Antonia Spano'

• PhD
• Professor (Full) at Polytechnic University of Turin

This report presents the preliminary results of field research conducted at Tell ‘Umar/Seleucia on the Tigris by the Italian Archaeological Expedition (IAES) in October-November 2022 and April 2023. Activities were resumed onsite after a gap of more than thirty years. The site had previously been surveyed and excavated by two expeditions: the Ameri...

Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Science (GIS) techniques are powerful tools for spatial data collection, analysis, management, and digitization within cultural heritage frameworks. Despite their capabilities, challenges remain in automating data semantic classification for conservation purposes. To address this, leveraging airborne L...

Pier Luigi Nervi described reinforced concrete as the most beautiful construction system that mankind has discovered to date. Intervening today in a respectful way without altering the balance of Nervi’s architecture between form, structure and function is a challenge that requires an in-depth and multidisciplinary approach. In this context, a Cons...

Historical landscapes in Italy have been slowly changing over the centuries and this is because their features, once fixed into specific shapes, were perpetuated until new economic and social developments occurred. Yet, in the Alpine region, this territorial organisation underwent sudden changes after World War II (WW II), resulting in a loss in po...

The interest in the enhancement of innovative solutions in the geospatial data classification domain from integrated aerial methods is rapidly growing. The transition from unstructured to structured information is essential to set up and arrange geodatabases and cognitive systems such as digital twins capable of monitoring territorial, urban, and g...

The interest in studies on 3D city models has renewed over time thanks to technological innovations that concern the methods of data acquisition and automatic classification of unstructured point clouds, to model increasingly specialized geometric objects for the growing needs of urban transformation management. Managing geometric and semantic info...

In recent years, the synergy between Geomatics and Structural Engineering has opened new frontiers in the analysis of the built heritage. In particular, the possibility of using reality-based models as starting data to develop structural models has become increasingly appealing to take into account some aspects that are usually neglected in the ana...

Historical landscapes in Italy have been changing slowly over the centuries since their features, once fixed in certain shapes, were perpetuated until new economic and social developments occurred. Yet, in the Alpine region, this territorial organization underwent sudden changes after WWII, resulting in a loss of population and traditional agropast...

In recent years, the demand for flexible and sustainable strategies in digitization processes has represented a significant challenge for the heritage documentation research community. In particular, the tasks of parametric modelling and AI-based semantic enrichment operations, necessary but traditionally time-consuming, is extremely onerous from a...

Nowadays 3D digitization through the combination or hybridization of different sensors, with the final aim of accelerating the phases of data acquisition and storage, develops user friendly and robotics systems, making efficient the operator role. New technologies as Hybrid Reality Capture™ (HRC), with Flash Technology (FARO Tech.) certainly fits i...

Geometry has always been a means of proportioning and sizing architectural constructions and has permeated the ways of conceiving buildings from the classical, modern, and contemporary ages, ensuring aesthetic and technical values and thrilling architects and treatise writers. The structural behavior of masonry structures is consequently often aime...

The architectural heritage of the 20th century is affected by several conservation problems in terms of material preservation, structural analysis, and reuse. Among these, material degradation and durability issues are the ones that have the most effect on the health state and, consequently, the survival of the constructions of the period. In order...

Nowadays, it is crucial to develop analysis methodologies to confidently simulate the structural behavior of historical masonry constructions. From this perspective, the possibility of using reality-based models as starting data is becoming increasingly attractive. This methodology allows considering some aspects that are usually neglected in the a...

The digitisation of museum exhibits has played an essential role in geomatics research for generating digital replicas, as it offers the chance to address rather challenging issues. The use of different sensors, ranging from active to passive, and also structured light scanners or hybrid solutions, the various destinations and purposes of the final...

Landscape heritage, especially if it does not arouse great public echoes, needs great attention, starting from knowledge and metric documentation processes to which reality-based sensing techniques often contribute significantly. The primary purpose of this work is to reflect on the possibility of identifying submerged built heritages, which are so...

In the last years, the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) domain has exponentially increased the use of BIM and HBIM models for several applications, such as planning renovation and restoration, building maintenance, cost managing, or structural/energetic retrofit design. However, obtaining detailed as-built BIM models is a demanding...

The research focuses on using 3D digitization in Landscape Heritage conservation processes, specifically in the context of the Spina Verde Park in Como, Italy. The aim of the research is to improve knowledge of the proto-urban archaeological sites of the park and its network of trails, which represent a significant heritage of the area. The study e...

Mobile Mapping Systems (MMS) have recently benefited from the development of many fusion-based technologies with countless systems development based on cars, drones, trolley, wearable or portable mapping system. The scale of applicating range from the urban to the architectural scale. Recent solution are also based on visual or Lidar SLAM (Simultan...

In the wide scenario of heritage documentation and conservation, the multi-scale nature of digital models is able to twin the real object, as well as to store information and record investigation results, in order to detect and analyse deformation and materials deterioration, especially from a structural point of view. The contribution proposes an...

The complexity of historical urban centres progressively needs a strategic improvement in methods and the scale of knowledge concerning the vulnerability aspect of seismic risk. A geographical multi-scale point of view is increasingly preferred in the scientific literature and in Italian regulation policies, that considers systemic behaviors of dam...

The main topic of this work focuses on the semantic, historical and spatial documentation of Minor Historical Centres (MHC) with a focus on (semi-abandoned alpine) hamlets. The key point is the possibility to standardise spatial information in the domain of MHC and their related cultural, architectural, built and landscape heritage. This work analy...

In the last few years, notable progress has been made in the field of non-invasive diagnostic for the monitoring of heritage assets. In particular, multispectral imagery (more specifically thermal images will be addressed in this manuscript) allows investigations in the non-visible range of the electro-magnetic spectrum to be effectively carried ou...

The digitisation projects of architectural heritage are a field of research continuously evolving and updating in parallel to technological innovations that allow to progressively boost the challenges and requirements of geometric and semantic richness of the related digital configuration of results. Among the arduous tasks under observation, there...

Purpose The study, within the Increasing Resilience of Cultural Heritage (ResCult) project, aims to support civil protection to prevent, lessen and mitigate disasters impacts on cultural heritage using a unique standardised-3D geographical information system (GIS), including both heritage and risk and hazard information. Design/methodology/approac...

The use of moving devices equipped with range- and image-based sensor, generically defined Mobile Mapping systems (MMS), have been quite a disruptive innovation in the development of Geomatics techniques for 3D surveying large indoor-outdoor spaces and offer multiple solutions. The recent expansion of portable devices in the form of trolleys, backp...

Great attention is increasingly paid to the heritage belonging to the XX century, particularly for the spatial structures made of concrete, that are a significant trait of this modern movement architecture. Since they demand today urgent conservation plans sustaining their deterioration, the multidisciplinary researches should devotes a profound in...

The research tries to present a preliminary work into geo-spatial management of public administration assets thanks to interoperability of BIM-GIS models, related to urban scale scenarios. The strategy proposed tries to deepen the management, conversion and integration of databases related to public assets and particularly schools building, and rel...

The research in the geospatial data structuring and formats interoperability direction is the crucial task for creating a 3D Geodatabase at the urban scale. Both geometric and semantic data structuring should be considered, mainly regarding the interoperability of objects and formats generated outside the geographical space. Current reflections on...

The paper relates the studies performed on an archaeological context aimed at experimenting aerial and terrestrial methods of rapid mapping survey with those dedicated to archaeological research. Different UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) and 360° camera data acquisition and processing strategies are reported and discussed. The integration and fusion...

In several cases, in the framework of cultural heritage documentation projects that prefigure the generation of dense and detailed 3D models derived from range-based or image-based techniques, the level of detail and surface characterization of the materials are strictly important, also for evaluating the conservation status of the structures. The...

The combination of thermographic and geometric recording has always been an issue for architectural heritage diagnostic investigations. Multidisciplinary projects often require integrating multi-sensor information—including metric and temperature data—to extract valid conclusions regarding the state-of-preservation of historical buildings. Towards...

Nowadays, cultural and historical built heritage can be more effectively preserved, valorised and documented using advanced geospatial technologies. In such a context, there is a major issue concerning the automation of the process and the extraction of useful information from a huge amount of spatial information acquired by means of advanced surve...

The cultural heritage and the ways in which it is today studied and analysed as well as disseminated and enhanced for the purposes of conservation, requires high attention in the choice of 3D survey and modelling methods. This manuscript investigates the possible integrations and fusion of methods and data, among the vast availability of image and...

The paper investigates the issue of finite element model development for the structural assessment of existing structures on the basis of detailed (terrestrial laser scanning and image-based) point clouds to parametric models generated using HBIM (Heritage Building Information Modelling) technology. Different procedures and software combinations ar...

Architectural, built heritage and historical buildings embody cultural heritage value and - as known - they need to be studied, documented, persevered and represented. Although there are many fields involved in these activities, none of these considered individually can fully represent the heritage with a complete level of detail and information. T...

The recent developments of passive sensors techniques, that have been able to take advantage of the technological innovations related to sensors technical features, sensor calibration, the use of UAV systems (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle), the integration of image matching techniques and SfM (Structure from Motion) algorithms, enable to exploit both the...

The complex archaeological site documentation benefits for a long time now from the aerial point of view and remote sensing methods. Moreover, the recent research on UAV photogrammetry platform equipment and flight planning actively contribute in this sense for a scaling improvement and cost-benefits balance. Frequently, the experiences on articula...

Recent results within the framework of the collaborative project The Complete Geophysical Survey of the Valley of the Kings (VOK) (Luxor, Egypt) are reported in this article. In October 2018, a team of geomatics and geophysics researchers coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Turin worked side by side in the VOK. Topographic measurements in...

The Sanctuary "Beata Vergine Maria del Monte Carmelo" in Colletto, Pinerolo, Italy, is an outstanding renaissance architectural complex located in high hills region nearby Turin, Italy. The church is well known both for its architectural relevance and for the artistic value of the paintings and statues. In addition, thanks to the optimal acoustic p...

Mobile mapping systems are increasingly developing ad hoc solution and integrated approaches for rapid and accurate 3D digitization in different operating environments belonging to built heritage assets. The use of emerging compact, portable and low-cost solution for imaging and ranging well fits in the purposes of mapping complex indoor spaces esp...

I disastrosi eventi sismici, occorsi in Italia negli ultimi anni, hanno indirizzato i recenti obiettivi di ricerca nel campo della Geomatica verso la definizione di nuove strategie per il rilievo speditivo in operazioni di disaster management e di damage assessment. Le possibilità offerte dalle tecniche di fotogrammetria digitale e i costanti migli...

This work describes the different attempts and the consequent results derived from the integration of an HBIM model into an already structured spatial database (DB) and its 3D visualisation in a GIS project. This study is connected to the European ResCult (Increasing Resilience of Cultural Heritage) project where a DB for multiscale analyses was de...

The LiDAR technology has aroused considerable interest in the field of structural study of historical buildings, aimed at the structural assessment in the presence of different states of stresses and at the evaluation of the health status. The interest is due mostly by the ability of generating models of the built structures being able to predeterm...

Historical small urban centres are of increasing interest to different interacting fields such as architectural heritage protection and conservation, urban planning, disaster response, sustainable development and tourism. They are defined at different levels (international, national, regional), by various organizations and standards, incorporate nu...

The investigation on the built urban heritage and its current transformations can progressively benefit from the use of geospatial data related to urban environment. This is even more interesting when urban design studies of historical and stratified cities meet the contribution of 4D geospatial data within the urban morphology researches, aiming a...

This article proposes the use of a multiscale and multisensor approach to collect and model three-dimensional (3D) data concerning wide and complex areas to obtain a variety of metric information in the same 3D archive, which is based on a single coordinate system. The employment of these 3D georeferenced products is multifaceted and the fusion or...

The big earthquake of August 24, 2016 and subsequent major shocks severely damaged many historic villages in Central Italy and dramatically showed the intrinsic vulnerability of the diffused architectural heritage. The St. Agostino church is one of the collapsed historical buildings, being inside the epicentre village of Amatrice. During the long s...

This article proposes the use of a multi-scale and multi-sensor approach to collect and modelling 3D data concerning wide and complex areas in order to obtain a variety of metric information in the same 3D archive, based on a single coordinate system. The employment of these 3D georeferenced products is multifaceted and the fusion or integration am...

The set of laws, actions and organizations for Cultural Heritage (CH) protection is born in the different countries of the European Union from local cultural situations, so the ability to cope with the emergency is certainly different. In addition to the damages that can occur to cultural assets after a disaster, an inadequate emergency interventio...

La realizzazione dei disegni architettonici e le analisi tecniche basate su modelli digitali ottenuti da rilievi metrici 3D sono attualmente un tema di sicuro interesse, ma soprattutto di grande importanza per la documentazione del patrimonio culturale colpito da eventi sismici. Questo contributo ha lo scopo di presentare alcune possibilità percorr...

The stratigraphic analysis of the masonries has been variously used to interpret the construction phases of the historical buildings of different eras and has assumed the contours of a consolidated method. In this chapter the stratigraphic analysis of a portion of an important and exemplary architectural complex of southern Piedmont (the church of...

The Central Italy earthquake sequence nominally began on 24 August 2016 with aM6.1 event on a normal fault that produced devastating effects in the town of Amatrice and several nearby villages and hamlets. A major international response was undertaken to record the effects of this disaster, including surface faulting, ground motions, landslides, an...

L’articolo illustra l’importanza del contributo fornito dalle più recenti tecniche di rilievo aeree e terrestri sviluppate nell’ambito della Geomatica alla documentazione, alla conoscenza e all’analisi dei Beni Architettonici e Paesaggistici. Nel caso di Novalesa (Torino, Italia), il lavoro si è concentrato sia sulla ricostruzione virtuale dei fron...

The Central Italy earthquake sequence nominally began on 24 August 2016 with aM6.1 event on a normal fault that produced devastating effects in the town of Amatrice and several nearby villages and hamlets. A major international response was undertaken to record the effects of this disaster, including surface faulting, ground motions, landslides, an...

The need to share information about architectural heritage effectively after a disaster event, in order to foster its preservation, requires the use of a common language between the involved actors and stakeholders. A database able to connect the architectural heritage representation with the data useful for hazard and risk analysis can thus be a p...

The technological advances that have developed in the field of three-dimensional (3D) survey and modelling allow us to digitally and accurately preserve many significant heritage assets that are at risk. With regard to museum assets, extensive digitalization projects aim at achieving multilingual digital libraries accessible to everyone. A first tr...

The paper provides some operative replies to evaluate the effectiveness and the critical issues of the simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM)-based mobile mapping system (MMS) called ZEB by GeoSLAM™ https://geoslam.com/technology/. In these last years, this type of handheld 3D mapping technology has increasingly developed the framework of por...

In the framework of the digital documentation of complex environments the advanced Geomatics researches offers integrated solution and multi-sensor strategies for the 3D accurate reconstruction of stratified structures and articulated volumes in the heritage domain. The use of handheld devices for rapid mapping, both image- and range-based, can hel...

The paper focuses on the exploration of the suitability and the discretization of applicability issues about advanced surveying integrated techniques, mainly based on image-based approaches compared and integrated to range-based ones that have been developed with the use of the cutting-edge solutions tested on field. The investigated techniques int...

The research presented in this paper is focused on a preliminary evaluation of a 360 multi-camera rig: the possibilities to use the images acquired by the system in a photogrammetric workflow and for the creation of spherical images are investigated and different tests and analyses are reported. Particular attention is dedicated to different operat...

In August 24th 2016, a severe earthquake of magnitude 6.0 struck Amatrice and a large area of Central Italy, causing many deaths and destruction. Subsequently three other big seismic shakes (magnitude 5.9 - 6.5 – 5.5) lead to the almost complete destruction of Amatrice historical centre. Specifically the medieval S. Agostino church was very severel...

The rapid diffusion of UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) has played an important role in engineering and assisting a wide range of human activities, often replacing the non-equally cost-effective traditional practices. Apart from the economic advantages, these innovative methodologies have found their maximum application in activities where the direc...

The recent seismic swarms, occurred in Italy since August 2016, outlined the importance of deepen Geomatics researches for the validation of new strategies aimed at rapid-mapping and documenting differently accessible and complex environments, as in urban contexts and damaged built heritage. In the emergency response, the crucial exploitation of te...

The analysis of terraced heritage has implications in many different fields of study, as it is shaped itself by natural, socioeconomic, and cultural dynamics. Given that their abandonment impoverishes territories and communities and raises natural, especially hydrogeological hazards, and that their deactivation leads to a loss of cultural identity,...

p>Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has shown a very rapid development in many fields, expecially in archaeological excavation areas and architectural complexes, where it offers a detailed generation of three-dimensional (3D) data and their updating during time, and where it proves to be a very flexible tool applicable in many types of c...

In recent years, many studies revealed the advantages of using airborne oblique images for obtaining improved 3D city models (including façades and building footprints). Here the acquisition and use of oblique images from a low cost and open source Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) for the 3D high-level-of-detail reconstruction of historical architectu...

This paper discusses some enhancements concerning 3D modelling, and the integration and comparison of 3D data from aerial and terrestrial sensors, developed by innovative geomatics techniques around the metric documentation of cultural heritage. In archaeology, it is interesting to deal with the considerable advantages of new multi-sensor approache...

This paper proposes an emblematic project where several multi-sensor strategies for spatial data acquisition and management, range based and image based, were combined to create a series of integrated territorial and architectural scale products characterized by a rich multi-content nature. The work presented here was finalized in a test site that...

The project is part of the wider application and subsequent spread of innovative digital technologies involving robotic systems. Modern society needs knowledge and investigation of the environment and of the related built landscape; therefore it increasingly requires new types of information. The goal can be achieved through the innovative integrat...

It is important nowadays to underline some relevant topics concerning the effective contribution of 3D high detailed products derived from innovation and integration of Geomatics technologies, allowing a remarkable development in descriptive metric capabilities, supporting and improving the material recording, representation, analysis and character...

One of the challenging purposes that must be undertaken by applied geomatics, is the need of monitoring by documenting continuously over time the evolution of urban spaces. Nowadays, this is a subject of great interest and study, mainly in case of sudden emergency events that implicate urban areas and specific historical buildings of our heritage....

In sudden emergency contexts that affect urban centres and built heritage, the latest Geomatics technique solutions must enable the demands of damage documentation, risk assessment, management and data sharing as efficiently as possible, in relation to the danger condition, to the accessibility constraints of areas and to the tight deadlines needs....

The paper presents the workflow and the results of an ultrasonic 3D investigation and a 3D survey application aimed at the assessment of the internal integrity of an ancient sculpture. The work aimed at highlighting the ability of methods devoted to the 3D geometry acquisition of small objects when applied to diagnosis performed by geophysical inve...

Archaeological site monitoring and updating can nowadays benefit from the contribution of geomatic techniques. In recent times, image-based and range-based measurement systems have become increasingly interesting in excavation processes for monitoring purposes and large scale mapping, both from a terrestrial and aerial point of view. The paper will...

This paper aims to highlight the effectiveness of the collaboration between the modelling techniques that exploit the stereoscopic images of objects and the ability of the present-day technologies to generate images, both found in the web and gathered by other crowdsourcing techniques. Since nowadays the generation of models from images is a major...

p>The reconstructive study of the urban arrangement of Susa in the 4th century arose from the intention to exploit some resources derived from local studies, and survey activities, fulfilled by innovative methods from which the modelling of architectural heritage (AH) and virtual reconstructions are derived. The digital Segusio presented in this pa...

This paper discusses some enhancements concerning 3D modelling and integration of 3D data from aerial and terrestrial sensors, developed by geomatics in the field of Cultural Heritage metric documentation. For archaeological purposes, it is interesting to deal with the considerable advantages in term of sustainability (automated acquisition, quickn...

In areas of archaeological excavation with architectural complexes, the generation of 3D data and their spatial information updating can now benefit from UAV photogrammetry. This technique shows a very rapid development in many fields, as it provides effective results for high-resolution and detailed surfaces, adding to both quickness and suistaina...

In recent years, laser scanning technique has aroused huge interest in the field of structural analysis of historical built heritage aimed at the evaluation of different static stress states and the assessment of health conditions. Nowadays it is possible to generate and manage multi-scale and simplified 3D and 2D structural models on which static...

This paper retraces some research activities and application of 3D survey techniques and Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the environment of Cultural Heritage. It describes the diffusion of as-built BIM approach in the last years in Heritage Assets management, the so-called Built Heritage Information Modelling/Management (BHIMM or HBIM), tha...

This paper retraces some research activities and application of 3D survey techniques and Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the environment of Cultural Heritage. It describes the diffusion of as-built BIM approach in the last years in Heritage Assets management, the so-called Built Heritage Information Modelling/Management (BHIMM or HBIM), tha...

(TLS, Terrestrial Laser Scanning), and large scale mapping derived by UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) survey. This paper refers an example of 3D survey and reality based modelling applied on landscape and architectural assets. The choice of methods for documentation, in terms of survey techniques, depends primarily on issues and features of the area....

(TLS, Terrestrial Laser Scanning), and large scale mapping derived by UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) survey. This paper refers an example of 3D survey and reality based modelling applied on landscape and architectural assets. The choice of methods for documentation, in terms of survey techniques, depends primarily on issues and features of the area....

Negli ultimi anni, la diffusione delle nuove tecnologie di rilievo e il crowdsourcing conducono a interessanti bene􀏐ici sulla conservazione,valorizzazione e documentazione del patrimonio.Il caso studio è incentrato sulla documentazione digitale della cattedrale Vank a Isfahan, che presenta affreschi eccezionali e poco noti. Il modello metrico con t...

In recent years, many studies revealed the advantages of using airborne oblique images for obtaining improved 3D city models (e.g. including façades and building footprints). Expensive airborne cameras, installed on traditional aerial platforms, usually acquired the data. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of acquire and use o...

In recent years, many studies revealed the advantages of using airborne oblique images for obtaining improved 3D city models (e.g. including façades and building footprints). Expensive airborne cameras, installed on traditional aerial platforms, usually acquired the data. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of acquire and use o...

The archaeological researches and more generally the Cultural Heritage (CH) documentation and conservation activities have been favourably disposed to the use of new technologies, with renewed and increasing interest in the use of integrated techniques. In the field of Geomatics the advent of advanced technologies has allowed and facilitated multid...

Many Geomatics technologies based on the use of terrestrial and aerial sensor offer a significant support and new potentialities in term of quickness, multi-scale precision, cost-cutting, and in short, sustainability. The 3D data and mapping products, above all the large-scale ones derived from aerial acquisitions (e.g. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, UA...