Facoltà di Architettura

As part of an international collaboration, the Dipartimento di Storia, Disegno e Restauro at the Sapienza Università di Roma collaborated with the Chair of Architectural History has been working and the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen since 2022 to create a complete laser scan of Aachen Cathedral.

The aim of this ambitious project is to use high-precision laser scanning technology to provide a detailed documentation of the building in its current form and its furnishings. The path to this goal is characterized by many successive work processes, ranging from laser scanning on site to the generation of a high-resolution point cloud and the modelling of textured models. The results allow far-reaching insights into the building structure as well as findings on constructive properties, which on the one hand contribute to the further conservation of Aachen Cathedral by the Dombauhütte and on the other hand allow the investigation of research questions – for example on the special vault shape of the Carolingian hexadecagon.

The laser scan will now be handed over to Aachen Cathedral and presented to the public at two presentation events: On Thursday, November 30, 2023, a public press conference will take place in the Dominformation of Aachen Cathedral from 3pm, during which the laser scan project, the cooperating institutions and the future use of the laser scan will be presented. This will be followed by a lecture event on Friday, December 1, 2023 from 9am in the library of the Chair of Architectural History, which will provide insights into research projects related to Aachen Cathedral.