2019

Fieldwork in the Palace and Church of San Giovanni di Malta

In 2019 the students of the Advanced Preservation Technology Studio, taught at Columbia University’s GSAPP in collaboration with Factum Foundation, employed a range of 3D recording technologies to document specific elements of art and architecture in the Palace and Church of San Giovanni di Malta in Venice. Crossing boundaries between academic and professional practice, the team worked on the digitisation, processing, analysis and reproduction of the obtained data as part of a comprehensive approach to the preservation of this unique building.

The on-site fieldwork was carried out under the supervision of Factum Foundation’s experts, operating from the new centre ARCHiVe (Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Venice) at the Fondazione Giorgio Cini on the island of San Giorgio. The work demonstrated once again the importance of digital preservation, especially in fragile locations like Venice where historic artefacts can suffer tragic damage and change forever.

© Columbia GSAPP

Gabriel Scarpa explaining the process of panoramic color photography © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

Otto Lowe explaining the photogrammetric recording process of the altar © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

Carlos Bayod explaining the process of recording the damaged frescoes © Otto Lowe for Factum Foundation

The Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of the tombstone of Fra’ Bertucci Contarini and detail of the shaded render © Factum Foundation

The Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of the tombstone of Fra’ Bertucci Contarini © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

The data acquired by the Lucida is shown in real time on the custom software © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

Lucida 3D Scanner recording the surface of damaged tombstones © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

Students working with photogrammetry © Otto Lowe for Factum Foundation

Gabriel Scarpa on how to record books and manuscript artworks © Otto Lowe for Factum Foundation

 

The final results of the course were presented as a 1:1 scale, high resolution reproduction of a section of the altar © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

Detail of the surface texture of the marble panels’ reproduction © Carlos Bayod for Factum Foundation

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