Evaluation of GIS and BIM roles for the information management of historical buildings

Abstract

An architectural heritage object carries heterogeneous and multi-layered information beyond physical characteristics. It requires an integrated representation of various types of information for understanding and management prior to the decision-making process of conservation. This requirement is a twofold manner consisting of representation and management processes. There exists a variety of approaches for representation of heritage objects in digital three-dimensional (3D) environment, but the selection of the appropriate one according to the needs is crucial. On one hand, there have been recently great attempts to adopt Building Information Modeling (BIM) for historical buildings. Nevertheless, the related works in the topic focus mainly on pre-processing of data, such as the integration of born-digital material into a BIM environment and the creation of parametric objects according to historical building characteristics. As the information management of a historical building requires enhanced attribute management and integration of different datasets, further investigation on the BIM capabilities in management terms is crucial. On the other hand, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have great potentials in exploring spatial relationships, but their potential in 3D representation is still somehow limited. The paper reviews and evaluates the roles of BIM and GIS, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages for integration, retrieval and management of heterogeneous data in the context of historical buildings. © 2013 Copernicus. All rights reserved.