Preserving the modern architectural heritage in São Paulo. The case of the Decio Tozzi collection

Abstract

The article discusses the preservation and digitalization process of the Decio Tozzi architectural collection at the State University of Campinas. The collection, donated in 2018, includes drawings, photos, models, and other documents from Tozzi’s 50-year career. The preservation process involves cleaning, cataloging, digitalizing, and creating 2D and 3D models of the projects. The digital preservation efforts aim to safeguard the collection and make it accessible for researches and public dissemination. Challenges include handling fragile materials, ensuring ethical use, and maintaining digital files. We digitalized 32 projects and produced 10 complete redrawings, both 2D and 3D. These results demonstrated that identifying details in each drawing, while redrawing, contributed to clarifying implicit intentions in documents. Redrawing contributes to preserving archives by producing new artifacts, including physical and digital three-dimensional models. We highlight the importance of preserving architectural heritage and the role of digital tools in enhancing spatial understanding.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.20365/disegnarecon.34.2025.24