Collaborative network tools for the architectural analysis in conservation research

Development of net-based tools initiates a new architecture-computer science junction, offering a possibility to investigate distant exchange and updating of research work on architectural artefacts. Tools such as CAD platforms, rendering software and DBMS are integrated to the every day work of more and more architects and conservationists. Computer tools, which have been introduced in the process of analysing architecture as drawing and data management platforms, now bring to the fore a deeper change: distant analysis. The development of Web technologies and the object-oriented approach to knowledge representation give us an opportunity of research in the fields of collaborative work on architectural data models. The research presented in this paper focuses on a first set of network operative tools for a co-operation program aimed at developing Web-enabled architectural data models referring to the evolution of Cracow's Old Town Hall.