Exploring digital documentation for shophouses in singapore

Abstract

Conservation of cultural heritage involves beyond repairing and maintaining the structures. Prelude to any conservation should be a comprehensive documentation, recording, historical study and condition assessment. Then only should the repair and restoration be considered. Damages and deterioration of cultural heritage are unpredictable in disasters. Wear and tear may some time lead to sudden catastrophic failures. As such documentation and recording of cultural heritage should be ongoing exercises. The information is also useful for in-depth understanding and research purposes.Documentation methods have developed over time with the progress in information technology and computing. Analog documentation methods have given way to digital documentation which is faster and more comprehensive. In this study, four digital documentation methods have been evaluated to explore their capabilities for documentation of a heritage shophouse; a range of unique architecture constructed from 1800s to 1900s found commonly in cities around Southeast Asia. The data was produced into 3D models and comparisons between the different methods were made. The strengths and weaknesses of each method as well as the quality of the outputs were evaluated. The digital 3D model will be useful for subsequent conservation process. This information can also be developed into repository of architectural features and also for use in HBIM system or parametric architectural components database system. There are, however, obstacles and challenges to development and implementation of such as system.