Advances in HBIM and Digital Twins for Cultural Heritage—from Reality to Model and Back
A special issue of Heritage (ISSN 2571-9408).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 370
Special Issue Editors
Interests: HBIM; GIS; laser scanning; close range photogrammetry; survey; data elaboration; data management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The creation of digital information systems, including BIM and Digital Twins, for historic buildings represents a significant advancement in the documentation, analysis, and management of Cultural Heritage. These tools facilitate the accurate representation of complex architectural and structural elements, supporting more effective conservation, monitoring, analysis, and intervention strategies. However, the process of reality modeling and abstraction to create reliable and functional digital information models poses significant challenges, particularly when applied to the heterogeneous and non-standardizable architectural and structural elements typical of historic buildings. Many questions are still open, offering fertile ground for further exploration and innovation.
This Special Issue of Heritage aims to showcase current research trends, methodologies, and applications in this field, with an emphasis on the creation of "Digital Twins" for historic buildings and their potential applications for heritage conservation and management. Topics of interest include semantic classification and ontologies, data management, damage monitoring, structural analysis and model validation, with the objective of addressing methodological gaps and proposing innovative solutions.
Contributions investigating all aspects of the HBIM workflow, from data acquisition and modeling to information management and real-world applications, are welcome. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Investigations in BIM for Cultural Heritage (HBIM);
- Data acquisition and processing techniques for heritage applications;
- Methods for 3D modeling and representation of architectural and structural complexity;
- Information management in HBIM, including semantic enrichment and interoperability;
- Applications of HBIM in conservation, restoration, and structural diagnostics;
- Case studies and practical implementations of HBIM, emphasizing lessons learned and challenges encountered;
- Strategies for linking digital models with physical assets to support long-term monitoring and reuse.
This Special Issue invites original research, experimental studies, reviews, and technical case studies that provide new insights into HBIM development and applications. Submissions proposing methodological advancements or addressing interdisciplinary challenges are particularly encouraged.
Dr. Nazarena Bruno
Dr. Federica Ottoni
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
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. Heritage is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 1600 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
- historic building information modeling (HBIM)
- digital twins for cultural heritage
- cultural heritage digitization
- information management
- 3D modeling
- semantic classification
- programmed conservation
- structural monitoring
- data integration
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