VIRTUAL: Prague Heritages

Abstract

This paper discusses the implications on the future of heritage preservation practice with an analysis of current and proposed uses of 3D Digital Modeling at various scales, from that of an object to re{constructing} worlds. Gaston Bachelard, in his seminal book ‘The Poetics of Space’, says, “The mind sees and sees again, (mere) objects, while the soul, finds the nest of immensity in one”. The nest of immensity – with all its possibilities, reflected in the imminent, digitally re{constructed} worlds where the material virtualized, forms the building blocks of a digitized universe. Carlo Ratti and Matt Claudel speak of our physical world already ‘blanketed’ by the virtual. This overlap of the material and the virtual is creating entities in hybrid realms. As Moore’s Law suggests, such a synthesis of convergent technological advances, here in machine learning and artificial intelligence, is slated for exponential growth and will actuate complete transformation through diverse applications in many fields, including that of historic preservation. In this paper I will include works by Factum Foundation, Iconem and, more specifically the Venice Mirror World project at EPFL. This paper is a secondary sources analysis of the implications of emerging digital world re{construction} projects on the practice and theoretical frameworks of historic preservation, commenting on issues such as problems of data integrity, everchanging formats and contextual dissonance.