Banfi Fabrizio
Associate Professor
Fabrizio Banfi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC) of Politecnico di Milano. His expertise includes virtual heritage, BIM, HBIM, XR technologies, 3D surveying, game engines, and digital twins. His research focuses on the digitization and conservation of cultural heritage, design representation, and the development of immersive virtual museum experiences.In 2016, he was awarded an international position funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) within the program “New Paradigm / New Tools for Architectural Heritage”, in collaboration with Carleton University (Ottawa) and Autodesk Research (Toronto). He earned a PhD with honors and received the SIFET 2018 Award for the best national doctoral thesis. He has led and participated in major national and international surveying and digitization projects, including the Canadian Parliament, the Basilica of Collemaggio, the Villa of the Quintili, the Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella, the Appian Way in Rome, the Fortress of Arquata del Tronto, and the Lamalunga Cave with the remains of the Altamura Neanderthal.Since 2025, he has been the scientific coordinator of the surveying, digitization, and virtualization process of the Certosa di Pavia for Politecnico di Milano. With over 100 scientific publications, he teaches in the degree programs of Building and Construction Engineering, Architectural Design, and in the 2nd-level BIM Master’s program. Since 2020, he has been a member of the Unione Italiana per il Disegno and an active member of CIPA Heritage Documentation.Since 2025, he has been included in Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists List, which recognizes researchers with the highest scientific impact worldwide.
Career
PhD with honors – 2016 MIUR scholarship (31st cycle PhD school) Milan. Thesis title: "Holistic generative modeling process for HBIM".
Research
Scan-to-BIM; REPRESENTATION; HBIM; 3D SURVEYING; DIGITISATION, BUILT HERITAGE; DIGITAL TWIN; VIRTUAL REALITY; WEBXR; VIRTUAL MUSEUM; XR DEVELOPMENT.
Selected Publications
Banfi, F. Azzolini, A.M. (2025) "Shaping Digital Architects | dal CAD e BIM alla rappresentazione interattiva del progetto tramite linguaggi di programmazione visuale ", Maggioli Editore.
Banfi, F. (2023) "Virtual Heritage| from 3D modelling to HBIM and extended reality", Maggioli Editore.
Banfi, F. (2020) "HBIM, 3D drawing and virtual reality for archaeological sites and ancient ruins", Virtual Archaeology Review, vol. 11, pp. 16-33.
Banfi, F. (2021) "The Evolution of Interactivity, Immersion and Interoperability in HBIM: Digital Model Uses, VR and AR for Built Cultural Heritage", Isprs International Journal Of Geo-Information, vol. 10, pp. 1-36.
Banfi, F. Stanga, C. Landi, A.G. (2023) "Virtual access to heritage through scientific drawing, semantic models and VR-experience of the tronghold of Arquata del Tronto after the earthquake", SCIRES-IT-SCIentific RESearch and Information Technology, 13(1), pp. 83-100.
Banfi, F. Dellù, E. Roncoroni, F. Cacudi, G. (2024) "Beyond digitisation and high-res 3D modelling of complex archaeological sites: shaping virtual heritage, XR engagement and preservation of Neanderthal Man’s remains and Lamalunga cave", Disegnare Con, 17(32), pp. 1-20.
Grants, awards and Honours
1° Premio AUTec 2018 - Miglior tesi di dottorato nazionaleVenezia il 17-18 Giugno, Palazzo Badoer, IUAV (Istituto Universitario di Architettura Venezia)For the PhD thesis: Banfi, F. (2019). Holistic generative modeling process for HBIM;
1° Premio GEORES 2019 - Best Full Paper AwardGEORES 2019 - 2nd International Conference of Geomatics and RestorationFor the paper: Banfi, F., Brumana, R., & Stanga, C. (2019). a Content-Based Immersive Experience of Basilica of SANT'AMBROGIO in Milan: from 3d Survey to Virtual Reality. ISPRS-International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 4211, 159166;
1° Premio EuroMed 2016 - The Werner Weber award - Best Full paperEuroMed 2016 Euromed Digital heritage: progress in cultural heritage documentation, preservation and protectionFor the paper: Barazzetti, L., Banfi, F., & Brumana, R. (2016). Historic BIM in the Cloud. In Euro-Mediterranean Conference (pp. 104-115). Springer, Cham;
Partecipazione al progetto Rilievo e rappresentazione HBIM della Basilica di Collemaggio a L’Aquila: I rilievi geometrici e la restituzione con assegno di ricerca SDI_HBIM. SDI_HBIM: from surveying to object modeling to support the documentation, project and management of the architectural heritage collocato all’interno del Progetto Ripartire da Collemaggio, finanziatore ENIservizi. Restauro premiato con il European Heritage Award/Europa Nostra Award 2020: Il “Premio Europeo del Patrimonio 2020”;
17° MEDIARC Festival Internazionale di Architettura in Video – 2° Premio For the video: Ponte Azzone Visconti – Campagna di rilevamento e modello BIM (Building Information Modelling) GIcarus Lab (4D BIM – HBIM – WEBGIS – SDI) Geospatial Information Content Modelling: Architectural heritage&built environment, eUrbanAtlas, data Surveying.
Community Service
MEMBRO DEL COMITATO EDITORIALE, SCIENTIFICO E ORGANIZZATORE
Membro Ordinario del UNIONE ITALIANA PER IL DISEGNO (anni 2024,2023,2022,2021,2020)
Chair della Commissione di Dottorato “Digitalization process and AI for the construction industry – topography” e ” BIM applications and digital twin” della Scuola di Dottorato del Dipartimento ABC del Politecnico di Milano
Membro del Comitato Editoriale - Drones (ISSN 2504-446X)
Special Issue Editor: Banfi F., Oreni D., Mezzino D.(2023). Digital Twins and Extended Reality: Opportunities and Challenges of Integrated Applications. Drones (ISSN 2504-446X)
Membro del Comitato scientifico e Comitato Organizzatore Locale - CIPA Florence 2023 29th symposium: Digital Workflows for Heritage Conservation
Regular Member Cipa Heritage Documentation
Membro del Corpo Docente - 8th CIPA Spring School – 3D surveying and modelling of cultural heritage
Membro del Comitato scientifico Euromed 2020 Digital Heritage - Euromed 2020 - International Conference on Digital Heritage focusing on Documentation, Preservation and Protection.
Membro del Comitato scientifico e Comitato Organizzatore GEORES 2019 - 2nd International Conference of Geomatics and Restoration -
CIPA Ottawa 2017 26th symposium: Digital Workflows for Heritage Conservation.
REVISORE DELLE SEGUENTI RIVISTE SCIENTIFICHE e CONFERENZE INTERNAZIONALI:
DisegnareCON (ISNN:18285961) SCIRES-IT - SCIentific RESearch and Information Technology - Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologie dell'Informazione (e-ISSN 2239-4303)
Automation in Construction (ISSN: 0926-5805)
Journal of Cultural Heritage (ISSN: 1296-2074)
Journal of Building Engineering (ISSN: 2352-7102)
Heritage Science (ISSN: 20507445)
Virtual Archaeology Review (ISSN 19899947)
Results in Engineering (ISSN: 2590-1230)
Applied Sciences (ISSN: 2076-3417)
Drones (ISSN 2504-446X)
Journal of Asian Architecture And Building Engineering (ISSN 1347-2852)
Cipa Florence 2023 – 29th International Symposium on Digital Workflows for Heritage
ConservationEuromed 2020 Digital Heritage - Euromed 2020 - International Conference on Digital Heritage focusing on Documentation, Preservation and Protection.
GEORES 2021 - 3nd International Conference of Geomatics and Restoration ISPRS WG II/8, WG III/5, WG V/1
GEORES 2019 - 2nd International Conference of Geomatics and Restoration ISPRS WG II/8, WG III/5, WG V/1
Euromed 2018 Digital Heritage - Euromed 2018 - International Conference on Digital Heritage focusing on Documentation, Preservation and Protection.
IGI Global Editorial Discovery.
The Units
GIcarus Lab
Group details
Research projects
Nemesis - Soil Health Living Lab
Project detailsUTOPIZE
Project detailsHOMeBIM
Project details