Volumetric surface sculpting

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1999.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-81).by Aseem Agarwala.M.Eng

Before the earthquake: Reconstruction and Presentation of lost sites and buildings

The paper presents the results of a research aiming at proving the efficacy of perspective restitution from photos for the reconstruction of buildings and sites that disappeared in the past century. The case study is the town of Messina, sited at the north-eastern corner of Sicily (Italy), facing the homonymous strait that divides Sicily from the Italian peninsula; in 1908 Messina and Reggio Calabria, at the opposite side of the strait, were levelled to the ground by a powerful earthquake, followed by a tsunami. No building or monument survived the destruction: a new town with the same name took the site of Messina. Except for few strongly reshaped buildings, the memory of the streets and monuments of the destroyed town is today kept by some photos, taken by the end of the XIX century by professional photographers. The experimentation on Messina aims at a twofold purpose: test the reliability and usability of perspective restitution for the reconstruction of lost buildings and urban sites; use photogrammetric tools for the recontextualization of architectural elements (cornices, capitals, portals, corbels) that once belonged to a destroyed building and are today exhibited in Museums. Such process allows the verification of the scale of the reconstructed building and opens new forms of presentation of Historical heritage: in this study panoramic images have been used to display the building ‘attached’ to the fragment during the visit at the museum and to present, on site, the building in its original location with the fragments repositioned. The destruction and fall of Messina strictly echoes the destiny of many other towns in Europe; the research aims therefore at showing the potentials of perspective restitution and the usability of this technique in many similar contexts

The Bronze Door Panels within the Façade of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona: A Chronological and Liturgical Assessment.

This thesis presents an analysis of the bronze door panels of San Zeno Maggiore, Verona, with reference to the surrounding low relief stone sculptures, textual material relating to Bishop Zeno, the patron saint of the church, and the wider religious and political developments of the late tenth, eleventh and twelfth centuries. In identifying those panels the thesis recognises the way in which the door panels and stone sculptures form a traditional narrative identifying Creation and the Fall on the right juxtaposed with Redemption and Salvation on the left. The core of the thesis focuses on two facets of the bronze door panels: the dating of the panels’ production, and the composition of the doors prior to the earthquake of 1117. The doors are complex and include in their current state panels manufactured by at least two workshops operating in different periods. These are discussed with reference to the works themselves and to recent historical scholarship. The thesis concludes that the panels were manufactured in two periods: the first period may have been either in the Ottonian era (c.960-c.1040) or later in the eleventh century (c.1080); the second period was the later twelfth century (c.1175). The thesis also discusses the stone relief sculptures, carved in 1135-1138, that provide a framework and context for the doors. The second aspect is the baptismal and Paschal lectionary, which incorporates San Zeno’s preferred readings, as the basis for the choice of subjects of the first set of bronze door panels. The massive earthquake of 1117 severely damaged the basilica and some original panels were damaged and discarded. It has not been possible to demonstrate definitively that the sermons and lectionary were known to those who commissioned the panels, but the thesis seeks to show their importance in describing the panel composition. The door panels and stone reliefs assert a symbolic distancing from both Papacy and Empire after the Investiture Controversy. The two lowest stone reliefs, on the left and right of the doorway, represent accounts of Otto and Berengar fighting over Adelaide, and of Theodoric and the wild hunt, respectively. The significance of these narratives is discussed

Scottish market crosses: the development of a risk assessment model.

The purpose of the research was to investigate the causes and effects of stone decay and soiling upon Scottish market crosses, and to develop a risk assessment model for this monument type. Risk assessment methods are otherwise used in spheres of business and industry. This research is unique in exploring the possibility of applying these techniques to the study and prediction of monument degradation. Additionally, the research is the first synthesised study of market crosses since 1928. A mapping methodology was developed in order to record the condition of a sample of Scottish market crosses. Visible evidence of the erosion, soiling and conservation of these monuments was collected and analysed in relation to various associated weathering factors. A risk assessment model was then developed for predicting the future condition of such monuments. Integrated with this, intervention criteria and conservation guidelines were also produced aimed at those charged with the care of market crosses. The model was applied to a case study to assess the risk of degradation of the tested monument. The method was found to work in practice, and could be used by practitioners in the future. The methodology for the research can be summarised as follows. Based upon the literature review, hypotheses were formulated regarding the effect of various weathering factors upon decay and soiling patterns. Data for all surviving market crosses in Scotland was co11ected from archives and publications. A pro-forma and relational database were designed to hold an of the gathered data. A sample of 27 crosses was selected for detailed analysis. An increased level of data was col1ected for the sampled crosses, and a programme of intensive fieldwork was undertaken at these. Evidence for a11 visible decay, soiling and conservation treatment was mapped onto a detailed elevation sketch of each facade of every sampled cross. The decay and soiling were also classified according to intensity level and surface extent, based upon evidence from visual observation. In addition to the drafted mappings, the visited monuments were subject to a photographic survey. The collected data were analysed by interrogating the database and by applying a variety of statistical tests. A number of significant relationships were indicated between the various decay/soiling types and weathering agents. It was found that the patterns of decay, and particularly soiling, were greatly influenced by the monument characteristics, primarily due to the degree to which the stone was exposed to moisture ingress. Environmental factors were also found to have some influence, particularly the nature of the ground surface and the land-use type. Surprising1y, the leve1 of nearby traffic was found to have little effect. Climatic factors were shown to be significant in relation to a few decay/soiling types. However, the contradictory nature of these trends suggested that the ranges within Scotland may be too limited to have much real effect upon the observed variations in decay/soiling. Previous intervention was found to have some significant effects, particularly in the case of chemical stone cleaning. Risk levels for each significant relationship were calculated from the rate of occurrence and the amount of stone degradation observed in the sample. The sample risk model was developed to produce a pro-forma designed for use by practitioners involved in managing Scottish market crosses. Practitioners could use the designed system to regularly record the condition of other crosses and assess the extent to which they are at risk from decay/soiling due to various weathering agents existing at each site. Intervention criteria were also produced in order to advise the practitioner on when and how to intervene to stall the current decay or to reduce the risks of future degradation of crosses in their care. Methods were also suggested for interpreting and promoting market crosses to the public

The mass : A neglected plastic sign of sculpture

By and large visual semiotics still misses a comprehensive method for the analysis of sculp-ture. The paper demonstrates that sculptures have a peculiar plastic sign – the mass. Intrinsic to three-dimensional objects, the mass determines the forces of gravity and inertia possess-ing a potential to suggest connotations of the artwork. Taking as examples the large monu-ments built in Soviet Latvia in 1960-1990, the paper distinguishes among three categories of monuments – static, dynamic and ambiguous – which owe their particular characteristics to diverse exposure of the mass enabled by various constructive techniques. As iconic signs these monuments represent actual identities and events while the exposed mass, as a plas-tic sign, conveys additional connotations like stability, change, motion, standstill, slowness, speed enabling a more nuanced interpretation of the represented persons and events. As a physical property of objects mass can be evaluated by handling them directly but the public is supposed to look at sculpture not to touch and handle it. The current psychology of per-ception holds however that the perceiver goes beyond the in formation given in the visual input, the process of perception depends also on the perceiver’s knowledge and purposes in the contact with reality. Ubiquity of outdoor sculpture suggests that our accumulated expe-rience of 3D artistic objects can be embedded into the elaboration of the visual input thus the viewers can perceive the mass and enrich the interpretation of sculpture considering the meanings of this plastic signpublishersversionPeer reviewe

Between Death and Divinity. Rethinking the Significance of Triadic Groups in Ancient Maya Culture

The meaning of Triadic Groups in ancient Maya culture can be tied to a specific mythological concept known as Flowery Mountain. Variety of cultural components, from iconography to epigraphy to built environment, point towards the Maize God as a protagonist of the religious performance ascribed to the Triadic Group, with his lifecycle being an alegory of agricultural stages of maize

Non-Destructive Techniques Applied to Monumental Stone Conservation

Non-destructive techniques have always been used in the study of built cultural heritage because of the high cultural value of the concerned objects and the need to preserve them as intact as possible. In this chapter, different non-destructive techniques applied to the conservation of historical building are presented. The selected techniques concern the measurement of some physical properties of the building materials measured at the surface: water absorption, permeability, water content, cohesion, hardness and so on; the actual conditions of the building: stress state, deformation, crack growth and so on; and in-depth physical properties: mechanical properties, inner structure of walls, damp location and salt content. Some of these techniques are used for inspection of the building at a given time, whereas others can be applied for long periods of time to investigate the evolution of the building or of one of its parts (e.g., crack propagation) with time