BIM FOR MUSEUMS: AN INTEGRATED APPROACH FROM THE BUILDING TO THE COLLECTIONS

The paper discusses the first outcomes of an ongoing research activity aimed at developing a general BIM-based methodology for the organization and the management of the information needed for maintenance and safety assessment of museums. The Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze (Florence, Italy) which has a very complex spatial organisation as a result of transformations occurred over the centuries, has been considered as an illustrative application of the proposed methodology. One of the specific elements which characterize museums, compared to other buildings, is the issue of the relationship between the building itself and the artworks there contained. A specific element of the research is consequently the need not to limit the attention to only the building (i.e. the envelope), but to consider within the BIM also the presence of the art collections. Starting from a recent laser scanner survey, a BIM has been created and a semi-automatic workflow has been investigated to obtain a FE (Finite Element) model to be employed for static and dynamic structural analysis purposes. Currently, since the scans inevitably included the artworks, a test is underway to add in the BIM of the museum also its collections (M-BIM). Each element can be inserted as a BIM object including its geometric representation and physical data (dimensions, materials, weight…) and linked to different museum inventory and conservation databases for the museum management.