HBIM AND THE 20TH CENTURY STEEL BUILDING HERITAGE – A PROCEDURE SUITABLE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION HISTORY IN ITALY

Abstract. The use of steel technologies in Italian architecture still represents an unexplored field of research, characterised by limited and fragmented episodes that reveal important design experimentations and relevant architectural results of the 20th century. For this reason, the aim of the research consists of defining a HBIM methodological approach addressed to the study of modern steel architectures, considering their specific features and their hybrid constructive nature. Indeed these buildings are often characterized by a high level of industrial production of building components merged with the recovery of a craftsmanship tradition, particularly appearing at the scale of structure and envelope details. The balance between standardization and traditional techniques in production processes, leads to the definition of a HBIM method composed of three steps: an operational tools for existing buildings of 20th century made of steel that could support the construction of building digital archives, the organisation of maintenance programs and possible transformative actions, avoiding the loss of this heritage sometimes caused by bad interventions that deeply change original and valuable features of these architectures.