Methodology of the Virtual Reconstruction of Arquitectonic Heritage: Ambassador Vich's Palace in Valencia

Abstract

The 19th century was disastrous as far as the conservation of architectonic heritage is concerned. The awareness of the importance of preserving monuments that has prevailed since the end of the last century was dazzlingly absent in the previous, leading both to the disappearance of representative heritage works and the plundering of many others. The present study establishes the methodological basis to proceed with the virtual reconstruction of many disappeared architectures, representative of emblematic architectonic typologies. A method based on the combination of deduction and induction allows benchmarks to be created that signify a starting point to which the key and specific elements of each building are later incorporated, from the data extracted from the conserved parts and the graphic, literary and archive documents. The result is the virtual recovery of the general outlines of the architecture: morphology of the plot, volumetry, exterior and interior facades, and the functional layout. The good results obtained in the study of the disappeared Ambassador Vich's Palace, allow the methodology to be extended to the analysis of other similar examples, serving investigators as a tool to carry out an arduous task of deciphering a trail that is increasingly fading with the passing of time.