architecture reconstructed with 3D scanning by scott page

architecture reconstructed with 3D scanning by scott page

image © scott page

scott page has shared exclusive images with us of his latest project involving the retroactive reconstruction of architecture with the likes of 3D scanning.
while the architect has gained acclaim for his incredibly accurate and visually sumptuous scanned reconstructions of existing buildings, his most recent
scans of a 12th century gothic chapter house for a cisterian monastery are helping the ever-shrinking, yet steadfast, group of monks in the
new clairvaux monastery in vinas, california, USA restore the architectural heart of the santa maria de òvila church complex. newspaper magnate william
randolph hearst dismantled the original structure in spain brick-by-brick and brought the fractured building to california, but a succession of obstacles
brought on by world war II and the great depression left the building a quiet, languishing pile of brick.

understanding that the built world is often poorly documented or takes on a weathering life, scott page uses an 5 kilogram focus3D scanner to collect and
rebuild the spaces with incredibly accurate laser measurements of the built form. this detection technology uses the swift capture of three-dimensional
information from a set point in the machine to get an exact measurement of the distance between the two points in space. with the rapid read of thousands
of loci per minute, a point cloud is populated– a set of information that flawlessly express the flesh and bones of the architecture. once the 3D cluster of
information is exported to a computer-aided-design (CAD) or building information modeling (BIM) program, software often commonly used in architectural
production, the building can be reconstructed as it actually stands. the rich life, weathering and structural actualities of the space can be stunningly visualized
and avoid the idealized abstractions that often plague digital models. with regard to the cisterian monastery, the scans are used to help accurately rebuild the
austerity of the original church– particularly important endeavor, for the monastic order is renown for its architectural manifestations of ascetic life.
this is an architecture where technology and built space overlap to make manifest the differing perspectives of faithfulness.