Integration of AI-Based Methodologies for Surveying and Virtual Reconstruction: The Case of the Chiostro and the Cappella della Pace in the Monastery of Santi Giovanni e Paolo in Venice.

The case study described below is part of a larger project entitled “RELIFE: accessibility and inclusiveness in the scenarios of reuse and enhancement of former monastic buildings” at the University of Padua, funded by the European Commission and still under development. The project involves the use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) reconstruction, historical-architectural analysis, accessibility studies, and the use of virtual and augmented reality to highlight, through a timeline, the various construction phases and works lost over the centuries. The present article focuses on the case of Santi Giovanni e Paolo and about the Chiostro and Capella della Pace, which both did not survive. The objective of the article is to delineate the historical and graphic workflow pursued to reconstruct the chapel, an hypothesis based on the analysis of precise historical-graphic sources and on the digital survey. The latest was made on the chiostro through photogrammetry using a Fujifilm MILC camera and an Insta350 x4 8K. The focus is on the use of 360 video shooting techniques for photogrammetric survey processing and the possibility of integrating a Gaussian Splatting survey for the development of an immersive reality (such as applied games or virtual tours). The article provides a comprehensive explanation of how diverse representation techniques can be converged for a singular divulgative purpose.