Archinect - News

Ohio State researchers use machine learning to create 3D digital models of lost historic neighborhoods

2023-07-21T12:38:00-04:00

A team of researchers from The Ohio State University has developed a machine learning technique that converts old urban maps into three-dimensional digital models. According to the team, the models could potentially revolutionize research involving historic neighborhoods and the economic impact of their demolition.

The study, recently published in the journal PLOS ON, involved extracting and digitizing data from Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. The maps, created during the 19th and 20th centuries and frequently updated, were used by fire insurance companies to estimate their liabilities in about 12,000 U.S. cities and towns.

"We now have the ability to unlock the wealth of data that are embedded in these Sanborn fire atlases," said Ohio State Geography Professor Harvey Miller, a co-author of the study. "It enables a whole new approach to urban historical res...

MIT's 'Ways of Seeing' project offers scholars renewed access to four important cultural sites in Afghanistan

2023-07-05T14:24:00-04:00

A new research project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has produced a useful documentation of four hard-to-access multireligious architectural heritage sites in Afghanistan using a combination of digital renderings, satellite imaging, crowdsourced data, and XR technology.

MIT News recently profiled the school’s “Ways of Seeing: Documenting Endangered Built Heritage in Afghanistan” effort, which was the product of multiple departments and research centers within the university. The project was led by MIT’s Sociotechnical Systems Research Center director Fotini Christia, who said it “combines field data, technology, and art to protect heritage and serve the world” in a true evocation of the university’s cross-disciplinary collaborative tradition.

The end result produced two open-access digital archives co-managed via Archnet and MIT Libraries by the Aga Khan Documentation Center and Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Class of 2006 M.Arch graduate Jelena Pejkovic contributed ...

This 3D virtual tour lets you explore the ancient tombs of Pharaoh Ramses VI

2020-07-16T13:33:00-04:00

A stunning 3D virtual tour from the Egyptian Tourism Authority takes viewers deep into the heavily detailed tomb of Pharaoh Ramesses VI. Named Tomb KV9, the underground structure has a long corridor leading down to the now-broken sarcophagus, and both walls and the ceiling are inscribed with writings from ancient Egyptian texts and astronomical renderings.

If you're ready for some archaeological adventure but find yourself pandemic-trapped at home and unable to make it to Egypt's ancient Valley of the Kings right now, try the virtual tomb tour of Pharaoh Ramses VI who reigned in the 12th century BC.

Take a look at some screenshots of the ruler's spectacular eternal digs below.

Come on in! Welcome to my crib.

This must be the master bedroom. Literally.

Whoops, the mummy's out.

Exit through the gift shop.

Looking for more virtual tours on Archinect? Click here.

Win a copy of “Trajan's Hollow” by Joshua G. Stein!

2019-12-03T13:13:00-05:00

“Trajan's Hollow” is a new book by Joshua G. Stein — founder of Radical Craft and co-director of the Data Clay Network — that sheds new light on the historic Trajan's Column, one of ancient Rome's great monuments that has been obsessively documented by archaeologists and historians for centuries and visited by tourists from around the world. Thanks to ORO, Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to our readers!

Intrigued by Piranesi's iconic engravings on the Column and “the perennial tension between classical geometry and picturesque ruin,” Stein compiled his research into a book that exposes and renders new material qualities of the Column that have long been overlooked. The book “proposes a new ethos of scanning and replication, saturating digital technologies with an expansive material awareness to amplify the projective capacity of historical inquiry.” Plus, it features written contributions from David Gissen, Michael J. Waters, and Michael Swaine.

Courtesy ORO Edition...

Three pyramids in one: Mayan Kukulkan pyramid is an architectural "Russian nesting doll"

2016-11-17T13:08:00-05:00

Once, twice, three times a pyramid: thanks to non-invasive scanning, archaeologists have determined that "El Castilo," also known as the Kukulkan pyramid in Chichen Itza, has two other pyramids inside of it. As The Guardian explains:

"A 10-metre-tall pyramid was found within another 20-metre structure, which itself is enveloped by the 30-metre exterior visible at the Maya archeological complex known as Chichen Itza in Yucatán state. The smallest pyramid was built between the years 550 and 800, engineers and anthropologists said. The middle structure had already been discovered in the 1930s and dates back to the years 800-1000, while the largest one was finished between 1050 and 1300."

Pyramids in the news:

Download a 3D model of a column from Palmyra

2016-06-28T20:48:00-04:00

In ‘A World of Fragile Parts’, La Biennale di Venezia and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) explore the threats facing the preservation of global heritage sites and how the production of copies can aid in the preservation of cultural artifacts. Ecological uncertainty, violent attacks, and the increasing demands of tourism are just a few of the factors putting global heritage sites and cultural artifacts at risk of destruction and loss.

For the Venice Biennale exhibit "A World of Fragile Parts," the digital archaeology project #NEWPALMYRA made a chrome version of a capital from the recently-destroyed city of Palmyra. Now, anyone can download the 3D model and print it, use it in a model of their own, or simply spin it around.

Palmyra is an ancient city dating back to the Neolithic era that housed one of the world's most impressive collections of Roman colonial architecture. But last year, ISIL took control of the city and destroyed many of the ruins.

#NEWPALMYRA has been carefully remaking the destroyed archaeological site using digital means, and making their work freely available to the public. For more information, or to download the model, visit their site.

Play around with it here: