Assessment of workflows for creating 3D semantic libraries: a study on medieval bell towers in the central region of Sicily

This study is part of a broader research initiative aimed at the testing and establishment of effective workflows for creating 3D reusable semantic libraries of historical architectural elements in the context of Heritage Building Information Modeling (H-BIM). For the purposes of this research paper, four medieval bell towers located in the central region of Sicily have been selected for comparison as a case study. The work performed takes advantage of integrated digital survey techniques to obtain a rigorous and complete documentation and representation of historical architecture. To achieve the goals of the research, a critical interpretation of the architectural survey has been carried out, beginning with the semantic classification of elements and the identification of typological features to identify both the common and unique geometrical and stylistic features. This constitutes the basis upon which 3D semantic libraries were created in order to be reused in other projects.