Digital Heritage: Digital Drawing and new Research Tools for Investigation in History of Architecture

Hypothesis of virtual reconstruction of Monchique Convent (Porto, Portugal)

Abstract

This work aims to address the Digital Heritage topic in the light of the new investigation opportunities within History of Architecture, which have been brought by technological development. The protagonism assumed by digital drawing will also be addressed as a research, analysis, preservation and promotion tool of the cities’ built heritage. Our object of study - the conventual complex of Monchique (Porto, Portugal), which has suffered several transformations over time (both in form and function), serves as an example to show how digital tools contribute to the spreading of historical knowledge as a living memory, mostly to a wider audience and not only to experts in the field. The three-dimensional models, such as the one we propose to build, take on shapes capable of (non-destructively) reconstitute previous stages or the constructive evolution of the building, enabling its better understanding, within a both humanist and enlightened perspective. Given that the digital cannot replace physical and phenomenological experiences of built heritage, it does however allow innovation in its holistic and multidisciplinary reading, providing new opportunities for its knowledge and fruition, as it is the specific case of the virtual tours and the augmented reality. In conclusion, we fit in a wider vision which perceives that the combining of science, culture and education, together with the potential of digital and immersive technologies, can actively contribute to an improvement in learning and development of multiple perspectives on the built heritage and, consequently, on the shift of learnings between experiences, in a shared construction of knowledge.