Advanced Digital Technologies for Heritage Conservation and Management
A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Construction Management, and Computers & Digitization".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2026 | Viewed by 34
Special Issue Editors
Interests: material characterization; cultural heritagel; materials chemistry; analytical chemistry
Interests: geoarchaeology; archaeometry; geomechanics, applied petrography; physical geography; stone architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Today, the digitalization of both historic and contemporary buildings makes it possible to capture an accurate snapshot of their current state of conservation, providing a solid reference for monitoring and planned maintenance. A wide range of digitalization methods is now available within historical and architectural contexts, and these technologies are rapidly evolving thanks to advances in artificial intelligence and computer vision. At the same time, emerging techniques, such as thermographic imaging photogrammetry for ancient buildings and underwater photogrammetry in submerged archaeological areas, still present significant challenges and require further development. In any case, the three-dimensional model is no longer a mere visual reproduction; it is becoming increasingly intelligent through the integration of geometric and non-geometric Building Information Modeling data, thematic layers, and even dynamic animations. Properly trained artificial intelligence systems are beginning to identify areas affected by construction pathologies directly within a building’s 3D model, detecting issues such as cracks, deformations, weathering, biodeterioration, metal corrosion, and zones potentially at risk of collapse. This raises an essential question: could AI-based analysis of structural deterioration eventually refine, or even replace, traditional human inspection? In the context of advanced digitalization and complementary techniques for Heritage Conservation and Management, this Special Issue welcomes scientific contributions that aim to investigate and answer this forward-looking question and explore the above-mentioned new digitalization methods.
Prof. Dr. António Candeias
Dr. Fabio Sitzia
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Buildings is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- photogrammetry
- aerial LIDAR
- thermographic photogrammetry
- underwater photogrammetry
- digital twins
- building pathology
- SEM-photogrammetry
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