DIGITAL 3D INVENTORY FOR THE PROMOTION AND CONSERVATION OF THE ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE

Abstract. Heritage graphic representation combining building spatial location and urban/land planning supports the decision-making of government agencies and simplifies the development of protection and conservation projects. The evolution of web-based open-source representation systems, able to store 3D graphics information and to make it accessible by web platforms, allows to develop novel heritage catalogues which simplify the exchange of information between administrations and citizens. This work is devoted to the creation of the Digital 3D Inventory of the Aragonese Mudéjar Architectural Heritage, a list of 225 buildings with unique architectural elements which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage. We propose a generalized methodology for collecting, store and disseminate friendly 2D geospatial and 3D geometric documentation of the historical buildings, ensuring that valuable information is stored and providing greater graphic and documentary resources than traditional inventories of architectural heritage. The main novelty is creation of a web platform which allows the exploitation of the architectural information through a cartographic webGIS viewer and a 3D environment based on webGL for rendering large point clouds. The proposed web platform enables to delivery 3D content through generic web browsers natively supported by all devices and without installing third-party applications neither downloading massive data files.