Reconstructive re-drawings” and “reconstructive models” for history of construction. The experience of SIXXI research, TEMA, Technologies, Engineering, Materials and Architecture,

This paper retraces the evolution of “reconstructive redrawing” from the axonometric crosssection, made with the 2D Cad, to 3D virtual models and 3D printed models, as powerful tools of investigation for the study of 20th Century Construction History. The subject is illustrated presenting the outcomes of some material surveys carried out, using this set of tools, on a selection of significant made in Italy “structural architectures” of 1950s and 1960s. During the SIXXI research (“XX Century Structural Engineering: the Italian Contribution”, ERC Adv Grant, PI: Sergio Poretti, Tullia Iori) special study tools supported historical surveys on works. The experimentation on tools became an autonomous research topic, developing itself from the “reconstructive re-drawing”, pioneered by Poretti in the mid 1980s, up to 3D modelling and 3D printing. This paper resumes briefly its starting and illustrates most recent outcomes, as a board field of research in Construction and Structural engineering History.