity issues). In parallel, it seems we have today reached a moment when the acquisition and analysis of spatio-historical information appears “easier” since citizens are seen as potential (and legitimate) sensors. But is it really “easier”? And if so, at what cost? Having a closer look on practical challenges behind the curtain can avoid turning the above mentioned opportunity into a lost one. In this contribution we present a research initiative that aims at better circumscribing the difficulties one has to foresee when wanting to harvest and visualize pieces of data on minor heritage collections, and then to derive from them spatial, temporal, and thematic knowledge. The contribution focuses on three aspects: a short analysis of citizen contributions in the context of minor heritage, a description of the case study and of the data modelling bottlenecks we are facing, and an exemplification of the visual analysis solutions we experiment in order to portray and question our understanding of collections. The case study acts as a test bench helping to investigate data harvesting and modelling challenges, as well as potential added-value of the visualization step.

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Time is an indispensable component of cultural heritage (CH) information: implementing appropriate knowledge models carry crucial importance in order to provide deeper understanding of heritage elements' evolution, to uncover concurrences, and to weigh quality factors. It is a challenging task though due to the uncertain characteristics of temporal data, and to the wording of time in the CH discourse. Existing KR models are either not designed for these distinctive characteristics, or spatial aspects tend to upstage the temporal dimension.
This research aims at deciphering and proposing a formal representation of the way temporal hints are formalized in historical narratives. An OWL temporal ontology is introduced that provides a core support mechanism allowing for a semantic representation of temporal statements, and for structural analysis. The objective is to facilitate the cross-examination of temporal hints in and across CH collections so that specialists can have extensive reading possibilities of heritage information.

RNTI >

HAL-SHS

Abstract:

Thanks to citizen-side contributions, heritage scientists can now quite often gather large amount of spatio-temporal data about heritage artefacts. In the context of minor heritage collections, which often slip through large-scale heritage programs, accessing such data sets may be a decisive turn in uncovering important clues, or significant relationships in and across collections. In other words, the “citizen science” paradigm seemingly opens a whole new range of opportunities at research level (e.g., enrichment of data, comparative analyses, multidisciplinary annotations) and for co
llection holders (e.g., networking, “intangible” museums).
Yet, due to the nature of such data sets (e.g., heterogeneity in the wording, in the precision, verifiability issues, contradictions), these opportunities also raise challenges, in particular when wanting to foster cross examinations by heritage scientists. The global objective of our research is to better weigh how the nature of citizen-side contributions can impact the way information can be recorded, formalized, and visualized.
In this paper a clear focus is put on the space and time parameters: geo-visualization, and spatio-temporal data visualization. The paper introduces a series of open-source geo-visualization solutions that have been designed for use in the context of information sets harvested from citizen-side e-sources, and that help document minor heritage assets.
The results we present show that hybrid visualizations can act as a basis for comparative reasoning and analysis, but also that the core service we should manage to offer is definitely an infovis one: getting to understand (at last) what we really know (and ignore).

Springer Link

Territographie

Abstract:

Scientists and academics have over the last decades been the witnesses of a profound shift in research practices, induced by the growing influence of “digital technologies” at large. One of the consequences of the introduction and use of those technologies (and methods) are changes in research pragmatics (e.g. a renewal of workflows, a renewal of data exchange and publication paradigms and practices).
In the specific context of human and social sciences also, actors have acquired new tools that strongly influence their research practices. Yet the very nature of the cognitive processes concerned (and in particular the role of individual, somehow subjective interpretation steps) invites us to look into the consequences of the above shift with a sharp eye. With new opportunities often come new issues, new difficulties, and new hazards.
The MEMORIA project addresses some of these issues in an application field where constraints in relation with heritage Sciences meet practices, protocols, tools stemming from the engineering and information sciences. One of the key ethical issue that is discussed is the influence of digital technologies – supposedly positive– on our capacity to perpetuate and transmit to future generations pieces of data as well as elements of knowledge. The mantra behind the MEMORIA project is the idea that what needs to be formalized, shared, transmitted are not only results of research processes, but the result along with the production process. In other words the project aims at helping actors to "memorize" not only a digital resource but also and maybe above all the way it was created, the methods, protocols, choices, and subjective layers of interpretations that need to be worded if wanting to make of it a meaningful, reusable scientific document. In an application field where practices are often poorly documented, inferences sometimes subjective, and instrumentations ever more heterogeneous and pregnant, the issue is not trivial.
The contribution combines a down to earth presentation of the actual system under development with a more general vision of how researchers are today confronted to ethical challenges on the specific aspect of memorization, but also on more general terms.

HAL-SHS

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

Knowledge-based systems, are today part of many research protocols where they act as powerful means to model, implement and cross-examine the workflows that lead from a set of inputs to a set of outputs.
They remain however tricky to apply in the specific context of heritage science where workflows include a long tail of subjective human decisions, of non-explicit research protocols, of poorly formalised pieces of knowledge, of highly individual skills, of undocumented, non-reproducible, intuitive interpretations, when not simply of licentia artistica. Yet the heritage science community has witnessed over the past decades the emergence of huge quantities of digital outputs, either following massive digitization efforts, or as a result of the growing capacity of actors to produce digital-born material. How can this move be supported in terms of reproducibility, reusability and cross-examination of results if research protocols remain non-formalised one-shot efforts?
The research presented in this paper bases on the idea that what should be formalised and shared with future generations are not end results alone (outputs) but the methods and processes that lead the making of the output (human skills, tools, technological procedures, cognitive processes, scientific protocols, etc.).
Our contribution addresses a pending issue: how can we today complement traditional approaches to heritage assets documentation with means to describe and record research processes and workflows? The infrastructure we propose raises knowledge representation, visualisation, and information management issues. It applies primarily to a range of specific cultural heritage related artefacts, but is expected to be fairly generic in terms of methodology. In this paper we describe the methods employed in order to elicit underlying activities, support team elicitation through ad-hoc visualisations, promote a consistent visual interfacing of the underlying Information System.

IJCH >

HALSHS >

Abstract:

Online route planners and travel reservations systems have become in the past years part of our everyday lives. Such sites, originating from the airlines themselves or oriented on “search and compare” tasks, do provide valuable services. But the very nature of the queries users formulate (ultimate result: one flight) limits the type of information one can expect to retrieve, and in particular does not allow to get an overall view of an airport’s flight offer over time and in space. In this contribution we introduce a proof-of-concept visualisation that sums up in a synthetic way the [where to, when to] profile of an airport, its realm of possibilities. The visualisation acts as an upstream service, independently of any actual reservation loop: its main role is to help unveiling significant spatio-temporal patterns (densities and continuity over time for instance). The prototype is implemented on a real life data set: the winter 2013/2014 schedule of the airport in Nice. Ultimately, beyond a discussion on the issue, on the pluses and minuses of the prototype, this position paper questions the way travel data is presented, and as such can promote debates over the potential impact of information visualisation solutions in that context.

SciTePress

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

Supporting knowledge discovery through visual means is a hot research topic in the field of visual analytics in general, and a key issue in the analysis of textual data sets. In that context, the StorylineViz study aims at developing a generic approach to narrative analysis, supporting the identification of significant patterns inside textual data, and ultimately knowledge discovery and sensemaking. It builds on a text segmentation procedure through which sequences of situations are extracted. A situation is defined by a quadruplet of components: actors, space, time and motion. The approach aims at facilitating visual reasoning on the structure, rhythm, patterns and variations of heterogeneous texts in order to enable comparative analysis, and to summarise how the space/time/actors/motion components are organised inside a given narrative. It encompasses issues that are rooted in Information Sciences - visual analytics, knowledge representation – and issues that more closely relate to Digital Humanities – comparative methods and analytical reasoning on textual content, support in teaching and learning, cultural mediation.

Abstract:

Passing on the knowledge of a “historical object”, as it is - together with its doubts and open questions - is a challenging task. This book is an attempt to trace, structure and present visually what is known, or ill-known, about the architectural transformations of the objects that stand or once stood on Krakow’s Main Market Square. It can be seen as a catalogue summing up in a synthetic way an admittedly fairly wide - but nevertheless not exhaustive - selection of facts and information on wooden and brick- or stone-built objects. Frequently described monumental architectural objects are investigated, along with some less known to the large public, and about which it is easier to remain silent than to write due to the extent of the unknown. The text and visual materials introduce and exemplify an interdisciplinary method (bridging historical sciences and information visualisation), the purpose of which is to depict accurately how much we know about the past of architectural objects.

Hal-SHS

Section 1

Section 2

Section 3

Section 4

Abstract:

Objectives, Human and material resources
Developments (2015-2016), Results, Publications, Online resources, Collaborations and scientific links, Annexe

Hal-SHS

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

Nowadays, a diverse number of cartographical products are attempting to integrate the notion of time in their map views, through animated cartography and geovisualization platforms. These questions about representing time and timescales are not new. Many visual solutions have been proposed to carry out reasoning on both space and time in a very efficient and effective way. These representations of spatial dynamics constitute a heritage for modern visualizations. They can be classified in three families of practice: chronography (time oriented), cartography (space oriented) and statistics (theme oriented). This article deals with a review of past and current spatio-temporal visualizations. We first proposed a review of past approaches in spatio-temporal visualizations. We tried to determine how this whole heritage constitutes the foundations of modern cartographical exploration. Second, we analyzed a set of 42 dynamic cartographical visualizations on the Web on the basis of 13 criteria, which covered proposed functional features, semiological innovationsand services rendered. This analysis revealed common associations of parameters and trends among current webmaps showing dynamics, but also a low diversity of certain dimensions of webmaps. We finally positioned them into MacEachren’s “map-use cube” (1994), which is a frame of reference for geovisualizations analysis. Two new categories were intergrated in the cube, which superseded others in the webmaps case: map for data contextualization and maps for data presentation.

ICC_proceedings

Abstract:

When trying to depict how architecture gets transformed over time, it is important to try and spot and analyse temporal relations between architectural changes on one hand and facts or events that may have triggered or at least impacted on these changes.
In this contribution we introduce a visual metaphor called historySkyline aimed at aligning in time architectural events (any changes, including destruction or extension) and facts that may have impacted these events (in short, pieces of information about historical contexts). Visual metaphors are commonly used to uncover temporal patterns in the field of information visualisation (InfoVis). Our experiment, carried out on the historic centre of the city of Cracow, shows that such an approach can be worth trying out in the context of historical sciences, and underlines some of the specific challenges this application field raises.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

This paper introduces the early results of a research programme called MEMORIA that aims at developing an information system enabling the description, structuring and storage of digital outputs produced in the course of Heritage Architecture studies.
Our objective is to memorize not only a given result – i.e. a digital asset - but its making-of - in other words to record and share with future generations a work process rather than solely its outcomes. Digital assets are on the one hand described by a set of “classic” parameters (e.g. format, authors, creation date, etc.) and on the other hand associated with a process (concept that should be understood as a chain of activities).
Ultimately, the project investigates how a digital resource resulting from a human-birthed cognitive process can be associated with descriptors ensuring that all actions mobilised to produce the resource are recorded, and therefore ensuring a sort-of scientific traceability of the "final" digital document.

ieeexplore.ieee.org

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

Time is today becoming a crucial aspect in the acquisition, handling and processing of geographic information. This text presents the results of a project entitled « État des lieux des représentations dynamiques des temporalités des territoires » (2014), thanks to which the authors analysed alternatives experiences and models that emerge today when needing to convey temporal information along with spatial information, with no ambition for exhaustivity.

http://thema.univ-fcomte.fr

Abstract:

In many complex, multi-faceted, problem-solving situations there is a growing need to pull together various competences and backgrounds, i.e. a need to better balance specialisation and interdisciplinarity. But when scientific backgrounds, competences, references, specialized languages and specialized knowledge are too far apart people involved in an interdisciplinary process face a real communication challenge. Communication is here not the best word – it minors the challenge. What actors face is the challenge to reach a common understanding of facts and of pictures of facts, in other words to build a common, unambiguous, knowledge space. Not making this effort often results in misunderstandings, and accordingly in delays and inefficiency. At the end of the day, results may turn out as a nice patchwork rather than as new knowledge. In this contribution we show that it can be worth having actors get aware of distances between them, of overlaps and non-overlaps in terms of methods, specialised language, references and concepts. We present a series of short experiments that are an attempt to “measure” and then visualize the above mentioned distances.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Analysts are today given (or develop) a wide range of powerful visual reasoning tools, of leading-edge platforms where services like high interactivity, high computing capacity, structured knowledge, processing of complex reasoning tasks on massive data, are duly implemented. Classic 18th or 19th century DataViz solutions may then appear as respectable, but deprecated – far too simple to match today’s challenges. In this paper we try to show that the very simplicity of these solutions can still be of help in problem-solving situations. We first revisit some great classics in order to uncover patterns and exceptions inside a data set consisting of incomplete historical evidence on groups of stalls that used to be located on the market square in Cracow. We show that, once reinterpreted and re-implemented, classic visualisations like tableaux poléométriques of Charles De Fourcroy or Munehisa Homma’s candlestick chart can be successfully reused to read other types of data than these for which they were designed. We then introduce an online, free to use implementation of these classics that we expect to weigh through a sort-of crowdsourcing approach to which extent they can act as relevant and generic visual formalisms. Finally, we underline the potential contribution of this research in terms of methodology, and discuss in what simplicity proves here helpful.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

The project's aim is to identify and compare current computer solutions (both in terms of modelling and of visualisation) when wanting to analyse spatial dynamics. Results are a sort-of "critical" state of the art, pointing out leading practices, and underlining unthought-of lines of research. Besides the actual report a number of outcomes are available on the net (in French).

PUCA projet

Abstract:

Reasoning about time: issues and feedback from experiences

This contribution is a methodology-oriented discussion over how analysts of heritage architecture can handle the parameter time. The paper first argues that we are not equally equipped (in terms of concepts, in terms of computer formalisms) to handle space & time, in particular when dealing with historical data sets where lacks and doubts are key. Focus is then put on time, and we observe that relevant contributions to the problem of timeoriented data, and to the uncertainty issue, have lately emerged in the visual analytics scientific community. We then propose a categorisation of the notion of uncertainty, and finally introduce and exemplify generic characteristics of the parameter time in order to reinforce the analyst’s capacity to perform cumulative, comparison-rich, reasoning tasks.

OpenEdition Books

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Results and outcomes of the "Modelling and visualising spatial dynamics : Reasoning on long time spans and uncertainty" workshop and tutorials oranised in late 2012 under the auspices of CNRS. The report itself is targeted at the funding agency, but some of the results mentioned have been published in 2014 (see "Picturing what others know: towards a dashboard for interdisciplinarity" above).

visualResults

HalSHS

Abstract:

Passing on the knowledge of a “historical object”, as it is - together with its doubts and open questions - is a challenging task. This book is an attempt to trace, structure and present visually what is known, or ill-known, about the architectural transformations of the objects that stand or once stood on Krakow’s Main Market Square. It can be seen as a catalogue summing up in a synthetic way an admittedly fairly wide - but nevertheless not exhaustive - selection of facts and information on wooden and brick- or stone-built objects. Frequently described monumental architectural objects are investigated, along with some less known to the large public, and about which it is easier to remain silent than to write due to the extent of the unknown. The text and visual materials introduce and exemplify an interdisciplinary method (bridging historical sciences and information visualisation), the purpose of which is to depict accurately how much we know about the past of architectural objects.

This book is about:

architecture the way it really is, ever-changing rather than everlasting,
history, packed with hints needing interpretation, with alternative scenarios and possibilities,

visual thinking, a non-verbal, insight-gaining reasoning process,

Krakow’s Main Market Square, unique, yet typical.

It contains:

facts, information and references about the evolution of 41 objects located on Krakow’s Main Market Square, described through 349 transformations,

191 visualisations and diagrams commenting on the state of our knowledge at the time of writing the book, and helping to recount and compare the stories of those 41 objects,

a selection of analogous examples, including 180 objects illustrated,

a detailed bibliography comprising over 700 references (studies and source texts, iconography, plans and restitutions, websites, scientific and popular literature) either on Krakow’s Main Market Square, on analogous example, or on methodological issues.

VisualCatalogue >

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

This paper’s main claim is that analytical reasoning on spatio-temporal diffusion patterns requires a step into abstraction that traditional figurative solutions like maps or 3D virtual models do not encourage. Accordingly, we investigate alternative research practices, namely infovis (Information visualisation) and visual analytics, where the focus is put on revealing patterns of change, and more generally on gaining insight on individuals and collections through visual means.
We introduce four graphic combinations implemented on a test case – Zbigniew Dmochowski’s architecture of Poland, a respected and comprehensive classification of architectural facts & trends in Poland over a millennium that combines morphological, stylistic and functional division lines. The contribution presents the pluses and minuses of these combinations, the arguments behind their making, how they have shed (or not) a new light on the test case.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When investigating the evolution of historic architecture, and putting together various pieces of information (each with its specific characteristics in terms of precision, scope and reliability), time points and intervals the analyst will identify are often inconsistent in terms of granularity.
Our contribution introduces graphic solutions that combine multiple aspects of the parameter time, and particularly multiple granularities. As a first step, we initially propose a visual comparison of 25 alternative calendars, covering a wide range of historic periods and cultures or civilisations.
This first result is then extended to propose a more generic framework for visualising time with multiple granularities. It is applied on two very different test cases.
The contribution will present the concepts and ideas behind this research, as well as their practical applications on the tests cases and accordingly their possible benefits for researchers and practitioners in historic sciences.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

A common task when trying to understand pieces of architecture inside a site is to spot, document and depict changes over time. This task pulls together different actors, with different agendas, and covers a rather heterogeneous set of challenges. Ever since XIXth pioneering works like Minard’s thematic cartography, or Marey’s graphic method, we are entitled to believe that depicting dynamics of change requires specific means - in other words that the analysis of changes implies rethinking traditional visual tools like cartography, sections, 3D graphics (etc.). In the “information age” too, with the emergent “visual analytics” research field, innovative graphic solutions are put to the fore that renew our capacity to analyse and make decision on spatio-temporal data sets.
We will introduce an experimental device, called “tangible chronology” developed in order to represent changes that occurred on Krakow’s market square (24 artefacts, 64 successive changes) over a period of 750 years. The device combines a master board, tangible models of the artefacts, with a coding of their position on the board and in ordinal time, and a tangible timeline for each artefact with a coding of different types of changes, of durations, as well as of uncertainty (in the dating). Initially designed for the blind, our first proof-of-concept prototype was then extended to match the requirements of edutainment tasks in the context of museum animation.
Naturally our aim is not to question the usefulness of computers: tangible models we present come out of a fully computer-operated design and production process. Backed up by experiment, our contribution will discuss in what tangible models could serve content holders or academics specifically in historic sciences, and in what their making there calls specific attention and methods.

Hal-SHS

MEMORIA IS>

Archaeology in the Digital Era

Abstract:

This paper’s aim is to discuss and illustrate through a gallery of milestones in what Infovis techniques, methods and concepts can be fruitfully applied and/or questioned in the context of the MoDyS thematic school – i.e. when dealing with ill-defined information sets, time, uncertainties, etc. Operational differences between visualisation and representation shall be pointed out in a short introduction. We then wish to focus on the general legacy – statistics and cartography according to M.Friendly, and on some stunning historic examples of how the time parameter can be visualised. Finally, basing on a short list of “recommendations” for good graphic design from E.R Tufte, we will conclude with a critical (but hopefully recreational) examination of mainstream chronology representations.

Abstract:

When investigating the evolution of historic architecture, and putting together various pieces of information (each with its specific characteristics in terms of precision, scope and reliability), time points and intervals the analyst will identify are often inconsistent in terms of granularity. Simple from at the first glance, the problem of time granularity becomes more and more complicated when we start to study it. Our contribution introduces graphic solutions that combine multiple aspects of the parameter time, and particularly multiple granularities. As a first step, we initially propose a visual comparison of 25 alternative calendars, covering a wide range of historic periods and cultures or civilisations. The contribution will present the concepts and ideas behind this research, as well as their practical applications on the tests cases and accordingly it possible benefits for researchers and practitioners in historic sciences.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Our objective is to support reasoning tasks in heritage architecture with graphics enabling analysts to visualise and share their understanding of how, from a given set of information, alternative scenarios or evolution can be inferred. The paper comments on the nature of the cognitive processes in historical sciences, on factors that need to be weighed when interpreting sets of information, and on the characteristics of the parameter time when depicting architectural changes. Visual solutions are illustrated and evaluated on real cases in Kraków, Poland. They help spotting where alternative explanations should be considered in order to avoid unjustified assumptions and certitudes on the evolution of artefacts. The contribution expects to demonstrate that reasoning on uncertainties in historical sciences can be fruitfully backed up by concepts and practices from the InfoVis community.

dblp.uni-trier.de

HAL

Abstract:

When observing architectural mouldings with an amateur’s eye, they do seem to have something in common – or at least comparable features. But what, precisely? Curves? Alternation of curves? Rhythms and proportions? This contribution introduces a concept that aggregates abstract features of a 3D moulded object, may the object be real (existing or having existed) or purely theoretical (from literature). Our research – at the intersection of architectural modelling and of information visualisation, investigates how new metrics, along with a cognition-amplifying visual encoding, could help uncover patterns and exceptions in the design of mouldings (across historical periods, across territories, across stylistic affiliations, across families of 3D objects, and across sources) and ultimately could help gaining insight on relations of mouldings to one another, and to the architectural theory.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In order to acquire and share a better understanding architectural changes, researchers face the challenge of modelling and representing events (cause and consequences) occurring in space and time, and for which assessments of doubts are vital. This contribution introduces a visualisation designed to facilitate reasoning tasks, in which a focus view on evidence about what hap-pens to artefact λ at time t is a complemented with a context view where succes-sive spatial configurations of neighbouring artefacts, durations of changes, and punctual events are correlated and tagged with uncertainty markers.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Our objective is to support reasoning tasks in heritage architecture with graphics enabling analysts to visualise and share their understanding of how, from a given set of information, alternative scenarios or evolution can be inferred. The paper comments on the nature of the cognitive processes in historical sciences, and on factors that need to be weighed when interpreting sets of information. Visual solutions are proposed, and illustrated on real cases in Kraków Poland. They help spotting where alternative explanations should be considered in order to avoid unjustified assumptions and certitudes on the evolution of artefacts. The contribution expects to demonstrate that reasoning on uncertainties in historical sciences can be fruitfully backed up by concepts and practices from the infovis community.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When observing architectural mouldings with an amateur's eye, they do seem to have something in common – or at least comparable features. But what, precisely? Curves? Alternation of curves? Rhythms and proportions? This contribution introduces a concept that aggregates abstract features of a 3D moulded object, may the object be real (existing or having existed) or purely theoretical (from literature). Our research – at the intersection of architectural modelling and of information visualisation, investigates how new metrics, along with a cognition-amplifying visual encoding, could help uncover patterns and exceptions in the design of mouldings (across historical periods, across territories, across stylistic affiliations, across families of 3D objects, and across sources) and ultimately could help gaining insight on relations of mouldings to one another, and to the architectural theory.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When studying heritage architecture, and trying to represent and understand the development of artefacts, one should not only examine key moments in their evolution, but describe the whole process of their transformation - thereby correlating contextual causes and architectural consequences. In this contribution, we introduce a methodological framework of description of architectural changes, the corresponding visual tools, and finally present elements of evaluation. The results we report show the description framework favours information discovery: cross-examination of cases, analysis of causal relations, patterns of change, etc.

Hal-SHS

www.web-intelligence

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

The design and the making of mouldings in historic architecture is a good example of how complex relations of geometric features to semantic ones can be. Can architects who deal with historic artefacts, and who practice with computer solutions from the engineering world, still handle knowledge before handling geometry? This paper presents two very different case studies through which comprehensive analysis/modelling /representation processes have been implemented. In a converging conclusion, it introduces a visual codification of mouldings. The contribution underlines the benefits of implementing a robust theoretical model of mouldings in the analysis of historic artefacts, notably in order to facilitate comparative dating, survey operations, typology analysis.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

The importance we attach to 3D is probably related to the manner we perceive the world. Humans in general seem attracted by all types of representations that are close to their perception. They represent objects and preserve information that seems important to them (ex. architecture). Archiving 3D data has at all times been a matter of will more that a matter of means. Since the XIXth century considerable efforts have been made to keep trace of 3D artefacts with the development of photogrammetry. The creation, the use and the archiving of 3D content is today at a technological and methodological crossroad, with a number of sustainability challenges clearly still open. With more technologies available and a renewed eagerness of data holders to develop spatial interfaces (including within GIS systems), the perennial handling of 3D content and associated information has become a challenge in itself. Indeed, 3D models have for now two decades flourished in and around the field of architecture and especially when seen as heritage. But their making, often “in spontaneous generation”, and the variety of their uses leaves researchers and practitioners with a number of unanswered questions on: - how to handle the growing heterogeneity of 3D data acquisition procedures, - how to distribute and access information inside 3D models / metaphors. In this contribution we wish to focus on the artefact itself (i.e. a 3D phenomenon) and on how to gain insight on its creation and its transformation. Our claim is that understanding of architectural artefact requires an analysis of evidence that does comprise 3D data, but that obviously requires much more than that. Accordingly we very briefly consider the “3D as a content” issue in the first section, and then detail various experiments where 3D act as a mean to distribute in time and space what in our mind should be the centre of our concern : the information about the artefact.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Heritage sites match the interests of many in that they materialise historical influences and differences. When analysing their evolution, researchers may take into account various indicators, ranging from specific pieces of data (survey of remains, interpretation of archival material, etc.), to generic pieces of knowledge (historical context, comparable cases, etc.). But gaining a global, context-rich vision of how an artefact or a site developed through time implies integration and a multidisciplinary cross-examination of these indicators. Since indicators cover a variety of disciplines (history, archaeology, but also knowledge representation, computer graphics, surveying technologies…), they often remain in disciplinary barriers (each discipline reading the artefact through its own indicators). In addition, a wide range of new, discipline-oriented, computer tools are today being used, which often raise complex methodological challenges for investigators: in short, the architectural heritage sometimes appears as a playground or other disciplines.

Abstract:

When studying heritage artefacts and trying to represent what we know of them, it is important to portray not only key moments in evolution of artefacts, but also processes of transformation. In this contribution, we introduce a methodological framework of description of artefacts’ transformation and investigate the usability and efficiency of diagrammatic representation as a mean to visualize the above mentioned framework. A focus of our interest is the way artefacts get transformed. The methodological proposal presented identifies as a central notion: a life cycle - a sum of states and transitions following in succession- in what can be seen as a diachronic approach. We then introduce the diagrams proposed in order to visualise the above mentioned life cycles and provide examples on major or minor architecture within the medieval part of the town of Kraków (former capital of Poland, experimental set for this research). Two types of diagrams are introduced: diachrograms that distribute along a time axis transitions and states, and variograms that detail the nature of the changes. A combination of these graphics should help better understanding, in a cleat-cut manner, how changes over time affect architecture. But it should also underline key aspects of data in “historical sciences”: uncertainties, incompleteness, long ranges of time, unevenly distributed physical and temporal stratigraphy.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When studying heritage artefacts, it is important to understand, communicate and cross-examine indications about how they evolved through time. Changes occurring in the artefact's morphology or functional role, once properly described and distributed in time, can be represented using linear graphics called timelines. Timelines have been, before and within the computer age, a classical and easy to understand visual support enabling the representation of chronologies, with in a number of examples a parallel reading of heterogeneous indications (historical context, cultural context, major dramatic events, etc.). In this paper, we first propose an overview of various types of timelines, applied to the analysis of architectural changes. We then introduce real-case experiments in which timelines are designed not only as a time-distribution representation, but also as information visualisation tools. The experimental set covers over 700 transformations within the urban centre of the city of Kraków. These experiments present the benefits of alternative graphic disposals that allow comparative and analytical readings of indications about artefacts changes, and can ultimately enhance information uncovering.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Because investigations about sites or artefacts require collecting and sorting out distributed and heterogeneous pieces of information, the handling of these pieces of information has, with the development of information technologies, opened a number of research issues. We focus here on the interfacing of collections through visual means. We introduce Infosphere, an experimental disposal aimed at sorting out and visualising the information behind heritage artefacts or sites. Infosphere combines a 3D metaphoric model of the artefact under scrutiny, a geovisualisation metaphor (parallels/meridians of a globe), with parallels, meridians and diameter of the globe corresponding to sort criteria (discrete elements of the artefact's morphology, documents, time). The disposal is evaluated on the “signal light tower” in Marseilles, a XVIIth century edifice barring the entrance to the city's port.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When studying heritage artefacts, and trying to represent what we know of them, it is important to portray not only key moments in their evolution, but also processes of transformation. In this contribution, we introduce a methodological framework of description of architectural changes, and investigate diagrammatic representations as means to visualize the above mentioned framework. We introduce two types of diagrams (diachrograms that distribute along a time axis transitions and states, variograms that detail the nature of the changes) that should help better understanding, how changes over time affect architecture. The paper also underlines key aspects of data in “historical sciences”: uncertainties, incompleteness, long ranges of time, unevenly distributed physical and temporal stratifications.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Understanding the evolution of historic artefacts requires that one takes into account numerous and strongly heterogeneous sources (specific pieces of data – like archival documents or findings - and elements of knowledge). As a consequence, the description and structuring of the source's content, their accessibility and relations to one another remain an issue. As an answer, we base on the observation that these sources have something in common: they can be related to an artefact or its sub-parts, i.e. objects. We therefore have proposed to establish a triangular relation between objects, documents, and generic architectural concepts that represent the global knowledge level. In this paper, we focus on this level, and on how terminology analysis can fruitfully intervene in the structuring of concepts (in particular in the handling of relations between concepts).

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Understanding and representing the evolution of architectural artefacts over time requires a careful examination of heterogeneous, questionable pieces of data. Accordingly, our position is that computer graphics can and will support such investigation if and only if they are designed, above all, as information visualisation disposals (may the visual result be realistic or not). But contemporary practices often fail to reach this goal. In this paper, we propose possible explanations, and argue why we believe the problem has more to do with a lack of appropriate methodology than with technologies. As an answer, we introduce a global methodological framework that claims to be at the intersection of figurative architectural representation and of information visualisation. We finally back up this claim by presenting past and contemporary examples showing there has been a bridge between the above mentioned fields, a bridge that we today need to rebuild with or against computer technologies.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

With the development of NICT (New Information and Communication Technologies) researchers and professionals involved in the study of architectural heritage are faced with a plethora of solutions and modelling languages the durability and effective contribution of which are sometimes questionable. The changes in practices that they impose and the necessity of adaptation to them open both opportunities and challenges. Since, whether we like it or not, the study of built heritage is largely anecdotal when faced with current major scientific issues, researchers and professionals in this field have to rely on themselves to develop tools, methods and practices adapted to their subject. At the centre of our work there is therefore not a scientific discipline or a technology, there are architectural artefacts, buildings, groups of buildings, and parts of buildings as left to us by time. Our objective is to understand the origin of these artefacts and their evolution over time. Our aim is not therefore to illustrate the advantages of a particular technical solution, but first and foremost to consider the appropriateness of these solutions to the often complex specificity of the study of heritage artefacts. What choices and constraints need to be considered when opting for a particular tool? What is the cost of these choices (obscuring of doubts, standardisation of observations, doubtful long-term interpretation of results, etc.)? Before making this choice of tools and formalisms, we propose to carry out a methodological investigation with the aim of bringing the study together around its subject (heritage artefacts and their evolution). Artefacts and information become mutually dependent, the representation becomes a tool for visualising information, a “work and discovery” tool in the words of J. Bertin.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Analysing and understanding the evolution of historic artefacts requires the cross-examination of indications ranging from specific pieces of data (remains of the edifice, archival materials, etc.), to generic pieces of knowledge (historical context, comparable cases, theory of architecture, etc.). This research is based on the premise that the artefact's acts as a media allowing the integration of the above-mentioned heterogeneous indications. Consequently, they may enable information visualisation and retrieval through 2D/3D dynamic graphics. In this contribution, we discuss four SVG-based graphic tools aiming at exploiting visually the relations between an artefact and the above-mentioned indications, i.e. its documentation.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When facing partial evidence on how architectural objects evolved through time (often due to uncompleted information), it is important to provide the researcher with tools for a cross-examination of cases that may help him better delineate possible values for lacking information. In the case of architecture, we deal with data that can be attached to a given location (distribution in time and space) and to a given generic typology. This opens an opportunity to use pseudo cartographic representations in order to visually distribute objects that share a common typology. Unlike with geographical maps, we should however include visual signs that tell the user about the architectural composition of each object in the data set, as well as about its level of documentation. In this paper we try to demonstrate, using a data set concerning antique theatres, that visual comparative evaluations of the data can provide a major methodological breakthrough for cross-examination of information on architectural objects.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Understanding the evolution of historic artefacts, may they be individual edifices or complex urban fabrics, requires a cross-examination of various sources: specific pieces of data (what remains of the edifice itself today), and generic pieces of knowledge. As an answer, we establish a triangular relation between specific information (“what is known about object O”), generic knowledge (“what is known about objects like O”, and a virtual artefact thereby acting as a data integrator (“what morphology O may have had during period P”). The paper introduces an implementation of this framework in which we have developed twin multi-lingual , multi-scale ontologies, one dedicated to terminology, one dedicated to toponymy. Sources are connected to a term (that identifies a concept) and to a toponym (that locates an instance). Our contribution details the principles behind this triangular relation, and its usability for navigation inside data sets.

Abstract:

This document is an introduction to informative modelling, an emerging interdisciplinary research theme inside which information technologies meet issues raised in multi-scale architectural heritage analyses. Informative modelling defines a renewed methodological framework aiming at the better understanding and documenting the evolution of architectural and urban heritage, with a focus on graphics practices (realism vs information, simulation vs authenticity, … ). Informative modelling can be seen as a methodological approach aiming at the integration of artefacts modelling with information visualisation.

MIA digital Journal

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Investigating the evolution of patrimonial architecture requires gathering and analysing a mass of documentary sources, the interpretation of which may authorise researchers to produce graphical simulations of the morphological evolutions of edifices. We have demonstrated that such representations can be used as graphic interfaces in which architectural objects are located in time and space. However in the field of the architectural heritage, due to the lack or incompleteness of the documentation, at the beginning of an investigation objects are often known to researchers only by their toponimical reference: their contextual names. In the early phases of an investigation process, it is most often impossible to state with any reasonable accuracy what morphology an object had. Moreover, other clues to the understanding of the edifice and its evolution, such as terminology/ontology or analogies, can be gathered by the researchers before someone actually states what morphology the object could have.
Aiming at improving the comprehension of the complex and discontinuous process of knowledge acquisition we introduce a generic formalism of information integration that lets the researchers to gather indications little by little, and allows them to follow up visually the knowledge acquisition process.
This paper introduces the use of toponymy as a start point for the analysis of the edifice, and describes the formalism we have developed in order to generalise this approach.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, the representation of artefacts, particularly for communication purposes, has benefited from the development of computer-based modelling techniques in fields ranging form archaeology to geography. But numerous experts in the above mentioned heritage field have come to question the readability of realistic models inside which the hypothetical nature of the content, a reconstruction, is not clearly assessed. In parallel, research in information visualisation has demonstrated that graphics can support reasoning as well as communication. Our contribution introduces the genesis of an informative modelling methodology in which the representation of architectural objects is used for information search and visualisation. 3D or 2D models localise objects in time, in space, and in a hierarchy of canonical shapes; they are calculated on the fly and deliver information visually. This paper discusses the underlying modelling methodology and applications in investigations about the evolutions of the city of Kraków (Poland).

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

The ARKIW programme’s main theme was a contribution to the enhancement of heritage investigation methods, the experiencing of knowledge modelling approaches and the use of information technologies in the representing, recording and studying of the architectural heritage through Internet.
co-operation between UMR MAP CNRS/MCC 694 (France) and Institute HAiKZ from the Faculty of Architecture, Kraków (Poland)

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand the evolution of patrimonial edifices and sites. But the documentation that serves as source of evidences is far from being exhaustive or nonambiguous. Its very uncertainty is what really matters for researchers, and is therefore what we really need to represent inside 2D or 3D graphics. What solutions can one base on when trying to generate representations what would not say more about an edifice than what is really known? We present experiences in which, at various scales, we investigate the usability and graphical language of 2D/3D representations. We derive from these experiences remarks on how representations in the field of the architectural heritage can adhere to the notion of uncertainty and in the end really mean something for the researcher or practitioner. In conclusion to the paper we underline lessons we have learnt from these experiences on how to produce and exploit sustainable graphics in the field of the architectural heritage.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, a comprehensive analysis of the historical documentation concerning sites or edifices is an unavoidable step in their understanding. Yet few solutions exist that would bridge the gap between VR techniques and solutions for documentation. In the history of architectural representation, we observe that representation has since the renaissance been understood as a mean to deliver information. Our proposal investigates possibilities opened today to re-apply this vision to information visualisation and retrieval. In this paper we present solutions investigated in order to use the 3D representation of architecture as an interface to a heritage documentation. Elements discussed will be an analysis of the information we deal with, as well as the real-time, web-based solutions developed in order to visualise objects with regards to domain specific issues such as shape uncertainty or hypothesis justification. This research is experimented on the city of Kraków (Poland) and its architectural evolutions.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, people in charge of studying the evolution of objects face a growing mass of documentation to organise and analyse, when not to discover. Most of this documentation is not formalised, and remains often unpublished. This opens a methodological challenge : what concepts can integrate various pieces of information about architectural objects?
In parallel, 2D or 3D representation has historically been at the heart of the way edifices or sites are documented and understood. State of the art shows this simple idea is today far from being a reality. 2D graphics, with the development of SVG, have undoubtedly found a role in geo-visualisation, but they have not yet found it in architecture. In parallel, 3D scenes remain most often in relation with communications goals only. Virtual renderings, although presented as visualisations of an edifice, mask the semantics behind the scene : in no way can they be visualisations of the deeply uncertain architectural heritage data.
We have established that since the documentation relates to architectural objects, those objects can be efficient in information delivery and visualisation. In this contribution we present the principles of our research and focus on the development of graphic variables used to convey within the 3D scenes elements of information about the objects represented.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

What common grounds can be found today between 3D surveying techniques, patrimonial data management and web-based 3D animation and rendering? Not a lot besides the fact that the architectural heritage often serves there as field of experimentation. However, the edifice cannot be reduced to that only role : it is above all an object of knowledge the study of which can benefit from these various technologies. Our proposal, experimented on the remains of Arles' roman theatre, locates the edifice at the centre of a disposal aimed at integrating, in a 3D architectural information system to come, the results of various investigation phases. Pieces of knowledge on the edifice are formalised that are the common denominator of various phases including 3D surveying and 3D representation in a web-based animation and rendering platform. The resulting 3D model becomes a navigation space allowing queries and visualisation on the set of information and of pieces of knowledge that are related to the edifice.

RNTI archive

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand the evolution of edifices and sites. Documentary sources provide partial evidences from which one will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice may have changed throughout the centuries. But the growing mass of documents researchers handle has underlined the necessity to find out solutions for enhanced interfacing and visualisation of this wide and heterogeneous documentation.
On the other hand, 2D or 3D representation has historically been at the heart of the way edifices or sites are described, visualised, documented and understood. Why shouldn't it be so today? State of the art in our field shows this is far from being a reality. 2D graphics, with the development of SVG-based applications, have undoubtedly found a role in geo-visualisation, but not yet in architecture. Moreover, 3D models most often remain only in relation with communications goals. Virtual renderings, although presented as visualisations of an edifice, mask the semantics behind the scene. Such seducing results may be of a great use, seen as visualisation of geometrical shapes, but in no way can they be considered as visualisation of the deeply uncertain architectural heritage data. The paper proposes an approach of data visualisation in which graphic codes help in interpretation. Appearance of an object represented in a scene, shows the actual level of the knowledge about the object (included in the ensemble of analysed documentation). The documentation is provides links to architectural concepts with respect to the notion of scale. Dynamically generated 2D/3D graphics are used both as visualisations of the documentation's analysis and as interfaces to the documentation's database. Our experimental set is the historical centre of the city of Krakow (Poland).
The paper introduces the recent developments of our research: the handling of multiple scales and consequently of multiple interfaces (2D/3D), the use of each object's “repurposable” XML data in the dynamic generation of graphics, the creation of “timeline” scenes that graphically simulate the city's evolution.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Museums and the Web ARCHIVE

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, 3D models are mot often used with regards to communication purposes. But under which conditions could they help in coping with the meanders of the architectural or archaeological investigation process? In parallel, the architectural documentation researchers base on is rarely organised with regards to what it is about - meaning edifices and their morphology. But is it out of reach to consider the edifice's shapes, and their 3D representation, as an interface to this documentation? Our proposition brings to the fore a methodological approach that aims at answering to those two questions. The research presented here is part of an interdisciplinary research programme' that focuses on the problems of documentation, representation and analysis of the architectural heritage. One of the main issues raised is how can 3D models help in visualising not only architectural shapes and forms but also what is known and what is ignored about them. We will present our ideas and experience on how 3D models can be used, when they are not thought as final results for communication goals but as visual interpretative interfaces. We will introduce three major aspects of our research, an analysis of the architectural morphology, an analysis of the documentation conservators base their investigations, and the solutions that we have implemented in a VRML environment. In this paper, We will particularly centre our presentation on the making of VRML scenes and on the capabilities of this standard in relation with an issue that goes beyond our field of experimentation but is vital in this field, this of dealing with shape uncertainty. Our experimental set is the medieval heart of the city of Krakow.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand the evolution of patrimonial edifices and sites. Documentary sources provide partial evidences from which the researcher will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice may have changed throughout the centuries. Still, in the field of the architectural heritage, there is a gap to fill between proven data management technologies that provide solutions for documentation handling, and geometric modelling techniques that underlie reconstruction efforts.
Documentation is organised with regards to what the documents are, books, illustrations, etc… Virtual renderings feature a geometry that bears no link to the documentation’s analysis. Our contribution introduces a solution for attaching the documentation to architectural concepts that represent physical beings used in the edifice’s structure, and this without modifications on existing documentation descriptions. 3D scenes can then be used as one of the means to access or visualise the information we hold on the edifice’s or site’s evolution.

HAL

Abstract:

Documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand architectural evolutions. Documentary sources provide partial evidences from which the researcher will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice or site may have evolved throughout the centuries. They provide clues that will need an interpretation from the researcher or conservator in order to understand the edifice or site’s evolution. In this process, data interpretation is a critical step that base on the use 3D theoretical concepts originating from those who study edifices: architects, archaeologists, conservators, historians. What solutions can one base on in order to organise a documentation with regards to an architectural analysis of its content? How can we today provide architects, conservators or collection holders with a set of relevant architectural concepts that will serve as intermediates between the edifice’s shape and its documentary sources?
Our contribution introduces a methodological proposition that tries to cope with those questions, and evaluates possible uses of 3D scenes as interfaces for architectural heritage data visualisation. We describe the relations between documentation and architectural objects, and use the representation of 3D objects in order to access information but also to visualise the state of knowledge of each object.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Documentation analysis and organisation are vital to the researcher when trying to understand the evolution of patrimonial edifices and sites. Documentary sources provide partial evidences from which the researcher will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice may have been changed throughout the centuries. They are the only scientific basis from which virtual renderings can be proposed and justified. Still, in the field of the architectural heritage, there is a gap to fill between well-established data management technologies that provide solutions for documentation handling, and geometric modelling techniques that underlie reconstruction efforts.
Documentation is organised with regards to what the documents are, books, illustrations, etc.. Virtual renderings feature a geometry that bears no link to the documentation's analysis. Our contribution introduces a solution for attaching the documentation to architectural concepts that represent physical beings used in the edifice's structure, and this without modifications on existing documentation descriptions. Three-dimensional scenes can then be used as one of the means to retrieve or visualise the information we hold on the edifice's or site's evolution. Our position is that the 3D representation of architectural objects can be an efficient filter on the set of data architects, conservators or archaeologists handle.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

When studying patrimonial edifices or sites, documentary sources, may they originate from archives or from contemporary survey campaigns, provide partial evidences from which the researcher will infer possible scenarios on how an edifice or site may have evolved throughout the centuries. Documentation analysis and visualisation are therefore vital to the understanding of the architectural heritage. They are the only scientific basis from which virtual renderings can be proposed and justified. Still, the making of 3D scenes in our field of experimentation is most often only in relation with communications goals. Virtual renderings, although presented as visualisations of an edifice, totally mask the semantics behind the scene, meaning the reasons behind the shapes and in definitive any kind of scientific analysis since they provide certainty where only probability should be considered. Such seducing results may be of great use, they may be considered as a visualisation of geometrical shapes, but in no way can they be considered as visualisation of architectural heritage data. We propose an approach of data visualisation in which 3D scenes act as interpretative interfaces to the documentation, and in which the objects represented are given appearances that show what can be stated form the reading of each object's documentation. We have defined a methodology in which the documentation is analysed and attached to architectural concepts with respect to the notion of scale, and in which the concepts are given representations that are used both as visualisations of the documentation's analysis and as interfaces in the documentation's database. Our experimental set is the centre of the city of Kraków (Poland).
We introduce in this paper several recent developments of our research : a combination of persistence mechanisms that includes XML parsing and RDBMS, links between objects and documentary sources, symbolical visualisation of undocumented / non-dimensioned objects. We also introduce a recent experimentation of this framework at structural scale on major edifices in Kraków's city centre.

Hal-SHS

unicaen.fr

Hal-SHS

MEMORIA IS

Abstract:

Our research addresses issues raised by the development of visualisation and modelling techniques on the Internet for documenting and representing edifices of the architectural heritage. In this research area, the word “visualisation” is often given a misleading interpretation, this of a synonym of “virtual reconstruction”. We present another interpretation of the word by thinking of 3D visualisations as of graphical interfaces to an architectural documentation. We consider 3D models as interpretations of a knowledge, and we try to demonstrate that they can be efficient in retrieving information (i.e., documentation) about evolutions of architectural artefacts.
We propose to discuss the key aspects of our development: theoretical model of the architectural concepts we are documenting, representation mechanism in VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language), database interfacing issues, use of 3D models in the querying and in the retrieving of information. Our contribution details those aspects and the experiment we are carrying out in Kraków.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural heritage, the recent development of computer technologies has opened opportunities to achieve easier and more efficient data management, and produce better 3D simulations showing edifices at different stages of their development. Numerous scientific contributions have proven that computer tools available today can favour a better documentation, understanding and representation of architectural monuments and ensembles; and this both for research and management purposes, or for presentation to a wider public. What is more, internet-based technological solutions have come to a reasonable level of reliability, thereby opening renewed perspectives to share experiences and information on issues raised by the conservation of patrimonial sites.
Yet, taking a closer look on what existing computer tools and formalisms offer when dealing with the architectural heritage shows that their relevance on this particular application field may not be optimal. E-databases and XML technologies are applied in building or site management and their documentation. In parallel, geometric modelling tools, along with photo-modelling platforms when dealing with still standing edifices, allow the construction of 3D models in which simulations of a morphology is possible.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Architectural heritage is a research area in which the word "visualisation" is often given a misleading interpretation, this of a synonym of "virtual reconstruction". We present another interpretation of the word by thinking of visualisations as graphical disposals used as visual interfaces for architectural documentation. We consider 3D models - of edifices or sites - as interpretations of our knowledge that can be efficient in retrieving information about architectural evolutions (i.e. documentation). We propose to discuss the key aspects of our development: theoretical model of the architectural concepts we are documenting, representation mechanism in VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language), database interfacing issues, use of 3D models in the querying and in the retrieving of information.
Our contribution details those various aspects and the experiment we have carried out on the evolution of the defensive system of the city of Cracow.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Visualisation and geometric modelling are today widely applied to the field of architecture. However, they remain often considered as means to communicate about the edifice rather than means to investigate the edifice. Our research focuses on the issues raised by the development of visualisation and modelling techniques on the Internet for documenting and representing edifices of the architectural heritage. Our position is that 3D representations can greatly favour the readability and the accessibility of data related to an edifice, on the condition that this representation shows architectural concepts before geometrical ones. Such interpretative visualisations of edifices can then be used to analyse simulations of buildings partly or totally destroyed. What is more, such visualisations can facilitate the construction of an information system about the architectural heritage, in which 3D models are used as interfaces to a database.
The global disposal we propose to discuss includes:
An object-oriented model of architectural concepts

A VRML (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) architectural modeller,

A resource database containing data on the edifices represented,

Interfaces to the database on Internet, among which VRML models.

Our contribution details those various aspects and the experiments we have carried out on chosen buildings of the city of Cracow.

Hal-SHS

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Our paper presents recent developments of a co-operation program that links the MAP-GAMSAU CNRS laboratory (Marseilles, France), specialised in computer science and the HAiKZ Institute of Krakow's Faculty of Architecture, specialised in architectural heritage and conservation. Before undertaking any action to a listed building or interventions in its neighbourhood, it is vital to gain a clear understanding of the building in question. Numerous heterogeneous data detained by diverse institutions has to be handled. This process can be greatly eased by enhanced classification of the information. The development we present is a multidisciplinary platform independent information tool dedicated to education and research. SOL uses an http protocol centred computer architecture connecting a relational database, a VRML 2.0 representation module and a web search interface. It allows searches and updating of the database through a standard text based interface, a VRML 2.0 graphical module and a thematic interface. SOL is experienced on the urban fabric of the Main Square (Rynek Główny) in Kraków. The choice of a web-centred development, both in the search and updating interface and in the representation module provides platform independence and distant access to the database, and enables successive contributions of students or researchers.

CumInCAD

Hal-SHS

MEMORIA IS>

Abstract:

There were some material elements of our culture and architectural heritage, which had disappeared during ages. Reconstruction of them now makes no sense from the doctrinal or economical point of view. Researches, which are conducted on them, are based on archaeological materials, historical descriptive texts and drawings. Visual material, such as photographs, historical plans, drawings and prints are hardly ever uniform in their representation. Not the same kinds of materials are available from all periods. In other words, the form of the available material in most cases causes difficulties during the process of analyses of an image of a building. The main question is, how this process may be simplified. This is the moment where computer techniques could be of great use. Recently some noticeable changes are taking place in this subject. The use of the advanced computer techniques takes place of the more traditional methods of work. The most basic advantages of currently developed methods of work are an easy access to different materials, availability of information (which, at least in Poland, is now extremely limited), possibility of adjusting and verifying hypotheses. Three-dimensional visualisation may be also a "common denominator" of presenting the space by/to various groups of scientists.
Advanced computer technologies may be used to:

create three-dimensional, visual representations of the buildings which are understandable for lay people;

make a detailed visual reconstruction in situ;

create museums of architecture in virtual reality;

make the exchange of information between scientific and educational units possible, easier, cheaper and more efficient;

create interactive systems to facilitate collaboration of various groups of specialists who operate with different forms of information and have problems with breaking these limits;

create an international bibliographic database integrated in the archive to allow scholarly research and preservation of architectural heritage;

The multi-media technologies offer the opportunity to compile an archive of text and images which is extendible, accessible, reproducible and organised in such a way that it could support scholarship and scientific investigation. I do believe that computer environment may add some more possibilities for a scientist in his/her work.
To proof this statement I have chosen some examples of the researches which were conducted in some of the European universities and schools of architecture.

HAL

BazTech

HAL

Abstract:

Concern for the architectural and urban preservation problems has been considerably increasing in the past decades, and with it the necessity to investigate the consequences and opportunities opened for the conservation discipline by the development of computer-based systems. Architectural interventions on historical edifices or in preserved urban fabric face conservationists and architects with specific problems related to the handling and exchange of a variety of historical documents and representations. The recent development of information technologies offers opportunities to favour a better access to such data, as well as means to represent architectural hypothesis or design. In the field of the architectural heritage, our research addresses two problems: historical data and documentation of the edifice, methods of representation (knowledge modelling and visualisation) of the edifice.
Our contribution will introduce current ARKIW internet applications and experiences: The ARPENTEUR architectural survey experiment on Wieża Ratuszowa (a photogrammetrical survey based on an architectural model). A Gothic and Renaissance reconstruction of the Ratusz Krakowski using a commercial modelisation and animation software (MAYA). The SOL on line documentation interface for Kraków's Rynek Gółwny. Internet analytical approach in the presentation of morphological informations about Kraków's Kramy Bogate Rynku Krakowskiego. Object-Orientation approach in the modelling of the architectural corpus. The VALIDEUR and HUBLOT Virtual Reality modellers for the simulation and representation of reconstructional hypothesis and corpus analysis.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

ARPENTEUR is an application for digital photogrammetry mainly dedicated to architecture (Architectural PhotogrammEtry Network Tool for EdUcation and Research). It has been developed thanks to the collaboration of two complementary research laboratories : the group “Photogrammetry and Geomatics” of ENSAIS-LERGEC’s laboratory (Strasbourg, France) and the Gamsau-MAP CNRS laboratory (CNRS : French National Body for Scientific Research) located in school of Architecture (Marseilles, France).
This paper focuses on a new approach of photogrammetric surveying in which formalised architectural knowledge is a prerequisite to the measurement process. The first step of the survey is therefore a rigorous analysis of the architectural corpus used in the building. All the architectural elements which are expected to be measured are defined and organised in a hierarchy of concepts and formalised using the Java™ object language capabilities.
The purpose of the photogrammetric measurement is then to inform the architectural geometrical model with data such as location, orientation and dimension. Each architectural element considered is given within its definition a redundant set of geometrical primitives that can be observed on its surface. These primitives appear as a geometrical interpretation of the architectural element’s morphology. Depending on the case study’s specificity, one can choose to measure a subset of these primitives. Unmeasured data (occulted zone on a picture, … ) should be generated by the system using both theoretical model and measured data.
We propose an experimentation of this process on the old town hall tower, in Kraków (Poland). Images used in the system were taken with a point and shoot digital camera. The experimentation focuses the neo-gothic addition to the original XIVth century tower. Elements considered therefore correspond to a reconstruction based on a historical analysis of Kraków’s gothic urban corpus. The model resulting from the survey process can be visualised either on the internet-oriented VRML plug-ins, or inside the Microstation™ software.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

The main purpose of the PAROS survey process will be integrating architectural knowledge and a photogrammetrical survey tool. In other words, Paros is concerned with the implementation of a tool connecting the architectural photogrammetry, the knowledge representation and the imagery fields together. We focus our activity on three research guidelines:

Knowledge representation (architecture and geometry) using object oriented programming.

Computational model of the comparisons between the theoretical predefined architectural models and their counterpart: the actual survey.

Deductive mechanisms using predefined typo-morphological definitions and rules in order to re-create virtual « could have been » buildings illustrating archeological hypothesis.

This paper presents an experimentation of the PAROS research carried out on the remains of the north portico of Arles’ roman forum.

CAA Online Proceedings

Abstract:

Our research addresses the question of how to handle the architectural knowledge in order to provide non-computer science specialists with a tool dedicated to the making and to the representation of archaeological hypothesis. Our approach of the architectural object is based on theoretical analysis and on elements of bibliography connected to specific buildings. Relevant hierarchy of concepts (individual elements of architecture that we call entities as well as relations linking them to one another) are formalised following the object oriented methodology in order to provide each element of vocabulary isolated as non ambiguous with a corresponding theoretical definition. The “Hublot" application we present allows interaction with the theoretical model (create and arrange one's own set of entities) through a web browser in which textual data and VRML 2.0 (Virtual Reality Modelling Language) scenes are linked. This research is connected with the ARKIW POLONIUM co-operation program that links the MAP-GAMSAU CNRS laboratory and the HAiKZ Institute of Kraków's Faculty of Architecture. The field of experimentation proposed is Kraków's Kramy Bogate located on the city's main market square. Formalisation of the theoretical models and web interfaces are JAVA developments.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

This paper introduces a new approach for the mechanical modelling of historical monuments built of blocks. The computational method, * Non Smooth Contact Dynamics (NSCD), is used to simulate masonry as a large collection of bodies under unilateral constraints and frictional contact. The computational method, NSCD, within an architectural and archeological model, MOMA, **Models and Opticals Measurements in Architecture are merged in a single tool providing a interdisciplinary approach of historical buildings. The morphology and initial deformations measures are obtained by a photogrammetrical survey monitored by an architectural and archeological knowledge. The implementation of the model and experimental techniques are presented introducing an example of case study on the Tour Saint-Laurent of the "Palais des papes" in Avignon (France).

HAL

Abstract:

Development of net-based tools initiate a new architecture-computer science junction, offering a possibility to investigate distant exchange and updating of research work on architectural artefacts. Tools such as CAD platforms, rendering software and DBMS are integrated to the every day work of more and more architects and conservationists. Computer tools, which have been introduced in the process of analysing architecture as drawing and data management platforms, now bring to the fore a deeper change: distant analysis. The development of web technologies and the object oriented approach to knowledge representation give us an opportunity of research in the fields of collaborative work on architectural data models. The research presented in this paper focuses on a first set of network operative tools for a co-operation program aimed at developing web-enabled architectural data models referring to the evolution of Cracow's Old Town Hall.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

Development of net-based tools initiate a new architecture-computer science junction, offering a possibility to investigate distant exchange and updating of research work on architectural artefacts. Dealing with conservation in architecture, photogrammetry and computer science our research meets the stakes of multidisciplinarity. Moreover, The heterogeneous technical systems and tools met in the scope of these disciplines clearly call for a platform-independent tool that would give an access to the patrimonial information gathered. Web interfacing is an answer to this problem, it is the central development presented in this paper.
Questions addressed in this paper are object oriented knowledge modelling in the area of conservation, web-interfacing and the application of the abovementioned items to a first case study - a simulation tool for the wooden ceilings of Kraków.

CumInCAD

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural patrimony, the building up of surveying and knowledge representation tools gives new analysis opportunities, and favours the dawning up of reconstructional hypotheses. Addressing this question the MOMA research project (Models and Optical Measurements in Architecture) implements architectural models used as a pre-requisite for the survey process. Individual objects are identified and organised following the object-oriented approach in computer science. These elementary entities gather in their definition both morphological data and patrimonial information. They are grouped into consistent sets of objects through relations stemming from the architectural vocabulary and implemented in a language developed for this purpose. Measurements are carried out on predefined morphological specificities of these entities. Dealing with conservation in architecture, photogrammetry, computer science, MOMA meets the stakes of a multidisciplinary research. Moreover, the heterogeneous technical systems and tools met in the scope of these disciplines clearly call for a platform-independent tool giving access to the patrimonial information gathered. Web interfacing is an answer to this problem, its implementation in our research puts a strong focus on VRML visualisation as a central entry point in the system.

Hal-SHS

Abstract:

In the field of the architectural patrimony, the building up of surveying and knowledge representation tools gives new analysis opportunities, and favour the drawing up of reconstructional hypothesis. Addressing this question, the PAROS research (Photogrammetry of Architecture, Rendering and Outputs of Synthesis images) implements architectural models used as a pre-requisite for the survey process. Individual objects are identified and organised following the object-oriented approach in computer science. These elementary entities gather in their definition both morphological data and patrimonial informations. They are grouped into consistent sets of objects through relations stemming from the architectural vocabulary and implemented in a language developped for this purpose. Measurements are carried out on predefined morphological specificities of these entities. Continuing a previous experiment of the survey process carried out on the relics of the Roman Forum’s portico in Arles ; the aim was here focused on representing reconstructional hypothesis of ancient Rome as proposed on the Bigot Model.
Consequently, the experiment presented in this paper being limited to locate those reconstructional hypothesis within the space of the model, photogrammetrical surveying will here only give position to the theoretical model involved.
PAROS and its continuation MOMA (Models and Optical Measurements in Architecture) describe architecture in order to favour a measurement phase that will inform the architectural model (survey takes into account predefined models of objects) and to gather heterogeneous data in an information tool dedicated to the architectural patrimony.

Abstract:

The reconstruction and conservatory design works of a historical building have to be preceded by thorough studies. Some of the most important sources of information are given in the form of descriptive texts of various origins, often very old, using extremely difficult old language forms and dealing with very particular details. These materials should be translated into some visual form which could be clear to contemporary researchers. This is the moment where computer techniques could be of great use. In this article we tried to confront the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional and new possible methods of work.

Hal-SHS