RePrint: Digital workflow for aesthetic retrofitting of deteriorated architectural elements with new biomaterial finishes

Paper in proceeding, 2023

Digital fabrication offers new opportunities for revitalizing aged buildings in the time of craft expertise decline and higher demands regarding the sustainability of employed materials. Precise reproduction of architectural elements with digital 3D reconstruction methods such as photo-grammetry, and their repair using agile robotic 3D printing involving new environmentally friendly materials can save time and resources, leading to more circular design and manufacturing. This study presents digital workflows for architectural restoration, based on the concept of aesthetic retrofitting of deteriorated wooden architectural elements through the application of surface finishes from a novel biomaterial – nanocellulose hydrogel, upcycled from forestry waste. The workflows were established through experimental digital design and reproduction of wooden architectural details in an existing historical building, and executed within an integrated digital framework combining photogrammetry, 2D graphics processing, computational design and robotic 3D printing. Overall, the investigation has sought to demonstrate the potential of nanocellulose as a material suitable for applications in renovation and conservation. Further, the intention was to elucidate the role of digital tools as new media of restoration that enable to uplift cultural assets in an alterna-tive way - by allowing to embed aesthetic features conveying the contemporaneity of remedial interventions. Aiming to contribute to current work in experimental preservation, the study offers a novel approach in which deteriorated architectural elements are endowed with a new materiality that follows the new logic of circularity in contemporary design and construction.