France: A virtual map of Paris demonstrates the age of buildings

Researchers in France created a map named BatiParis that illustrates the city buildings categorized them according to their age. In fact, Batiparis is a detailed representation that showcases the city’s buildings and structures. The map development is a part of the FrancePixel (Bâti) which a project that creates detailed 3D representation of urban and rural areas in France using data from different sources and creates accurate and realistic models of infrastructure of the cities in France. Those models can be used by a vast range of professions, e.g. architects, engineers, urban planners and geospatial analysts, among others, as it provides a virtual demonstration of the environment of different cities. In addition, it can be used to evaluate building designs and analyze the environmental impact of the construction projects so far.

The initial idea to create a map of the aging buildings in Paris originated from the architecture of the city, which blends the present, history and future. Developers suggest that the map will help the users to understand Paris’s historical development, by using structure color-code by its construction year. Specifically, users can choose different time periods and get a visual demonstration of the stages that Paris’s growth. The map is mainly demonstrating the buildings that constructed from Napoleon rise to the first World War. Thus, most of the buildings are dated from 1851-1914.

Essentially, they developed a tool that can be used for urban planning and throughout architectural analysis and is aimed to provide models that feature the architectural diversity of the city, where historical landmarks blend with the modern age skyscrapers. The visualization of the city is beneficial for the community because it helps to deeply understand how the spatial of the city is organized.