The potential of Virtual Heritage, with particular attention to the field of knowledge dissemination, not only in the educational and scientific field, of museum collections, which are very often not accessible, have long been at the centre of the digitisation policies of major national and international institutions. Within this framework, the proposed research is part of a broader research, involving scientific figures from different disciplinary fields for the definition of a workflow for the 3D acquisition, digitisation and creation of a virtual model of miniatures of architectural artefacts kept at the Polytechnic of Turin. The paper describes part of the experimentation conducted for the creation of 3D surveys carried out using different tools, such as a portable LIDAR, Mantis F6, a low cost LIDAR, iPhone 13 Pro, and a digital camera, Nikon Z5, evaluating their performance not only from a metric point of view, but also from a methodological point of view and the subsequent sharing of models in accessible digital environments. The conducted study therefore initiates a process of memory digitisation in order to create a digital platform in which to insert, in an organised and digitised manner, models, data, historical morphological information, material, documentary, etc., in order to make interaction with the virtual reconstructions possible, promoting a new accessibility, all this to test, standardise and define a possible working protocol for massive low-cost 3D artefacts acquisition.

In recent years, the Politecnico di Torino (Italy) is undertaking actions to promote and disseminate its historical archival and material heritage, both with onsite events and with digital tools and platforms dedicated to its digital museum. One of its most important collections is the Curioni’s one (1860–1887). It preserves reproductions of building structures used as teaching aids in the teaching of Construction Science. We are now working on the digitisation project of those artefacts, and we propose a study on the data management protocol structured to satisfy the FAIR principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-Usable). In fact, with the purpose of sharing and enhancing its materials, the Politecnico promotes the digitisation of its entire collection of Curioni’s models, to create a new section of its virtual museum. To this extent, one goal of our research is to foster the accessibility of this tangible heritage in the digital domain. In accordance with the Italian national digitisation plan, PND, we defined a Digital Management Plan for the cultural heritage products, DMP, to guarantee FAIR principles in sharing 3D digital artefacts of the Curioni’s collection. The DMP originated as public administration data management, but the result of this study demonstrates its usefulness also for digital cultural data management.

This contribution critically reflects on research dedicated to enhancing architectural archives through BIM and disseminating them online. The case study focuses on a building designed by Felice Bardelli for the INA Casa program in postwar Turin, in an area affected by bombing during World War II. The research is based on the Betta-Bardelli archive housed at the Polytechnic University of Turin and consisting of technical drawings, structural calculations, and administrative documents. The project involves digitizing, georeferencing, and creating an information model (BIM) of the archival material to virtually restore the buildings and their historical urban contexts. This methodological approach transforms academic archives from mere repositories of documents into active, accessible, and interactive cultural infrastructures. Thus, the digital model becomes a tool for analyzing, conserving, and disseminating design heritage, fostering a new form of communication and interdisciplinary research.