VIRTUAL Barcelona
Abstract
While celebrating and preserving the history and present of cities’ outstanding cultural heritage, their future should be planned in such a way that they are equitable and open to all user groups, in particular using breakthrough technologies and innovations. The growing importance of culture and tourism and the widespread concern for a sustainable future, smart and participatory urban development, necessitate the most effective provision of accessibility to cultural heritage resources for all users, taking into account all their diversity. This is a very current and global problem. All the more so because in the case of monuments, the rules specified in detail by ICOMOS apply, as a result of many years of conservation practice. At the same time, unprecedented opportunities related to technologies such as data and artificial intelligence are bringing cultural heritage objects back to life.Virtual museums open up the possibility of experiencing objects or places that are completely inaccessible. The aim of the paper is to present the results of analyzes of the architectural, urban and digital accessibility of monuments and the assessment of solutions introduced with all recipients and the aging society in mind. The research was conducted on the example of cultural heritage resources in Poland (Wawel Royal Castle – State Art Collections; Cracow Bishops’ Palace – National Museum in Kielce), among the most frequently visited. It was found that accessible monuments become fair and friendly only when all their users, regardless of age, type and degree of disability, have the unlimited right to trouble-free use of the services and infrastructure they offer. Otherwise, this translates into the exclusion of certain user groups from social life. The exchange of experiences (international projects) and the elimination of barriers through rational organizational and functional improvements and digital innovations are also becoming very important.
Joanna Gil-Mastalerczyk is a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Cracow University of Technology (CUT), she obtained a diploma from the RIBA – Royal Institute of British Architects (2020) – with the first place, she graduated in the field of Conservation of Monuments of Architecture and Urban Planning (FA-CUT 2001). She defended her doctorate and habilitation in 2013 and 2019, respectively (FA-CUT). He is a practicing architect and professor at the Kielce University of Technology (KUT). From 2021, she is the head of the Department of Theory and Architectural and Urban Design at the
Mikołaj Mastalerczyk