MIT Lecture: Futures: Vision, Virtuality and Digital Heritage

60 minute lecture as part of the undergraduate course: “Histories of Heritage: Architectural Conservation and Historic Preservation in a Global Perspective” taught through the MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning Program

Transcript

1. Lecture  12  Futures:  Vision,  Virtuality and  Digital  Heritage
2. Theme  1:  The  postmodern  condition,  technology  and  heritage
3. Jean-­‐Francois  Lyotard,  Photo  by   Bracha  L.  Ettinger,  1995. What  is  the  post-­‐modern  condition?
4. Cumulative  number  of   World  Heritage  sites  by  year,   1981-­‐2011,  UNESCO,  2011.  
5. 5  minute  exercise-­‐think  of  your  own  personal  possessions: • How  long  would  you  keep  your  current  computer,  phone,  or  car?   • What  in  your  material  life  will  last  10  years,  50  years,  100  years? • What  building  in  your  town  or  city  will  last  10  years,  50  years,  and   100  years?   • How  do  these  buildings  affect  you,  your  family,  and  your   community?
6. Theme  2:  Threat  of  destruction  and  the  rise  of  digital  documentation
7. Wazir Khan  Mosque,  Water  damage  poses  a  significant  threat  to  the  mosque.  Inadequate   infrastructure  for  sewage  and  rain  drainage  allows  the  walls  to  absorb  water,  breaking  the   plaster  bonding  of  frescos  and  causing  the  painted  designs  to  flake  away,  Pakistan,  2015.  
8. Students  from  the  Lahore  University  of   Management  Sciences  use   photogrammetry  and  laser  scanning  to   document  Wazir Khan  Mosque,   Pakistan,  2015.  
9. Palmyra,  Syria,  2010.  
11. Left:  Luis  Marden,  great  ball  court  at  Chichén Itzá,  1936.  Right:  Tom  Duffey,  site  in  Jordan,  2015.  
12. Ruins  of  Palmyra,  Syria,  1901.   Agra  Fort,  India,  1908.  
13. DIA,  Illustration  of  Palmyra  Arch  in  Trafalgar  Square,  2015.    
14. New  York  Times,  Palmyra  Arch  unveiled  in  Trafalgar  Square,  2016.    
15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq4_-­‐iBCqp8 Video  from  The  Guardian  “Palmyra's  Arch  of  Triumph  replica  erected  in  central  London Published  on  Apr  19,  2016
16. 5-­‐minute  exercise—questions  on  authenticity  and  memory • What  is  the  relationship  between  the  Palmyra  arch  copy  and  the   original? • If  communities  were  to  rebuild  Palmyra,  what  should  it  look  like?   Should  it  look  like  it  was  at  the  height  of  its  wealth  in  the  3rd century   AD,  before/after  its  1st destruction  by  the  Timurids in  the  1400s,  which   reduced  it  to  a  small  village,  or  before  the  destruction  of  the  site  by   ISIL  in  2015? • In  your  opinion,  which  sites  will  be  deemed  most  at  risk  and  most   important  to  digitally  preserve  for  UNESCO,  your  country,  your   community,  yourself  and  why?   • To  whom  does  this  information,  as  the  documentation  of  a  specific   cultural  heritage  and  legacy,  belong?
17. Theme  3:  digital  memory  and  the  archive
18. Various  types  of  data  storage
19. MacPaint,  Macintosh  Computers,  1984
20. Theme  4  Digital  Heritage  and  UNESCO
21. Library  of  Congress  Main   Reading  Room.     Screenshot  from  World  of   Warcraft.  
22. EA  Games,  SIMSOnline 2002.  
23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT5lLTWx0L4 Video  from  Torrey  Nommesen “EA-­‐Land:  The  Final  Countdown” Uploaded  on  Jan  7,   2012
24. EA  Games,  Screenshot  from  SIMSOnline,  2006.    
25. Digital  Heritage  Conference,  Giza  3D,  2015.