Fast-survey techniques for digital mapping and understanding the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou

This study examines the Ksar of Ait Ben Haddou in southern Morocco to evaluate the potential of rapid and non-invasive techniques for documenting and analysing complex vernacular heritage. The workflow combined videogrammetry from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) with terrestrial laser scanning, prioritising speed, portability, and minimal equipment while ensuring metric reliability. Aerial, radial, and nadir video paths were used to capture the site’s volumetric complexity and the extracted frames were processed through Structure from Motion–Multi View Stereo (SfM-MVS) algorithms to generate photogrammetric dense point clouds. In two key areas, the fortified granary on the hilltop and the noble zone within the lower settlement, a high-resolution TLS point cloud provided accurate metric references, enabling the calibration and validation of videogrammetric data. The resulting point cloud delivers a detailed representation of the ksar’s external morphology, offering visualisation and qualitative support for architectural interpretation. Comparative analyses between UAS-based and laser-scanned datasets highlight the degree of dimensional accuracy achievable through rapid videogrammetry, as well as its capacity to capture building elements relevant for morphological reading. This assessment extends to the potential use of such datasets as foundations for interpretative or parametric modelling workflows, ensuring reliable representations from survey data. The research highlights the potential of fast-survey methodologies for preliminary analysis and documentation and as a starting point for interpretative processes concerning architectural form, construction logic, and typological variation - all enhanced by the visualisation and comprehension opportunities of structuring 3D information models.