Digital models applied to the typological analysis of the olive oil mills with beam and weight presses in Écija

Abstract

For centuries, mills with beam and weight presses have been the production units used in the town of Écija to obtain the oil. The intensification of olive tree cultivation in the 18th century gave rise to the proliferation of these constructions throughout the town, which at one point was home to no less than 286 mills of this type. However, by the mid-20th century events surrounding the local olive groves caused many of them to fall into disuse. Nowadays, the mills present an advanced state of decay, to the extent that many of them have disappeared partly or completely. In view of the functional nature of these production units and the short space of time in which they were built, we decided to conduct a typological study aimed at identifying any common patterns in their design. The geometric and proportional relationships between their constituent parts obtained using digital information models (Geographic Information System (GIS), 3D point clouds and databases) enabled us to determine standard structures based on ranges of deduced values. The repetition of these patterns suggested that it would be useful to create a graphical database using a parameterised HBIM (Historic Building Information Modelling), which in turn facilitates the introduction of attributes associated with these mills from a dynamic database, therefore favouring interoperability in heritage management as a response to the critical situation of the mills today. At the same time, the correspondence in the relationships of proportionality between the mills analysed typologically and the model of a 16th-century mill, suggests that 18th-century mills were adapted to patterns developed in older presses.Highlights:- The typological study of the Écija (Seville) mills with beam and weight presses reveals common patterns in these preindustrial buildings.- The proportional relationships between their constituent parts obtained using digital information models enabled us to determine standard structures. - These patterns have similarly enabled us to generate a parameterised HBIM model as a standard graphical base for the historical mills in Écija.