A multi-disciplinary approach to the preservation of cultural heritage: A case study on the Piazzetta degli Ariani, Ravenna

The Interdepartmental Centre for Industrial Research (CIRI) - Building and Construction of the University of Bologna is a `cross-over´ research board composed of several departments whose scholars come from different disciplines. their aim is to work together, share their know-hows, and dibate issues from different points of view. The pilot project concerns the `Square of the Arians´, Ravenna, Italy, suffering from chronic problems of physical and social deterioration, despite the fact that the Arian Baptistery is part of the Unesco World Heritage List. Moving from an analytical historical study of the site and of its sources, a large-scale operational project led to the reconstruction of different diachronic phases of the site through 15 centuries of history and has produced a 3D reconstruction and Virtual Tours for remote and mobile visualization. The results were displayed in July, 2013 by a conference and an open, multimedia exhibition in the Square itself, comprising 3D modelling, videos, interned-based support utilities, etc. Such a project represents a successful and flexible result to be adapted to different cases in the field of the preservation of the Cultural Heritage.