The Potala Palace, as the largest Tibetan palace complex in the world, embodies various aspects of Tibetan religion, politics, history, and art. It can be deemed a "museum of Tibetan history." In 1961, the Potala Palace was designated as one of the first batch of nationally key cultural relics protection units by the State Council, and in 1994, it was inscribed on the World Heritage List. Its significance is self-evident, making routine conservation particularly crucial.

In midsummer 2016, the Finely Surveying and Mapping, and Digitization Project of the Potala Palace Ancient Architectural Complex was officially launched, conducting a comprehensive "health check" of the Potala Palace from multiple angles. Through preliminary surveying and mapping, subsequent digital modeling, model-based architectural research, and the establishment of a visualization platform, this project excellently showcased and embodied the application of fine surveying and mapping in large-scale architectural complexes.

Digital Modeling of the Potala Palace Ancient Architectural Complex

Prior to the fine surveying and mapping, the project team, cognizant of the unique characteristics of the Potala Palace and the specific requirements of cultural relic protection, uncovered all unknown spaces within the palace, addressing the long-standing issue of incomplete understanding of its architectural forms. Through fine surveying and mapping, the location of the bedrock at the bottom of the foundation was extracted and fitted with the Red Hill, clarifying the internal structural expression of the Potala Palace buildings and the mutual positional relationship between the main body of the buildings and the bedrock, which serves the preventive conservation efforts of the Potala Palace ancient architectural complex. The surveying and mapping data were also applied to a 3D visualization platform, providing data support for intelligent operation and maintenance, daily management, and information management of the Potala Palace. Several achievements of this project have been showcased at the Shanghai International Building Exhibition and the CCTV program "Guarding the Thousand-Year Treasures of the Potala Palace" broadcast on the "News Live" segment, attracting widespread attention from all sectors of society.

The successful implementation of this fine surveying and mapping, and digitization project of the Potala Palace ancient architectural complex, along with the practical application of its findings, has taken a solid step forward in exploring cultural heritage conservation under the new circumstances, providing a case study for future endeavors to refine, parameterize, and diversify cultural heritage conservation methods.