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Title
New perspectives to save cultural heritage
Author
Altan, M. Orhan

CI PA 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey
Figure 1. Southwestern view of the Dafni Monastery
2. DATA BASE CONSIDERATIONS
After the main bulk of the geometric documentation works had
finished, it was decided to proceed to the data base creation.
The contents of the database would be mainly qualitative
information for all structural elements of the monument. This
meant that for every stone, for every brick, for every
ornamental or other single element of the internal and the
external surfaces of the church relevant information should be
available. Structuring such a database with that level of high
detail was one of the main research issues of the whole project.
It was for the first time that such a data base was specified, at
least to such an extended detail. Contemporary technology and
the advancement of GIS allow today the fast, systematic
recording of such information, but also their recovery according
to the users’ desire. On the other hand the possibility for direct
connection of these pieces of information to the geometric
position of the various objects in 3D space is possible.
For the implementation of the data base the combination of two
commercially available pieces of software was chosen:
• AutoCAD Map 2000i®, which provides the possibility of
bridging the geometric and topological base map (i.e. the
vector or raster drawing) to a data base software
• MS Access 2000®, which carries the desired quantitative
information
based on the following criteria:
1. AutoCAD Map 2000i® software is actually a GIS and co
operates, among others, with MS Access 2000®.
2. In this software there is the possibility of recording,
analysing, processing and presenting various qualitative
phenomena in the form of thematic maps, but also the
execution of logical queries by the user.
3. There is also the possibility for the base map to be either a
traditional vector drawing or a raster product (such as an
orthophotography) and, in addition, it is possible to access
more than one drawings at the same time.
4. MS Access 2000® is a widely accepted software with a lot
of possibilities of managing descriptive information and is
connected easily to AutoCAD Map 2000i®.
The data base design was carried out in co-operation and
according to pertinent discussions with the supervisors of the
Direction of Restoration of Byzantine Monuments of the
Ministry of Culture. The various qualitative pieces of
information were connected to the vector drawings and the
ortho-photomosaics (Delinikolas et al, 2000). The end products
require the installation of the two parts of the software and offer
to the users the possibility to edit, update and complement the
various elements.
3. DATA BASE DESIGN
This part specifically concerned the implementation of the
conceptual and logical database design. The high level of detail
and the intrinsic complexity of the subject render the task of
database design extremely hard. The design considerations and
especially the determination of the various qualitative
information fields for every conceptual entity specified were
studied in detail in co-operation with the interested users,
belonging to several different scientific fields like preservers,
architects, civil engineers etc. It should be noted at this point
that the design of the database highly depends on the spatial
analysis taking place inside the GIS context. In other words the
database itself, disconnected from the spatial entities will not be
functional.
Database design is a three-step procedure including the design
of the conceptual schema, the logical schema and the
implementation of the logical schema in the physical level.
Conceptual design concerns to the explicit description of the
database regardless of the way it is materialized in the hardware
level. The most known and widely used conceptual model is the
Entity Relational model well known as E-R. The E-R model for
the facades of the Katholikon, representing the different basic
conceptual entities and the relations among them, is shown in
Figure 2.
Four (4) basic conceptual entities were specified, named:
StructuralZones, Stuctural_Sections, Structural_Set and
StructuralJElements. Structural_Elements was the main entity
representing every separate structural element of each facade of
the monument. The necessary attribute properties determined
for the specific entity concerned to:
• geological properties
• deterioration-degradation type
• processing type
• dimensions.
In addition, to each stone or brick of the outer walls, a property
concerning the surrounding connecting material was assigned.
Joint type was the term used to specify this kind of property as
it is shown in the E-R diagram. There are 8 different types of
joints on the walls and the roof of the church.
The rest conceptual entities were specified and used in order to
describe univocally the location of each structural element of
the outer walls of one specific facade. The Structural_Zones
entity represents the horizontal division of each facade in
different adjacent horizontal zones. The Structural Sections
entity represents the vertical division of each facade in different
adjacent vertical zones. Finally the Structural_Set entity refers
to every distinct part of the outer walls consisting of several
structural elements like windows, other architectural entities
This particular conceptual organization helps to