An integrated survey to digitally reconstruct the courtyard of villa Rufolo in Ravello: from less to more.

New electronic survey technologies generate points clouds by recording multiple points on the surface to be surveyed; when manipulated by suitable software these points clouds can, by themselves, anticipate the shape of the surveyed architecture thanks to their greater or lesser density. The first automatic treatment of points clouds (mesh) helps to enhance comprehension of the spatial shape of the architecture and provides the observer with a viable reconstruction of the surfaces concerned. In both cases this involves automatic mathematical operations rather than actual architectural representations since there is no critical interpretation and discretisation by the operator. However these operations are the starting point for any scientific study which aims to reconstruct very complex architectural forms and how they have changed over the years. This paper will present the intermediate results of an ongoing study on Villa Rufolo in Ravello, an excellent example of the Arab influence on architecture in Southern Italy. In particular, the paper will illustrate the study of the small courtyard with its colonnade of small, slender and graceful coupled columns supporting the intertwined arches clearly inspired by Islam. There’s reason to believe that the courtyard was rebuilt after it was destroyed during the wars in the last century. Integrated survey and digital modelling techniques will be used to perform an in-depth analysis of the courtyard as it stands an