We warmly congratulate our colleague Gudrun Styhler-Aydın on being awarded the »Denkmalschutzmedaille 2025», which was presented to her at a ceremony on November 26, 2025, at the Josephinum in Vienna. The medal is awarded for outstanding commitment to cultural heritage. In line with the Federal Monuments Office's motto for the year, “Preserve MONUMENTS – Experience them DIGITALLY,” this year's selection of award winners focused on projects related to digitization. 

Gudrun Styhler-Aydın was honored for the project »Points – Beams – Structures,« which she developed while still working at the Vienna University of Technology together with Georg Hochreiner and Taşkın Özkan. The aim is to efficiently document, analyze, and evaluate historical roof structures. Using high-precision 3D laser scanning, complex wooden roof structures were accurately recorded, and the beam layout, length, cross-section, and alignment were determined and digitally linked. Missing areas can be virtually supplemented, enabling volume calculations, structural analyses, and conservation simulations to be carried out before any actual work is done. Application examples such as St. Michael's Church in Vienna and Heiligenkreuz-Gutenbrunn Castle demonstrate the practicality of this approach. The models depict the current and original states, thus providing a valuable basis for monument preservation and conservation. »Points – Beams – Structures« combines interdisciplinary expertise from architecture, civil engineering, and digitization, preserves traditional craftsmanship methods, and supports virtual and augmented reality applications.

https://www.bda.gv.at/themen/aktuelles/denkmalschutzmedaille-2025-info.html