Air raid shelters as tangible cultural heritage: analysis and strategies for their study and 3D documentation

Abstract

[EN] Public air raid shelters, which emerged as a response to massive bombardment of the civilian population, were put to the test for the first time in history during the Spanish Civil War. This sample of defensive architecture represents a unique type of tangible cultural heritage with a high associated significance. Taking as a case study two significant shelters in the central peninsular area, this article analyses their historical evolution, their architectural characteristics and, especially, the possibilities offered by their documentation using 3D technologies. It evaluates the physical, technical and contextual particularities that condition their documentation, conservation and enhancement. The uniqueness of its architecture and the underground context, presents many challenges when it comes to studying and documenting it. However, the new three-dimensional documentation technologies have reached a sufficient degree of maturity to allow their study in a generalised manner and the obtaining of precise and expressive documentation, which not only facilitates their architectural study, but also their dissemination and valorisation, as spaces charged with historical memory.