China prides in the richness of architectural heritage. The 5,000 years‘ history of Chinese civilizations witnessed a variety of multi-colored architectural heritage, but it is sad to admit that not a few old architectures have been severely ruined with the passage of time. Generations of the architects are curious to answer the following questions: In what way can the appearance of the old architectures be remembered? In what way can the “medical history” of the old architectures be well recorded?

On the basis of the image modeling technology, Assoc Prof. Yongkang Cao, director of SJTU’s International Research Center for the Conservation of Architectural Heritage, has succeeded in the restoration of the ruined historical architectures as well as the construction of the space databank of historical architecture, which provided a new road for the conservation of architectural heritage.

It is not Mr. Yongkang Cao‘s first attempt to use image modeling technology to restore the ruined ancient architectures. Early in 2001, his research team succeeded in restoring the stone archway of Xu Guangqi’s Tomb which stands on Nandan Road, Xuhui District of Shanghai. A variety of different technical measures, including 3D laser scan, photogrammetry, infrared thermography and unmanned plane measuring, have been put into application in Mr. Cao and his team‘s every effort to optimize mapping and surveying. “Providing that the restoration of architectural heritage can be compared to the medical treatment, the data collection is critical to the preliminary diagnosis”, said Mr. Cao, “a variety of different technical measures might be employed in response to the condition of every single ancient architecture.”

SJTU’s International Research Center for the Conservation of Architectural Heritage is now committed to the construction of the International Education Center for the Restoration Technology of Architectural Heritage and the Research Center for Digital Measuring and Nondestructive Testing to promote our country‘s technical capability in terms of architectural heritage conservation.