An Integrated Geomatic and HBIM Workflow for the Digital Resurrection of Historical Sites

Abstract. This research investigates the usage of technologies to represent architectural heritage by examining how instruments such as Heritage Building Information Modeling (HBIM) and Virtual Reality (VR) can be triggered to present a lost cultural heritage. The focus here is the "Turin 1911 World’s Fair," a dismantled heritage site held in the Valentino Park, Turin, in 1911. That can serve as a methodological sample for a digitally integrated approach, which was developed through a combination of historical documents and the scan-to-HBIM process common in HBIM modeling. The project yields a high-fidelity digital twin that represents the lost heritage and a VR platform that enables visitors not to experience the site just as an illustration, but to immerse themselves inside an operative component in the interpretation of architectural history and modern technologies in design. This method fosters new dialogues between past and present and critical reflection on spatial transformation, and presents a generative and narrative tool to enhance analytical depth and public perception. This study ultimately proposes a shift in historical storytelling toward an experimental narrative in which technology, perception, and history unite to create new forms of cultural heritage.