Diachronic representation of ancient buildings: studies on the San Giovanni in Conca basilica in Milan

Abstract

This article proposes a methodology for the virtual representation of lost Cultural Heritage monuments, based on the integration of a 3D digital survey of the remains, with the analysis of historical, literary, cadastral and iconographic sources. By using the objective geometrical data as initial interpretative grid, a scalable method is generated, suitable to be re-used on different artifacts. This approach has been experimented on the virtual reconstruction of different historical periods of a church characterized by a complex architectural development: the Basilica of San Giovanni in Conca in Milan. Realistic 3D digital representations of this monument allow to better understand the lost building changes, useful both for critical analysis of the experts or for touristic valorization.