2.5D/3D Models for the enhancement of architectural-urban heritage. An Virtual Tour of design of the Fascist headquarters in Littoria

Abstract. Enhancement of cultural heritage is not simply a matter of preserving material objects but comes full circle only when the heritage can be enjoyed and used by the community. This is the rationale behind this presentation: an urban Virtual Tour to explore the 1937 design of the Fascist Headquarters in Littoria, now part of Latina, by the architect Oriolo Frezzotti. Although the application is deliberately "simple", it was part of a much broader framework of goals. One such goal was to create "friendly and perceptively meaningful" interfaces by integrating different "3D models" and so enriching. In fact, by exploiting the activation of natural mechanisms of visual perception and the ensuing emotional emphasis associated with vision, the illusionistic simulation of the scene facilitates access to the data even for "amateur" users. A second goal was to "contextualise the information" on which the concept of cultural heritage is based. In the application, communication of the heritage is linked to its physical and linguistic context; the latter is then used as a basis from which to set out to explore and understand the historical evidence. A third goal was to foster the widespread dissemination and sharing of this heritage of knowledge. On the one hand we worked to make the application usable from the Web, on the other, we established a reliable, rapid operational procedure with high quality processed data and ensuing contents. The procedure was also repeatable on a large scale.