Citation: Xu, C.; Zhao, Y.; Wu, C.
‘Sustainable’ Recording and
Preservation of Zangniang Stupa and
Sangzhou Lamasery in Qinghai,
China with Heritage Building
Information Model. Sustainability
2022, 14, 4549. https://doi.org/
10.3390/su14084549
Academic Editor: Claudia Casapulla
Received: 28 January 2022
Accepted: 9 April 2022
Published: 11 April 2022
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Article
‘Sustainable’ Recording and Preservation of Zangniang Stupa
and Sangzhou Lamasery in Qinghai, China with Heritage
Building Information Model
Chaoran Xu
1
, Yi Zhao
2,
* and Cong Wu
1,
*
1
Department of Architecture, School of Architecture, Tianjin University (TJU), Tianjing 300072, China;
xuchaoran_0627@tju.edu.cn
2
Department of Landscape Architecture, School of Architecture, Tianjin University (TJU),
Tianjing 300072, China
* Correspondence: 2016206153@tju.edu.cn (Y.Z.); wucong@tju.edu.cn (C.W.)
Abstract:
This paper research and discusses the ‘sustainable’ workflow and heritage recording
method of historic building information modelling (HBIM) for Chinese Tibetan architecture and
pagodas and explains the vital role of recording heritage information to protect cultural relics. Con-
sidering the Tibetan Buddhist Pagoda in Yushu, Qinghai, China, this paper explores the collaborative
modelling mechanism and ideas between heritage surveying and scanning information and software,
and the problems of these two methods. Through research, we have obtained successful cases of
HBIM based on field scanning and mapping, online software collaborative modelling (Rhino, Bentley,
Autodesk Computer-Aided Design), sustainable management, and display. It is an information model
constructed according to construction logic and accurate information and one that realises sustainable
and full-cycle recording functions by continuous recording, updating, and iterating. This method
removes a limitation of HBIM in that it considers one-time information construction and delivery
mode but does not consider and explore sustainable recording work. It will significantly promote
more records on the heritage information of Tibetan architecture. The results will also directly serve
the protection of architectural heritage in Qinghai Province, China and the ‘Silk Road (South Asia
Section) Transnational Serial Application for World Heritage’ work.
Keywords:
Tibetan Buddhist architecture; heritage information recording; historic building informa-
tion modelling; Qinghai; China
1. Introduction
In 2009, Professor Murphy of the University of Dublin in Ireland, who has a back-
ground in heritage protection, first proposed using building information modelling (BIM)
technology for heritage protection, coining the term historic building information mod-
elling (HBIM) [
1
], which he defined as a system of cross-platform programmes for mapping
parametric objects onto a point cloud and image survey data [2].
Murphy’s doctoral thesis, written in 2012, elaborated on the application and process of
HBIM, which he divided into the following five parts: 3D laser scanning, point cloud data
processing, parametric logic design, parametric modelling, and HBIM model evaluation
and testing [
3
]. HBIM technology is a new method for sustainably recording the life-cycle
information of, and protecting and managing, diverse types of heritage buildings; it is
a valuable tool in the preventive conservation of historical architectural heritage [
4
,
5
].
Furthermore, in the process of various heritage protection, the HBIM method can cover
all the current heritage information of historical buildings, which is very beneficial to the
conservation and restoration of heritage historical information in the future. HBIM is a
reverse and sustainable construction method from disorder to order. It can sustainably
record and represent the different historical stages of heritage, restoration stages, or any
Sustainability 2022, 14, 4549. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084549 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability
