Interactive Memory: Pathes to Preserving Architectural Heritage in the Digital Age

This paper presents how new technologies based on digital recreations can contribute to the preservation of architectural heritage, considering the role of three-dimensional technologies, immersive environments, and AI, proposed as tools for cultural safeguarding and dissemination. Qualitative and exploratory in nature, the study is based on bibliographic and documentary research on preservation, memory and virtuality, emphasizing potential benefits and risks related to each technology and their converging use in the field of built heritage preservation. Results indicate that the virtual does not oppose the real but extends it, functioning as a complementary language of experience and heritage mediation, as well as a tool for preserving the physical buildings themselves. Digital reconstructions and immersive experiences can enhance public access, enable remote engagement, and facilitate participatory memory-making, while AI-driven analysis assists in condition assessment, predictive maintenance, and large-scale archival organization. Thus, the convergence between digital tools and the possibility of expanding the preservation of buildings and the memories linked to them presents a special potential for the future of urban memory. In making this statement, the article understands that digital architecture can re-signify collective memory, broadening access, awareness, and engagement, by treating preservation as a hybrid process between materiality and imagination. The study also highlights ethical and epistemological challenges, such as authenticity, representation biases, data permanence, and the potential for commodification. The article concludes with recommendations for interdisciplinary frameworks, community involvement, and critical design practices to responsibly integrate digital technologies into heritage stewardship.