The Legacy Digitalis methodological framework is grounded in Cesare Brandi’s theory of restoration and aligned with the documentation principles of the London Charter. It separates observation, inference and interpretation; records uncertainty; and preserves the reasoning through which each version is produced.
Digital reconstruction is neither a scan nor free invention. It is a critical, documented act of interpretation.
From evidence to reconstruction
methods & standards
methodology
(01)
EVIDENCE MAP
ACCEPTANCE, REVIEW AND VERSIONING
DIGITAL PRODUCTION
RECONSTRUCTION BRIEF
SOURCE CORPUS
Primary object evidence, archival records, technical descriptions, historical photography and comparative works are assembled and assessed.
Each significant component is linked to its source basis and assigned an evidentiary status. Documented, corroborated, reconstructed, interpretive and unresolved elements are recorded separately.
The completed version is checked against the brief, assigned a review status and preserved with its change history.
Heredis Atelier translates the approved brief into geometry, material systems, mechanisms, animation and image.
Known dimensions, calculated proportions, material hypotheses, mechanisms and unresolved alternatives are defined before production.
(02)
tiers
evidence is insufficient; the element remains open or is represented through alternatives.
UNRESOLVED
necessary for coherence but open to more than one reasonable solution.
INTERPRETIVE
derived from historically and technically close examples
RECONSTRUCTED BY ANALOGY
directly observed, measured or unambiguously described.
supported by several independent sources or a strong comparative basis
CORROBORATED
DOCUMENTED
EVIDENCE TIERS
Each reconstruction is versioned. When new evidence emerges, the work may be revised through a documented process without erasing its research history.
(03)
EVIDENCE FRAMEWORK
Review status is object-specific. A work is described as methodologically documented, externally reviewed or institutionally reviewed only when the corresponding record exists. External review never converts interpretation into certainty; it assesses whether sources, reasoning and limitations are stated responsibly.
Each dossier records the object identity, research question, source bibliography, evidence map, known and inferred dimensions, material and mechanical decisions, rejected alternatives, paradata, contributors, rights, version history, review status and preservation requirements.
versioning
review
THE RECONSTRUCTION DOSSIER
THE RECONSTRUCTION RECORD
methodological dossier
Every project record separates what is documented, what is inferred, what remains unresolved and which version is current.
scholarly access