Digital survey and architectural representation of a Genoese tower for the Museum of the city and territory of Galata

Abstract

Galata, one of the oldest districts in Istanbul, still shows a historical and multi-layered urban texture. In 2019, within the “Urban Facade-Istanbul Waterfront” international workshop, a 3D laser scanner survey of Galata’s city walls was carried out. The raw data therein collected became the basis for a thesis in Architecture, as part of a joint research (Politecnico di Torino, Özyeğin University, Università di Firenze) on the fortified systems in the Mediterranean area. The multidisciplinary research comprised the historical study of the transformation of the urban tissue in the considered area, and the relationships between the city, the walls, and the towers. We processed the digital survey with the aim of realizing 3D models and orthophotos of a sector of the walls characterized by a Genoese semicircular tower, which today is abandoned. The final drawings are aimed at recognizing the building’s transformations, the different materials, and the relationship between the monument and the context. The research also outlined the damages, underlining the urgency of restoration works.