Information modeling of an architectural monument - the building of the former USSR Consulate in Urumqi (China)

The theme of historical preservation of architectural heritage has become very urgent. Range of tasks, as well as their complexity require new approaches and new methods, one of which is information modeling (BIM), applicable not only for new buildings, but also for the reconstruction and restoration of monuments. This paper attempts to develop a model of the former USSR Consulate General in Urumqi (China). The building is located in the Tien Shan region of Urumqi in the yard of house number 193 on Victory Street. This yard is green with trees, the environment is very beautiful, in the south-east there is a forest. In front of the consulate there is a bust of Lenin. In 648 BC. 10 km south of Urumqi city Tang government founded Luntai. It was the beginning of Urumqi. In 1763, Emperor Qianlong called this city "Dihua". In 1884 there was formed the province of Xinjiang, Dihua became the provincial capital and political center of the Tien Shan. After the founding of the PRC Dihua was renamed Urumqi. When in 1851 Xinjiang and Russia signed a trade convention, Russia established formal trade relations with Xinjiang. In 1861, the government of the Qing Dynasty and Russia signed a treaty called "Beijing". According to the agreement, Russia began creating consulates. The main duties of the Russian consulates were negotiations with business people from Russia, litigation, and organization of additional lines of the northern trade route, banking operations, provision of postal services, establishment of schools, etc. In 1896, at the suggestion of Russia the Consulate General was established in the provincial capital of Dihua. 1924 is the year of the creation of the Consulate General of the Soviet Union in Dihua. In 1962, the Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, the Soviet Consulate left. Since 1963, the building of the former consulate was used by different services. In March 1994, the building was recognized as a cultural relic of Urumqi. On February 9, 2003 the building of the former Soviet Union Consulate General received the highest level of protection of cultural relics in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. We now describe the structure of the building, which was built in 1896. The former Consulate General of the USSR is a two-storeyed brick building with wooden elements, the main facade faces south. In the plan the building is asymmetrical, looking like Russian 'П' letter (on the rear facade there was a courtyard in the cutout). On the main facade there is a convex shape, a terrace-balcony supported by columns of the entrance forms it. The area of the building is 1800 sq.m. Outside in the iron roof there are dormers. On the roof in front of the flagpole there are four green pitcher in the form of pumpkins for decoration. The semicircular colonnade consists of six Ionic columns, which are on a six-step porch. Trunks of the Ionic columns narrow to the top, their capitals have four volutes each. On the second floor the corner of the western and southern sides of the building is decorated with six Ionic pilasters, chosen in coordination with the columns at the entrance. Brick cornices are jagged, rectangular in shape. The walls are rectangular; they are painted in yellow. The semicylindrical arched windows are beautiful, the window frames are decorated with gray dots. To obtain the information model of the Consulate building we used the program Autodesk Revit Architecture. The result is the model of the general form of the Consulate and about hundreds of models of components: walls, windows, doors, columns, decoration, etc. All this could be an excellent material for computer reconstruction of the project of the Consulate in its original form. However, when this material was prepared for publication, sad news came that the building was demolished, and a new object will be built in its place. Thus, the created information model of the Consulate building has not become an open-air museum exhibit, but an exhibit of a virtual museum of lost architecture monuments.

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