The urban void of the Mellah in Sefrou’s Medina, reflections through integrated digital methodologies
Giovanni Pancani, Alberto Pettineo, Giovanni Minutoli, Houssem Dine Kouidhi
Abstract. The paper illustrates the outcomes of documentation activities carried out on the Mellah of Sefrou, an area historically subject to recurrent flooding, including a particularly significant event recorded in 1950 that caused severe damage to the built structures and led to an “urban void.” In May 2017, within a workshop organised by the University of Florence in Sefrou, a digital survey campaign was conducted in the area affected by the floods, integrating direct measurements with Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry. The aim was to produce three-dimensional datasets supporting the development of 3D models and two-dimensional drawings useful for describing the state of conservation of the structures. In parallel, an alternative workflow was tested, based exclusively on open-source data available online, and in this first phase, focused on modelling the topographic surface of the area. The investigation seeks to explore the potential of open-source geospatial data for generating three-dimensional models, assessing their reliability through comparison with field survey results, defining the effective scale of detail that can be achieved, and identifying possible application domains for products derived from such resources.
Keywords
Photogrammetry, Digital Survey, Cultural Heritage, 3D Modelling, Conservation, Morocco
Published online 1/10/2026, 7 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Giovanni Pancani, Alberto Pettineo, Giovanni Minutoli, Houssem Dine Kouidhi, The urban void of the Mellah in Sefrou’s Medina, reflections through integrated digital methodologies, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 58, pp 116-122, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903933-16
The article was published as article 16 of the book Emerging Research in Materials for Environment, and Civil Infrastructure
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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