Final Report, CSA Propylaea Project: CAD Models

The principal product of the CSA Propylaea Project was to have been a single, comprehensive, stone-by-stone CAD model of the Propylaea. While that aim has not been reached, there are models of portions of the building available here. In addition, there is significant information about how such models are created generally and how the models here were created in particular.

There are CAD models of the SE Anta, the southernmost column of the east porch, part of the north wall of the central building, and much of the NW wing — including a model of most of the interior faces of the blocks of that wing, a separate model of the cornice blocks, and a model of Mr. Tanoulas' reconstruction of the roof. Information about the models follows.

Anyone unfamiliar with CAD software should attempt to gain some familiarity before trying to use these models, in particular users should be familiar with AutoCAD and its operations. All models were created with AutoCAD (versions 2000 and 2007), and the files/models are in the AutoCAD DWG format associated with version 2007. All files originated in the AutoCAD 2000 format and were migrated automatically during the course of the work. Some entities were modeled with the aid of AutoCAD 2000 extensions and have been re-modeled so as to appear in "standard" AutoCAD. (For more information about CAD, please see CSA's CAD Guide for Archaeologists and Architectural Historians — or the slightly different version at the Archaeology Data Service site and the relevant portions of Eiteljorg & Limp's Archaeological Computing,a PDF publication of CSA, second edition, dated 2008.

As is always the case with CAD models, dimensional information is implicit. That is, all points have unambiguous 3-dimensional locations. As a result the distance from any point to any other point is equally unambiguous, and distances may be calculated by the software quickly and accurately. Consequently, the models do not have dimensions on them. The dimensions may be retrieved on command. All dimensions from CSA surveying have been rounded to the nearest mm. Some dimensions published in Study for the Restoration of the Propylaea, Vol. I, by T. Tanoulas, M. Ioannidou, and A. Maraitou (Athens, 1994, figures 45 and following) were given to a finer precision. That level of precision has been used in the CAD models without rounding to the nearest mm.

There are no CAD-system blocks (stock figures modeled in one place, named, and inserted in other places) or cross-referenced files used in any of these models. Nor are there linked data files. There are no associated script files. The only stored views — one for each file — are the views in each model called open; that view will be invoked automatically upon opening a file. All dimensional data are in meters.

These models are very much dependent upon the data that underlies them; so users should also examine the information about surveying for the NW wing.

Full documentation should have been made as the files were created. That, however, did not happen in all cases. As a result, some of the information here was determined after the actual creation of the files by project director Harrison Eiteljorg, II, in consultation with others.

Finally, the use of alternate, local user-coordinate systems is something made possible by CAD programs that is critical to the effective use of CAD for archaeological work, but it can be difficult to understand the idea. At root it is actually rather simple, but the terminology and the procedures required are off-putting. Therefore, readers would be well-advised to read the short item about these alternate grids here. Alternate user-coordinate systems, when used in these files, are discussed individually, as parts of the documentation of individual files.

AutoCAD files (DWG format)

All DWG files obtained from any CSA work will have a zero layer (0) that contains a copyright statement. When the file is opened, that statement will be visible, roughly filling the window, and, other than the 0 layer, only the Z layer will be thawed and visible. The Z layer should be the current layer when you open the file. Other layers, save 0, will have been frozen, and all layers will have been locked to prevent accidental change. Therefore, a first-time user will need to have examined this document and the information about layers and layer names before beginning to work on the DWG files. (The opening view will be the plan view with all or nearly all material visible when the appropriate layers have been thawed.) Knowledge of AutoCAD's layer-naming system — and, for most files, the CSA Layer-Naming Convention for AutoCAD) — is required to work effectively on the files.

As implied above, there will also be a layer named simply Z in every DWG file. That layer will have no contents. The point is to have a layer that may remain on and be the "current layer" in AutoCAD parlance without having any impact on what is visible on screen. CSA recommends making layer Z the current layer and keeping it the current layer while working with any model. All other layers may then be on/off or thawed/frozen as appropriate for working, and the zero layer (and the copyright statement) may be kept frozen and ignored.

No attempt has been made to tie any of these models to a coordinate system other than the internal one based upon the orientation of the principle axes of the model, not the real-world orientation or position of the Propylaea. That is, each model stands on its own with no necessary relationship to any survey grid. This is the result of the premature end of the project.

All layers on all models have been saved as white/black, and all model entities have been defined as colored by layer. Of course they may be changed for clarity in any way a user may desire once the layers have been unlocked.

I. SE Anta of the Central Building of the Propylaea (PRcbSEan.dwg) — model completed early in 2002

Note that beam sockets are parts of the solid models of those blocks that could be fully-modeled as solids; that is, the block, as modeled, includes the socket for the beam. Therefore, the layer for a beam socket in a block modeled as a solid contains only hatching applied to the requisite surfaces to make the socket more obvious. For blocks modeled only as surfaces, the beam socket outline is shown (with hatching) on a layer specifically for the beam socket; the basic block is on a separate layer as a simple surface without modification.

Hatch patterns are applied in the following system:

  1. Areas of anathyrosis have been filled with the ar-conc pattern (an AutoCAD-supplied pattern).
  2. Raised panels have been filled with a dots pattern (ar-sand in AutoCAD) to indicate a roughly-finished surface. In those instances where the raised panel was very roughly picked, as indicated on the drawings, the pattern is the ar-conc pattern.
  3. Damaged areas have been filled with a simple angle-lines pattern. (Note: the edges of broken areas have been drawn as accurately as the underlying data permit, but the rough surfaces resulting from damage have not been modeled. The hatched areas indicate the missing parts of the original block surfaces, assuming the missing portions were regular.)
  4. Beam sockets, whether 2- or 3-dimensional have been shown with the pattern called net3 by AutoCAD, a simple mesh pattern.

II. Southeast Column of the central building of the Propylaea (PRcbSEco.dwg) -- model completed in July of 2001

III. Wall Blocks from the North Wall of the Central Building of the Propylaea (PRcbNOwa.dwg) -- model completed near the end of 2005

The face plans are arrayed as if all had been drawn on the same piece of drafting paper, mechanical-drafting style, with the top view aligned in the model (as to elevation as well) with the top of the solid model of the block. The north face is above the top view (in plan view), the south face below, the bottom below the south face. The west face is to the right of the plan view, and the east face to the left. (Each individual view is separated from its neighbor by 20 cm. in real-world dimensions.) As noted above, this drafting convention for showing all faces of a block, though standard, may yield considerable difficulty for some. The page about mechanical drawing provides further clarification.

As a result of this logical positioning of the plan views, looking at more than one block's plan views at the same time can be all but impossible. The drawings will overlap unless the user has a newer version of AutoCAD, one permitting different viewing ports to display different selections of layers. Therefore, examining one block at a time is to be preferred when working with the plan layers.

Hatch patterns are applied in the following system:

  1. Rough areas resulting from anathyrosis have been filled with the AutoCAD ar-conc pattern.
  2. Roughly picked surfaces have been filled with the ar-sand pattern in most instances. However, more roughly-picked areas that are similar to anathyrosis in terms of finish but are not sunken are indicated by the ar-conc pattern.
  3. The ANSI 33 pattern (a diagonal stripe) indicates areas that result from recutting of the blocks and therefore present essentially modern surfaces.

It may be necessary to use the layers in conjunction with the hatches to determine whether the ar-conc hatch pattern indicates anathyrosis or not, since the pattern indicates a rough finish while the layer name identifies the area as sunken.

The decisions about layers are not simple positivist choices; they represent the result of interpretation. One person's rough texture may be another's simpler, not-perfectly-finished surface. Furthermore, Mr. Kassios was sometimes obliged to work only from the drawings, not the blocks themselves. As a result, there are many "facts" represented by layer names that are choices a user should feel free to question.

IV. NW Wing (Pinakotheka) of the Propylaea (PRnwWING.dwg) -- model built in many parts and not finally completed until the project was drawing to a close, with the basic surveying done in October of 2003 and the final model adjustments in July of 2009

There are several named user-coordinate systems in this model that should be of value to users of the model:

In addition, one may use AutoCAD's standard 3D views to see each wall as an elevation drawing, something very useful when trying to see the number applied to a given block. In the "World" UCS, the front view will show the north wall in elevation view, left will show the east wall, right the west wall, and back the south wall.

V. NW Wing (Pinakotheka) of the Propylaea, Roof, as modeled by Chrysanthos Kanellopoulos, based upon the reconstruction by Tasos Tanoulas. (PRnwROOF.dwg) -- model completed in October of 2002

VI. The cornice blocks of the NW wing of the Propylaea. (PRcor.dwg) -- completed in October of 2002

Some blocks in this model were terribly fragmentary, with documentation consisting only of a portion of a single surface; so there are some blocks virtually entirely restored, e.g., # 5143.


Please proceed to download page to obtain the CAD models.

 


 

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