The digital survey for the construction of information models of fortified architecture on the island of Capri

The paper addresses the issue of island fortifications on the island of Capri in the Gulf of Naples. Through the study and digitization of some exemplary cases, the research proposes a re-reading of the Capri landscape in connection with the defense systems that have shaped its image. Over the centuries the island has been the protagonist of important defensive events in the Mediterranean for which different architectures have been created along the coast to comply with the aim of decreasing the offensive effectiveness of the opposing actions, taking advantage of the natural characteristics of the territory and modifying them with appropriate technical solutions. From this perspective, as a first cognitive approach, aerial remote sensing was used which made it possible to obtain a large-scale orthophoto. The processing of the acquired data provided a fundamental basis for the initial mapping of the defensive system, allowing the fortified structures to be framed in the general morphological context of the island, distinguishing them both by type (towers, castles, strongholds, etc.) and by state of use or those still present from those that have disappeared as well as the transformed artefacts. There is no shortage of architecture that has been lost over time, such as the tower built at the Certosa di San Giacomo. Following this, various digital survey techniques were integrated for the construction of three-dimensional models, restoring the morphology of selected fortified architectures on the island of Capri, chosen as distinctive artefacts for the different categories. From these models, a precise analysis of the characteristics of the architectures examined was conducted, from a priority semantic decomposition to an interpretation of the same in geometric, material and construction terms, in order to prepare an initial documentary apparatus. The ultimate goal is the construction of a ‘schedule’ of forts.