(IN)TANGIBLE HERITAGE(S)
Abstract
Advancements in technology, particularly in mixed reality and spatial computation, allow for cultural heritage to expand its methods and practice into the digital age. This is particularly useful when considering climate change and the impacts to built heritage sites, for which current practices of material preservation may be too difficult or costly to maintain. In addition, recent neuroscientific research shows that the experience of VR simulations of built environments, in combination with fMRI scanning methods, show activity in the same brain areas as when navigating in the “real” world. We have earlier suggested that human experience of heritage in mixed reality can in some future point be similar to a physical site today. This prompts the discussion to whether such “virtual” preservation offers alternatives to physical heritage practice. We explore this theme through the master level research course in interior architecture titled “Architectural Heritage and Digital Media” – taught at HEAD in Geneva in 2020 and 2021. In the paper, we present case studies, methods, research findings, and some general conclusions about possibilities and challenges emerging from this research context. In particular, we discuss the theoretical and methodological implications of some of our research findings, which may appear to contradict some of the prevalent architectural theory and methods of heritage practice. Specifically, we claim that the correlation we find between the human experience of physical heritage sites and their digital simulations poses important contributions to theories of the “spirit of place“ and the experience of material affect. We discuss these theoretical implications in some detail while outlining future research and educational plans.
Kai Reaver is an American/Norwegian dual citizen with a background from architectural design and technology research. His work concerns digital technologies’ influence upon the design and experience of spatial environments. He teaches experimental research courses in Oslo, Geneva, and Innsbruck, and through his research company, Udaru, develops novel solutions to architecture and spatial technologies. Recent publications and commissions include work on augmented reality, digital zoning, Covid-19 tracking, virtual preservation, architectural space in VR, heritage, and net-zero building. He is a policy advisor to the Norwegian Association of Architects and serves on the boards of Europan Norway and The Oslo School of Architecture. He writes a monthly column in the newspaper Subjekt. Reaver’s research has been published in Agathón, Architectural Research in Finland, Cumulus, eCAADe, the Journal of Architecture and Engineering, and others. Coming publications include The Physical and Digital City for Intellect and Design for a Wired Brain from AHO Press. He is also the author of over a dozen policy documents concerning architectural and ecological policy for the Norwegian government.
Javier Fernández Contreras (Granada, 1982) is an architect, critic and the dean of the Department of Interior Architecture at HEAD – Genève. His work explores the relationship between architecture, representation and media, with a specific focus on the role of interiors in the construction of contemporaneity. Contreras studied architecture at TU Delft and ETSA Madrid, where he graduated with a Master’s degree in 2006, and completed a PhD in architectural theory in 2013, summa cum laude. In 2015 he was a finalist in the 10th arquia/tesis competition with his PhD thesis The Miralles Projection: Thinking and Representation in the Architecture of Enric Miralles. He has taught architectural design at different institutions, including ETSAM in Spain, XJTLU in China and ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Contreras is the author of the books Fragmentos de Planta y Espacio (Ediciones Asimétricas, 2018), The Miralles Projection (Applied Research + Design Publishing, 2020), Manifest of Interiors: Thinking in the Expanded Media (HEAD – Publishing, 2021), and co-editor of Herbarium of Interiors (Archis-Volume, 2020), a special collaboration between HEAD – Genève, India Mahdavi, and Volume magazine. His critical essays have been published in various books and specialised journals, including Massilia Annuaire des Études Corbuséennes, Marie-José Van Hee Architecten, Perspectives in Metropolitan Research, 306090, CIRCO, Drawing Matter, Bitácora, RA Revista de Arquitectura.
9:30 pm - 11:00 pm
Thursday 16th June, 2022