Data Will Be Used in Years-Long Restoration Process
An American art historian has made it possible for individuals to relive the splendor of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, although much of it has been demolished.
With the help of laser technology, Vassar College professor of art Andrew Tallon created a nearly perfect digital duplicate of the Gothic edifice in 2015. After the fire, architects and engineers might use his expertise to help reconstruct it.
Tallon researched Gothic architecture to understand how medieval builders constructed some of Europe’s most famous cathedrals throughout the medieval period. So he used more than a billion laser-measured points to generate a spatial map of Notre Dame.
Despite Tallon’s death last year, the digital model he created of the church will be critical in the restoration process since it shows exactly how it looked before the fire destroyed it.
Dan Edleson, the principal of building information modeling business STEREO, commented, “If (restorers) have any issues about how it was built before, they can look at the scan and measure every single element.” The scans are an “extremely exact portrayal to the level that until a few years ago nobody could perform.”
Due to numerous alterations made to the structure for over seven centuries, it is difficult to trace the cathedral’s architectural evolution. Tallon’s 3D laser scanning services revealed the decisions made by the architects and engineers who built the magnificent edifice and previously undisclosed traits. Furthermore, he discovered that the cathedral’s westernmost internal columns were not aligned.
Architects may benefit from the data derived from 3D Laser Scanning Services
Tallon’s scan data will be vital in the restoration process, which will take years.
At more than 50 different spots throughout the cathedral, Tallon set up a tripod with a 3D laser scan to collect data and gain a spatial grasp of the building’s structure. According to Edleson, self-driving cars employ the same technology to recognize items in their immediate surroundings.
A former engineer who worked with Tallon at Notre Dame says the late professor would climb into any possible location, including stairwells, the rooftop, and on top of the vault, to access Notre Dame.
“He’s the only one who’s scanned the building in this detail,” Ochsendorf asserted of Tallon.
The restoration will be the most difficult aspect of the cathedral’s roof, which was largely destroyed in the fire.
As Krupali Uplekar Krusche, the team leader at Notre Dame University using 3D scanning services to study historic structures, explained, “Scan data… will help them replicate measurements for beams and the overall structure.”
Krusche went on to say that the data can demonstrate “how the building is created… and you can see all angles, every feature digitally.”
As a result of the amount of detail, which is precisely up to a few millimeters, the cathedral’s spire will be easier to restore.
However, Tallon’s data isn’t sufficient on its own to do a restoration. Architects must also incorporate information from previous restorations, such as building materials and pictures, dimensions, and designs.
Tallon had expressed alarm about the state of decay of Notre Dame before his death last year. Video from 2017 shows him walking up the rooftop to point out missing parts and decaying gargoyles as well as water damage to the stones.