Iconem

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

Construit au XVIIème siècle, il est le fruit de l’imaginaire créatif et passionné de Nicolas Fouquet et du cercle d’artistes qui a gravité autour de lui tout au long de sa vie. Surintendant des Finances de Louis XIV, Nicolas Fouquet fait débuter les travaux en 1653 sur un terrain situé au croisement de deux rivières et à équidistance entre les résidences royales de Vincennes et de Fontainebleau. Pour mener à bien ce chantier de nombreux artistes et artisans reconnus sont sollicités : Louis Le Vau (premier architecte du roi), Charles Le Brun (peintre-décorateur), André Le Nôtre (jardinier), Michel Villedo (maître-maçon)…

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

Au terme du chantier en 1661, le château compte une centaine de pièces réparties sur quatre pavillons et couvrant une surface de 2500m2.  L’organisation architecturale pensée par Louis Le Vau est tout à fait novatrice pour l’époque puisqu’il ne s’agit plus d’un simple système de pièces en enfilade mais d’une épaisseur double de pièces parallèles. Nicolas Fouquet organise cette même année une somptueuse réception en l’honneur de Louis XIV. Il est cependant arrêté peu de temps après à la suite d’un complot qui l’accuse de malversations et qui débouche sur la sentence royale de l’emprisonnement à vie. Nicolas Fouquet est alors dans l’obligation de livrer l’intégralité des biens de son château au roi, il meurt en prison quelques années plus tard.

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

L’équipe d’Iconem a numérisé la façade arrière du château ainsi que l’intégralité du dôme pour ce qui est de la partie extérieure, de même que le grand salon et la charpente du dôme concernant la partie intérieure. Nos experts ont combiné nos deux techniques de relevés (photogrammétrie et laser) pour obtenir un résultat optimum. En effet, alors que le relevé photogrammétrique offre à la fois une bonne flexibilité ainsi qu’une excellente qualité colorimétrique, le relevé laser permet quant à lui d’obtenir un modèle 3D d’une grande précision.

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

La combinaison de ces deux techniques innovantes a permis de réaliser un modèle 3D très précis à partir duquel il nous a ensuite été possible d’extraire les plans du bâtiment. Ce travail de relevé met ainsi à l’honneur le centre névralgique du château: le grand-salon et son dôme ovoïde, véritable prouesse technique du XVIIème siècle. Cette pièce circulaire dont le dôme s’élève à 18 m de hauteur est ornée de 16 cariatides portant les signes du zodiaque et représentant les quatre saisons et les douze mois de l’année. La coupole devait originellement se parer d’une fresque commandée à Charles Le Brun, mais le projet est malheureusement resté inachevé suite à l’arrestation de Nicolas Fouquet.

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

During its mission in September, Iconem digitized the architectural masterpiece of the mid-seventeenth century commissioned by Nicolas Fouquet. To carry out our survey work, our team has combined its two innovative technologies: laser and photogrammetry.

Currently located in the municipality of Maincy, about fifty kilometers south-east of Paris, the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte is part of the wonders of French architecture.

To learn more about the history of the castle of Vaux-le-Vicomte, read this article: https://vaux-le-vicomte.com/en/decouvrir/the-history/three-centuries-of-history/.

The Iconem team recently digitized the rear façade of the castle and the whole dome concerning the outside, as well as the “grand-salon” and the dome frame regarding the inside. Our experts combined our two survey techniques (laser and photogrammetry) to obtain an optimum result. Indeed, while the photogrammetric survey offers both good flexibility and excellent colorimetric quality, the laser survey makes it possible to obtain a 3D model of great accuracy.

© Iconem/Vaux-le-Vicomte

The combination of these two innovative technologies allowed us to create a very accurate 3D model and thus to extract the building plans. This survey highlights the nerve center of the castle: the “grand salon” and its ovoid dome which in the 17th century was considered as a technical achievement. This circular room whose dome rises to 18 meters in height is decorated with 16 caryatids bearing the zodiac signs and representing the four seasons and the twelve months of the year. The dome originally had to be adorned with a fresco commissioned from Charles Le Brun, but the project unfortunately remained unfinished following the arrest of Nicolas Fouquet.

Les Nabatéens ont régné du Ier siècle av. J.-C. au Ier siècle ap. J.-C. sur un territoire s’étendant du sud de la Syrie à la région saoudienne du Hijâz. L’intérêt envers cette civilisation n’a fait que décupler depuis la redécouverte des trésors architecturaux de son ancienne capitale Pétra en 1812. Les Nabatéens, décrits comme des arabes nomades par Diodore, ont tiré leur richesse du commerce caravanier, acheminant l’encens, la myrrhe et les aromates depuis le sud de l’Arabie jusqu’aux ports méditerranéens. Hégra jouait alors un rôle crucial en tant que capitale méridionale du royaume puisqu’elle était située sur la piste caravanière reliant l’Arabie à Pétra.

© Afalula/Iconem

Cette cité peuplée de plusieurs milliers d’habitants assurait aussi un rôle de poste militaire en raison de sa proximité avec la frontière sud du royaume. Le site actuel se trouve en pleine région désertique, cependant, il possédait à l’époque un agrosystème oasien fondé sur la culture du palmier dattier, ainsi qu’un système de cultures irriguées. Hégra disposait d’un centre urbain composé de temples, de quartiers résidentiels, de bâtiments publics, et de places. Néanmoins, en raison de leur composition en briques crues, une importante partie de ces bâtiments ont mal survécu au temps. C’est pourquoi Hégra est davantage connue pour sa centaine de tombeaux monumentaux creusés comme à Pétra à même la falaise. En 106 ap. J.-C., l’empereur Trajan s’empare du royaume nabatéen pour en faire une province romaine. Hégra perd alors son indépendance mais continue d’être occupée jusqu’au Vème siècle.  

© Afalula/Iconem

Depuis 2008, Hégra est inscrite sur la liste du patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO. La même année, est créé un programme de fouilles archéologiques franco-saoudien, co-dirigé par les archéologues Laïla Nehmé, François Villeneuve et Dhaifallah al-Talhi. L’équipe d’Iconem est la première à avoir eu l’opportunité de faire un relevé photogrammétrique de l’intégralité du site de Mada’in Saleh. Cette surface de plus de 1000 hectares comprend à la fois des constructions architecturales (salle de banquet, tombes monumentales, vieille ville, citerne, temple, vieille porte…) ainsi que des formations naturelles (faille, Jabal Ithlib…).

© Afalula/Iconem

L’intérêt de cette mission est triple. Il s’agit avant tout de contribuer comme à chacune de nos missions à la sauvegarde de ce patrimoine monumental. La création de ce « double numérique » du site de Mada’in Saleh va en effet permettre d’identifier les risques d’érosion dont sont victimes la plupart des sites archéologiques situés en milieux désertiques. De plus, s’appuyant sur une photogrammétrie à résolution millimétrique, notre modèle facilite l’étude des structures monumentales et de leur état. Ces dernières atteignent par endroit 50 m de hauteur, et arborent pour certaines des inscriptions antiques. De même, la numérisation de certaines sépultures va permettre d’étudier au plus près l’agencement et la composition architecturale du réseau de chambres internes. Cela facilite par la même occasion l’étude des pratiques funéraires nabatéennes. Enfin, Iconem crée actuellement à partir de ce modèle numérique une nouvelle expérience immersive qui sera présentée cet hiver. Le grand public sera alors en mesure de découvrir l’ensemble des merveilles architecturales de l’ancienne cité caravanière.

During our last mission carried out in Saudi Arabia, Iconem digitized the entire site of the old Nabataean city of Mada’in Saleh.

To learn more about the History of Mada’in Saleh.

Our team is the first one to have had the opportunity to carry out a 3D photogrammetric survey of the entire site of Mada’in Saleh. This area of more than 1000 hectares includes both architectural structures  (banquet hall, monumental tombs, old town, water tank, temple, monumental door…) and natural formations (fault, Jabal Ithlib…).

© Afalula/Iconem

This mission has several goals. First and foremost, as in each of our mission, our aim is to safeguard this monumental heritage. The design of this digital copy of Mada’in Saleh aims to best prevent the erosion that threatens most of the archeological sites located in desertic environments. The digitization based on a drone technology will also facilitate the study of the monumental structures on the 3D model. Some of the buildings reach 50 m high, and display old epigraphic inscriptions. In the same way, the digitization of some graves makes it possible to study as closely as possible the architectural arrangement and composition of the inner rooms network. It also facilitates the study of Nabataean burial practices. Finally, Iconem has planned to create an immersive experience from this digital template. The general public will then be able to discover all the architectural wonders of the old caravan city.

Haghpat Monastery

The monastic complex of Haghpat is located in the Northern region of Lori Marz, in Armenia. Built between the 10th and 13th centuries, the functional role, location and stylistic characteristics were taken into consideration during the construction of each new building. As a result, a complex was built, one which is in harmony with the picturesque landscape. 

The monastery is a symbol of Armenian religious architecture between the 10th and 13th centuries. This unique style developed from a blending of elements of Byzantine ecclesiastical architecture and the traditional vernacular architecture of the region.

Geghard Monastery

The Monastery of Geghard, surrounded by rock-cut churches and tombs, is a remarkable example of medieval Armenian religious architecture. Like many sites we visited in Armenia, the complex is set into a natural landscape, in the Azat Valley. The monastery of Geghard is a renowned ecclesiastical and cultural centre of medieval Armenia. In addition to the religious buildings, the complex is composed of a school, a scriptorium, a library and residences for clergymen. 

The Monastery was also renowned for the relics housed there. Among them was the spear that wounded Christ on the Cross and which was allegedly brought there by the Apostle Thaddeus. The spear was kept in the Monastery for 500 years and gave its name to the site : Geghardavank (the Monastery of the Spear). 

Hayravank Monastery

The monastic complex of Hayravank overlooks the Sevan Lake, in the North-Western region of Gegharkunik. Built between the 9th and the 12th century, the Monastery underwent many restoration operations throughout centuries and kept functioning until the Soviet era.

The site is renown for its surroundings, which include a small cemetery - composed of khachkars and gravestones - and Bronze Age artefacts. It takes its name from a myth stating that the Monastery was connected to the nearby Spitak Berd Castle through an underground tunnel : (Ayrivank means “cave”).

Thank you for traveling to Armenia with us - stay tuned for more info on sites we digitized!

 Un constat initial : des millions  d’images dispersées de Notre-Dame

Depuis le XVe  siècle, la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris a fait l’objet de nombreuses représentations  figurées (peintures, gravures, dessins, plans, relevés puis photographies,  films), jusqu’aux millions d’images de touristes et de Parisiens de notre  siècle.

Cette masse de  documents donne à voir l’édifice dans ses évolutions et permet de prendre  conscience de la transformation du monument et de son environnement à travers  le temps. Chaque image est importante car elle constitue un témoignage qui  représente l’édifice sous un point de vue et à un moment différent. Cet ensemble  de données est donc crucial pour le projet de restauration, car c’est en comprenant  le passé du monument que l’on fera les meilleurs choix pour son avenir.  Aujourd’hui ces données sont très nombreuses (elles se comptent en millions),  bien souvent hétérogènes (plans, dessins, photographies, films…) et  dispersées (dans les collections publiques ou privées).

  Une ambition : créer une base  d’images au service des acteurs du patrimoine

Des techniques  récentes de vision artificielle (Structure from Motion et Multi-View Stereo) permettent d’agréger automatiquement ces  données et de les classer dans le temps et dans l’espace et leur déploiement est rendu possible par l’utilisation de  la puissance de calcul du Cloud Computing. Plus encore, si les données  photographiques sont assez nombreuses, elles permettent de générer des  modèles 3D de l’édifice. Ceux-ci permettront de :

Compléter le relevé haute définition de Notre-Dame dans l’état actuel, pour conserver un modèle au service des experts et architectes ;

Finaliser un modèle 3D temporel, intégrant le relevé après l’incendie de Notre-Dame, avec toute la documentation historique existante sur la cathédrale - photos d'archives et des visiteurs, plans, coupes, modèles 3D - pour disposer de l’évolution historique de la cathédrale avant et       après incendie.

  Des données en open source, ouvertes à  tous, grâce à de nombreux partenaires

Les modèles temporels de la cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris seront notamment mis à disposition sur  GitHub, première plateforme de développement  de logiciel au monde. L’ouverture et la mise en commun de toutes ces données via GitHub viendront directement alimenter différentes initiatives et compétences :  l’EPFL de Lausanne (qui crée des modèles dynamiques de villes),  Inria, le consortium Huma-Num (CNRS et Archeovision) et permettront d’alimenter toutes les études scientifiques autour de l’édifice.

 De nombreux  partenaires contribuent déjà au projet grâce à leurs relevés, images, et  plans qui serviront de base à ces modèles open source : des images aériennes  (Yann Arthus-Bertrand, TSVP), des images très haute résolution (société  Cornis et premiers relevés par Iconem), les milliers d’images de documentation  réalisées par Ubisoft. 

 « Nous  avons tous été touchés par le drame de la cathédrale Notre-Dame. Nous sommes  attachés à mettre la technologie au service de la préservation du patrimoine.  Nous travaillons depuis de nombreuses années avec Iconem. C’est donc tout  naturellement que nous avons construit ensemble ce projet « Open Notre-Dame »  pour ouvrir les données disponibles sur ce monument, créer des modèles de référence  et permettre à chacun d’avoir accès à cette matière indispensable au projet  de reconstruction »  commente Carlo Purassanta, Président de Microsoft France.

 « La  valeur universelle de Notre-Dame invite chacun à s’engager, dans la mesure de  ces compétences, pour aider à sa restauration. Les approches numériques  ouvrent de nouveaux outils de compréhension de notre patrimoine culturel,  qui, mise au service des restaurateurs, permettront de choisir les options de  restauration les mieux adaptées à l’histoire de l’édifice. Nous espérons, à  travers l’initiative “Open Notre-Dame” apporter une pierre utile à cet effort  collectif de réparation »  conclut Yves Ubelmann, Président et co-fondateur d’Iconem.

A few months ago, Iconem flew to Egypt to digitize the Giza Necropolis and some of the greatest wonders of the world for "Pyramides : les mystères révélés", a series created by François Pomès, produced by Label News for RMC Découverte. 

Le documentaire propose de redécouvrir les pyramides égyptiennes à l’aide des numérisations réalisées par Iconem: « Juste à côté de la pyramide de Khéops, sur le plateau de Gizeh, d´autres chef d´oeuvre architecturaux défient la loi du temps, le sphinx, ce lion à tête humaine et les pyramides du pharaon Khéphren et Mikérinos. Elles sont le résultat de prouesses humaines et architecturales inégalées et regorgent de mystères. Avec ces deux pyramides, les pharaons poursuivent leur quête de perfection. Khéphren s´élève à près de 143 mètres et avec ses angles droits parfaits, elle marque l´apogée de ce type de construction. 

Des égyptologues ont pu pénétrer exceptionnellement dans ses galeries souterraines afin de décrypter les secrets de sa construction. Grâce à l´archéologie spatiale, il est possible de voir le plateau de Gizeh tel qu´il était avant l´édification de la pyramide et reconstituer pour la première fois la cité ouvrière où vivaient les bâtisseurs. »

Dans « La tech au service de Notre-Dame : le fantasme et la réalité », Le Point détaille les besoins technologiques nécessaires à la numérisation de Notre-Dame. Yves Ubelmann, co-fondateur et président d’Iconem, y parle des projets de numérisation de Notre-Dame avant l’incendie et des perspectives futures pour la création du modèle 3D du bâtiment.

Plusieurs autres médias ont traité de l’importance des technologies 3D pour reconstruire la cathédrale. Le Monde retrace par exemple l’historique des données collectées au sein de la cathédrale et l’importance des modèles 3D pour la transmission historique et culturelle, dans « Notre-Dame de Paris : les reconstitutions en 3D peuvent aider à la reconstruction ». Le Figaro évoque les différentes possibilités de reconstruction et l’apport des modèles 3D de la cathédrale dans l’analyse de ses fragilités dans  « La modélisation 3D pour venir au secours de Notre-Dame ».

Une attention toute particulière est donnée à Ubisoft, entreprise hexagonale    de développement de jeux vidéos, dont le jeu Assassin’s Creed Unity contient un modèle 3D de Notre-Dame. L’Obs explique l’engagement de l’entreprise, dans son article « Ubisoft offre son jeu Assassin’s Creed Unity après l’incendie de Notre-Dame ». Dans Le Parisien, on explique que  « Assassin’s Creed ne permettra pas de restaurer Notre-Dame ».

Nous sommes fiers d’annoncer que Time Machine a été retenu par la Commission Européenne comme l’un des six projets finalistes qui serviront à préparer des programmes de recherche ambitieux et sur une large échelle pour les prochaines décennies.

A €1 million fund has been granted for preparing the detailed roadmaps of this initiative that aims at extracting and utilising the Big Data of the past. Time Machine foresees to design and implement advanced new digitisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to mine Europe’s vast cultural heritage, providing fair and free access to information that will support future scientific and technological developments in Europe.  

Alongside 33 prestigious institutions, Iconem will provide its tools and knowledge on the digitisation of endangered cultural heritage sites in 3D.

One of the most advanced Artificial Intelligence systems ever built

The Time Machine will create advanced AI technologies to make sense of vast amounts of information from complex historical data sets. This will enable the transformation of fragmented data – with content ranging from medieval manuscripts and historical objects to smartphone and satellite images – into useable knowledge for industry.   Considering the unprecedented scale and complexity of the data, The Time Machine’s AI even has the potential to create a strong competitive advantage for Europe in the global AI race.   

Cultural Heritage as a valuable economic asset

Cultural Heritage is one of our most precious assets, and the Time Machine’s ten-year research and innovation program will strive to show that rather than being a cost, cultural heritage investment will actually be an important economic driver across industries. For example, services for comparing territorial configurations across space and time will become an essential tool in developing modern land use policy or city planning. Likewise, the tourism industry will be transformed by professionals capable of creating and managing newly possible experiences at the intersection of the digital and physical world. These industries will have a pan-European platform for knowledge exchange which will add a new dimension to their strategic planning and innovation capabilities.   

Time Machine promotes a unique alliance of leading European academic and research organisations, Cultural Heritage institutions and private enterprises that are fully aware of the huge potential of digitisation and the very promising new paths for science, technology and innovation that can be opened through the information system that will be developed, based on the Big Data of the Past. In addition to the 33 core institutions that will be funded by the European Commission, more than 200 organisations from 33 countries are participating to the initiatives, including seven national libraries, 19 state archives, famous museums (Louvre, Rijkmuseum), 95 academic and research institutions, 30 European companies and 18 governmental bodies.

Background

In early 2016, the European Commission held a public consultation of the research community to gather ideas on science and technology challenges that could be addressed through future FET Flagships. A call for preparatory actions for future research initiatives was launched in October 2017 as part of the Horizon 2020 FET Work Programme 2018. From the 33 proposals submitted, six were selected after a two-stage evaluation by independent high-level experts.

The 33 institutions receiving parts of the €1 million to develop Time Machine

1.    ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE

2.    TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN

3.    INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR ARCHIVAL RESEARCH

4.    KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN

5.    NAVER FRANCE

6.    UNIVERSITEIT UTRECHT

7.    FRIEDRICH-ALEXANDER-UNIVERSITAET ERLANGEN NUERNBERG

8.    ECOLE NATIONALE DES CHARTES

9.    ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA

10.  INSTITUT NATIONAL DE L'INFORMATION GEOGRAPHIQUE ET FORESTIERE

11.  UNIVERSITEIT VAN AMSTERDAM

12.  UNIWERSYTET WARSZAWSKI

13.  UNIVERSITE DU LUXEMBOURG

14.  BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

15.  UNIVERSITA CA' FOSCARI VENEZIA

16.  UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN

17.  QIDENUS GROUP GMBH

18.  TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT

19.  CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE

20.  STICHTING NEDERLANDS INSTITUUT VOOR BEELD EN GELUID

21.  FIZ KARLSRUHE- LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR INFORMATIONS INFRASTRUKTUR GMBH

22.  FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V.

23.  UNIVERSITEIT GENT

24.  TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET DRESDEN

25.  TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT DORTMUND

26.  OESTERREICHISCHE NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK

27.  ICONEM

28.  INSTYTUT CHEMII BIOORGANICZNEJ POLSKIEJ AKADEMII NAUK

29.  PICTURAE BV

30.  CENTRE DE VISIÓ PER COMPUTADOR

31.  EUROPEANA FOUNDATION

32.  INDRA

33.  UBISOFT

  Time machine website : http://www.timemachine.eu/

Réalisée en partenariat avec l’UNESCO, l’exposition proposait aux visiteurs de plonger au cœur de Mossoul, Alep, Palmyre et Leptis Magna grâce aux images et vidéos 3D immersives créées par Iconem pour l’occasion.

Depuis octobre, près de 130 000 personnes ont pu prendre part à ce voyage virtuel, découvrant ainsi quatre sites du patrimoine menacé du monde arabe. Iconem remercie toutes les personnes qui ont visité l’exposition, ainsi que l’Institut du monde arabe, l’UNESCO, Ubisoft, la MAFL, la DGAM, l'UNIL et tous nos partenaires sur le projet.

On February 17th, the digital exhibition “Cités millénaires. Voyage virtuel de Palmyre à Mossoul” closed its doors after being featured at the Institut du monde arabe for four months.

Produced in partnership with UNESCO, the exhibition allowed its visitors to dive in the heart of Mosul, Aleppo, Palmyra and Leptis Magna thanks to the immersive images and 3D videos that Iconem created for the project.

Since its opening in October, more than 130 000 people took part in this virtual voyage and discovered four threatened cultural heritage sites in the Arab world. Iconem would like to thank all of the visitors of “Cités millénaires”, as well as the Institut du monde arabe, UNESCO, Ubisoft, the MAFL, the DGAM, the UNIL and all of our partners on this project.

 The first French museum mixed reality experience with Microsoft

10 October 2018, Microsoft and the Musée des Plans-reliefs inaugurated the exhibition Le Mont-Saint-Michel, regards numériques sur la maquette in Paris. This is the first mixed reality museum exhibition experience in France! Last summer, Iconem digitised the abbey and its model, jewel of the Musée des Plans-reliefs, for Microsoft as a part of this unique exhibition. Visitors slip on a Microsoft HoloLens and trace Mont-Saint-Michel’s evolution. Don’t miss this exhibition! Open until 14 January 2019.

A virtual voyage at IMA in collaboration with Iconem

Be immerged in four incredible Arab cultural heritage sites, via 3D images produced by Iconem, at the Institut du monde arabe (IMA). Explore Palmyra, Aleppo, Mosul, and Leptis Magna in IMA's current exposition Cités millénaires. Voyage virtuel de Palmyre à Mossoul, created in collaboration with Iconem and in partnership with UNESCO. These threatened sites are brought to life in a completely digital, immersive experience. Plus, Ubisoft, creator of Assassin's Creed, dreamt up a virtual reality experience using Iconem and UNESCO data. This unprecedented exhibition will be open until 10 February 2019 in Paris. Discover the trailer here.

© IMA/FDD Iconem/Iconem/DGAM/DOA/MAFL/Thierry Rambaud

The Crac des Chevaliers at the Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine

From 14 September 2018 to 14 January 2019, the Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine’s exhibition Le Crac des chevaliers. Chroniques d'un rêve de pierre, co-produced by the Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine, will be on display. Discover this Crusader castle via a 3D video, the result of a comprehensive interior and exterior scan of the structure that Iconem completed in April 2017 as UNESCO’s scientific service provider.

© Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine/Noémie Barral

Our partner Pascal Convert at the Musée Guimet

The exhibition Carte blanche à Pascal Convert: Revoir Bamiyan opened on 17 October 2018 at the Musée Guimet in Paris. In 2015, Iconem digitised the Bamiyan cliffs and traces of the famous Buddhas in Afghanistan in 3D as part of a project with Convert. He created an oeuvre about memory and the forgotten from these photographed surveys of destroyed cultural heritage. Discover Convert's beautiful pictures at the Musée Guimet until 28 January 2019.

© Musée Guimet

Expositions featuring Iconem’s 3D content open worldwide 

After record breaking attendance in Paris, Sites Eternels travels to Rabat, Morocco. The exhibition, curated by the Louvre and the Réunion des Musées Nationaux - Grand Palais, was inaugurated on 30 October 2018 and was on view at the Bouregreg cultural complex, Salé through 14 December 2018. This display was organised by the Direction des Archives Royales of Morocco in partnership with the Musée du Louvre.

© Direction des Archives Royales du Maroc

The Museum of Islamic Art’s Syria Matters opened in Doha, Qatar on 21 November 2018. In a recent article, David Belcher of The New York Times explores how the exposition concentrates on the “history and the soul of the country.” This multifaceted examination of the country’s architecture and history will be open through 30 April 2019.

Both expositions feature Iconem’s digital content produced from our 3D models of Syria’s damaged cultural heritage. The immersive videos created for the expositions in Morocco and Qatar raise awareness of the damage, pillaging, and even complete destruction threatening cultural heritage.

© The Museum of Islamic Art

Yves acknowledged the group’s commitment, noting that “the participants were already familiar with a lot of techniques and really wanted to learn. This is a good sign for the development of digital technology that serves Tunisia’s cultural heritage.”

According to Yves, this type of approach to cultural heritage is flourishing in Tunisia. We would like to thank all the participants and wish them the best of luck in their future work for Tunisian cultural heritage!

What projects for the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage (EYCH 2018) are in the works at the German Museums Association?

First of all, we are very happy that this event exists. We have found that for the majority of citizens, whether they be Germans or Europeans, cultural heritage is fundamental. According to one of the latest Eurobarmeters, a European opinion poll published in December 2017, 80% of Europeans consider cultural heritage essential both at a European level and in their daily lives. It is important to celebrate this consensus about our wonderful cultural heritage.

In Germany, we are going to motivate museum management to work with their European colleagues. European networks within the museum field exist, such as the one that I run [NEMO]. But from day to day, it’s difficult and rather rare to call a colleague in another country. We would like our members to do that. It seems minor but it’s still important to take advantage of this year to encourage people to put to good use their international network.

We also want to motivate our members to get in touch with professionals from fields other than museums. What I mean by this is the cultural field in a very large sense: dance, theatre, intangible cultural heritage, cultural start-ups, etc. In a nut shell, all the institutions, all the organisations that play a role in the cultural heritage field. We would like this cultural network as a whole emerge strengthened from 2018.

Other than these two internal objectives, our external goal is obviously to demonstrate what we do since the public expects nothing else than to see our work, to participate, to get engaged, and to give their opinion. So, we are going to open our doors and motivate the public to take ownership of their cultural heritage. We expect a very positive dynamic. At the beginning of the year, Germany had already planned three hundred projects.

David Vuillaume speaking at NEMO’s 24th annual conference in 2016. Credit : NEMO

And projects at the European level?

We are in the process of establishing a partnership with a neighbouring country, Denmark, which decided to start a collaboration with Germany over three years. We are building networks and holding talks between German and Danish museum management. For example, we are discussing how we can use media, television, radio, and the internet to spread cultural heritage values.

What do you think of the role of digital technology in protecting threatened cultural heritage?

In Europe, we have little cultural heritage that is extremely threatened. However, what is of interest is using our skillsets to support other countries that have a difficult time protecting their cultural heritage. Our job is to preserve cultural heritage. But its true that by digitising it, we can make cultural heritage accessible that cannot typically be visited. Therefore, we contribute to its recognition by the international community and indirectly to its preservation: once it is well-known and indexed, it will be more difficult for this cultural heritage to disappear. Iconem’s work is truly fascinating and I hope that it will contribute to the removal of monuments from the endangered cultural heritage list.

A training session on audience development organised by NEMO in Sarajevo in 2017. Credit : NEMO

You are president of the organisation NEMO, could you briefly describe NEMO and its work?

NEMO is the Network of European Museum Organisations. It was founded 25 years ago when the European Union was created. The goal was to give the EU a representative in the European museum world. For over twenty years now, the EU finances this network so that it can be that voice of the European museum landscape.

Within this framework, we organise professional training sessions because even 25 years after NEMO’s creation, we see that there are still enormous differences between the south and the north of Europe but also between the east and the west. Our job is to spread knowledge from one country to another. We are the only organisation that does this and we organise dozens of webinars or conferences all year long. Digital technology is no longer presented within our organisation as something innovative but as something self-evident. I am exaggerating a little but I want to emphasize that it is no longer about whether digital technology can play in the cultural field. It is about making use of digital technology to make our work more efficient and our cultural heritage more accessible. We do not offer a class on digitisation. Instead, all of our courses incorporate digital technology.

Thank you David Vuillaume for sharing his vision for digital technologies in German and European museums and his thoughts on the European Year for Cultural Heritage and cultural heritage.

For more information about the Deutscher Musemsbund e.V., you can check out the association’s Facebook page and Twitter account. NEMO is also active on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow David on Twitter at @DavidVuillaume.

What impact does digital technology have on your work?

Digital technology is a very long-term phenomenon that is going to alter, and which is already in the process of changing, quite a few things in museums. We still lack perspective on these new tools, which is necessary so that museums can determine their long-term added value and utility.

On the other hand, we sometimes forget that digitisation is a phenomenon that affects the entire institution: its operation, its educational programming, its communication, etc. Digital technology is much more than an operational or inventory tool. Current debates in Germany have made me aware that as museum inventories are not yet complete, this foundational work must first be finished so museums can then really take advantage of all available technologies in cultural programming, communication, etc. There is the misleading impression that museums are behind in regards to new technology, as if they were not interested in using these new tools. But they must first lay the groundwork, in other words, digitise their inventories.

David Vuillaume. Credit:  Heike Grasser

How does the German Museums Association invest in digital technology issues?

We have two goals. The first goal is about raising awareness. We would like all museums, no matter their size, as well as all museum staff members, no matter their position; age; or region, be trained in digital technologies. That is, that they be familiar with current market offerings and with what they can use to achieve their goals, especially in museum education or in operations. Raising awareness first is key since there are people who do not use digital services simply because they are not familiar with them.

Our second objective is above all else to obtain dedicated budgets in every German länder. It is the länder, the regions, that are responsible for cultural budgets. A budget specifically for general digitisation in the cultural field seems necessary to us, and in particular for digital inventories that can then be used in many ways.

The German Museums Associations celebrated 100 years in 2017! Credit: Deutscher Musemsbund e.V.

What problems do you encounter?

There are two kinds of barriers that slow down the use of digital technologies. First, there is the reluctance of people who are neither trained in nor really aware of digital issues. Digital technology is an advancement, a well-established societal trend. It is no longer possible to work without these new tools. Basic training in digital technology is necessary.

Furthermore, there are museum professionals who would really like, but are unable, to work with digital technology. Why? Because local or regional authorities have infrastructures or guidelines that prevent the development of certain digital services. For example, it is very difficult for a public museum’s communication department to have a Facebook page or a Twitter account because, from a hierarchical point of view, all decisions must be made at the highest level. It is impossible in these circumstances to have the responsiveness necessary for a presence on Twitter. Things are changing. The lines are shifting through a general modernisation process of public administration. It is on going. 

The second part of this interview will be available soon.

For more information about the Deutscher Musemsbund e.V., you can check out the association’s Facebook page and Twitter account. NEMO is also active on Facebook and Twitter. You can also follow David on Twitter at @DavidVuillaume.

Moderator Yves Ubelmann, founder and CEO of Iconem; Jean-Yves Marin, director of the Art and History Museum of Geneva; Sarah Kenderdine, professor at the Ecole Polytechnique fédérale of Lausanne and director of the Laboratory for Experimental Museology; and Einar Bjorgo, manager of UNOSAT, shared their experiences using and studying technology for cultural heritage preservation.

Sarah Kenderdine recounted her projects in Asia, including her work in the Gobi Desert. She is currently studying the relationship between cultural heritage and exhibitions. Her research analyses how we can display digitised cultural heritage. Kenderdine heads the Laboratory for Experimental Museology (eM+) at the Ecole Polytechnique fédérale of Lausanne, where she is also a professor. The lab studies “the intersection of immersive visualisation technologies, visual analytics, aesthetics and cultural (big) data.”

Einar Bjorgo presented UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), which observes cultural heritage sites in real-time. UNOSAT’s satellites surveys the destruction of cultural monuments threatened by the Syrian conflict. Their images are crucial to monitoring the extent of damage dealt to priceless cultural treasures. Bjorgo highlighted the importance of Iconem’s partnership with UNOSAT concerning Aleppo. Our host, Jean-Yves Marin, archaeologist and the museum’s director, confirmed the Art and History Museum of Geneva’s dedication to the conservation of cultural heritage.

How you can foster the communication of how crucial it is to make reproductions in a world that depreciates fakes?

The issues of conservation and the issue of restoration are very important to helping preserve things. One of the things that is emerging is the whole field of digital restoration. On the files we can actually inspect, look at, share and discuss with many experts, and try out different ways to conserve in a virtual space without even touching the original. The study separate from the physical content is extremely important. We’ve done a project in the Sala Bologna in the Vatican, making a digital restoration of one of the maps that covers the walls and working with experts from Bologna University: you can do many things without ever touching the object. You can also use high resolution digital data to monitor the conditions of the object. For example, we recorded Tutankhamun’s tomb in 2009 and we’re actually able to check how much the tomb has changed in the time between then and now and we can supply that information to the conservators. So, sharing information and pulling together expertise is the way technology will really help progress restoration. We must also remember that every generation of restorers is always critical of the previous generation of restorers, so future generations will be critical of the work that has been done now. The more evidence there is to demonstrate how something looked like before our restoration, the better. We’re now working with the National Gallery in London and with other museums to digitally record paintings before and during restoration, to record them in high resolution, in colour, and in 3D. It’s shocking how only in the last few years people started recording surface information, for me it is in those very surface layers that forensic evidence lies.

A depth plan map created using data collected through non-contact technologies. Credit: The Factum Foundation

Is the experience of a surface layer enough or we should show and share more of this scientific work with the public?

High resolution recording is able to result also in augmented and virtual reality that the public may like very much. We’ve worked a lot reimagining the Ultima Cena of Leonardo or the Nozze di Cana of Veronese, imaging multiple time lapse on the facsimile. All this can appeal very much to audiences and makes the time people think about an object and experience it longer. What I hope is that copies and facsimiles could provoke a new interest, in the object itself but also in the technologies used to record it and to display it. We’re at the beginning of an explosion of the reinterpreting of high resolution data.

Technology is not something in opposition with art or culture, this idea is a myth partly triggered by the way we’re educated, by the way arts and humanities have always been divided from science, that made in some way technology to be seen in opposition with manual skills. I think actually that the reverse is true and we can see it with emerging technologies. Thanks to them indeed, we see materials differently and how things are transformed and mediated. I think all this is leading to a whole explosion of new creative skills both physical and virtual: for me, the interest lies more in the physical domain, while for many others the interest is in the virtual one. In any case, it is in that crossover between the two domains that something exciting is happening.

Recording cultural heritage in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Credit: The Factum Foundation

Do you agree that a public aware of your work and technology is a public more empowered and engaged?

Yes! The more the public understands how difficult it is to protect and preserve something, the more they will understand that they're playing a role in modifying the context in which we are seeing things. Just think about the place where the painting le Nozze di Cana of Veronese is hanging: it is in the same exhibition room as the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris. Every day thousands of people are taking pictures of the Mona Lisa and you can’t even enjoy that painting. For the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, we made a copy of that masterpiece [le Nozze di Cana] to be hung in its original place, in the church of San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. In its original environment the painting gives a more authentic experience: hanging in the environment it was painted for, at the right height, without a frame, illuminated by the correct light, in the building that Palladio designed. In that context, nearly everyone will agree that the experience to see the painting there is more authentic and more thought provoking.

Thank you Adam Lowe for taking the time to speak with us and for sharing your thoughts on the Factum Foundation, cultural heritage, and conservation in the digital age. To learn more about the Factum Foundation, visit their website, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or watch videos of their team and technology at work on Vimeo.

Do you have some examples for the fact that the audience was impacted by the fact that the piece of art was a copy and not an original?

At the moment we’re working with the Antiquity Museum in Basel, on a big exhibition called “Scanning Seti, the regeneration of a pharaonic tomb” that [opened] in October. The exhibition looks at the 2500 years of life of the tomb of Seti.

The tomb was discovered exactly 200 years ago on the 16 October 1817 by Italian Egyptologist Giovanni Battista Belzoni. When he discovered the tomb, it was in nearly perfect condition and it has lasted for over 300 years. Fortunately, in Egypt the conditions are very favourable, they're dry and stable, that is beneficial for the longevity of tombs… but also because Egyptian craftsmen painted them to last for eternity! They were extremely skilful craftsmen who understood materials and what they were doing. In the years immediately after the discovery, Belzoni made copies of the walls of the tomb to show what they looked like: he took moulds of the surface of the walls to make the replica that was shown in London in 1820. The problem is that those moulds took the paint off of the wall, so that replica changed fundamentally the nature of the tomb. Belzoni and many others also cut sections out of the tomb that are now shown in different museums around the world.

What we’re doing at the Factum Foundation is to bring back together all of the data that we can. So, we’ve scanned all the fragments that were removed from the walls by going to several museums around the world, to add them all to the facsimile, so that this will be more complete than the original existing tomb. I think the aim of what we do is to make people aware of how actually it means to preserve an object and why digital documentation is so critical.

We also want to make people understand that values change over time, we’re critical of what Belzoni did and we’re living with the effects of mass tourism, we’re living in times of conflicts and iconoclasm: there are many reasons why objects get damaged. At the time, the tomb of Seti was also damaged by floods, and eventually filled with water up to a particular level… the exhibition in Basel will be a chance to make people think about all these changes and to think about what's needed to protect and preserve things going forward.

A Foundation staff member records 16th century frescos painted by Dionisy in the Ferapontov Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Credit: The Factum Foundation

Do you think that these new technologies can also foster the protection of the authentic pieces of art?

If you think back to the advent of photography, it changed the way we document sites: before we drew them. Photography was critical in obtaining accurate data. Then x-ray came in and other techniques too that allowed us to see under the surface of objects. I think technology has the ability to change and transform the way we see something, let’s think also about medical imagery! The same thing is happening in cultural heritage field. First you need to document at the highest level possible. We’re using Lucida scanner, composite photography, and a high-resolution laser scanner. We’re using a range of different methods to record the tomb, it’s a very challenging task and it’s done by bringing together the skills of many experts.

I’m also working with the Victoria and Albert Museum on a project that is trying to establish standards for recording and standards for replication. In the Valley of the Kings the facsimile of Tutankhamun was placed in 2014 and is currently educating tourists about the damage they do when they enter the tomb, as the fact that the tomb lasted when the environment was stable but didn't last when the environment changed all the time, with variations of humidity, temperature and airborne pollutants. Of course, mechanical damage also caused problems for the long-term preservation. Technology has a fundamental role in improving how we understand and how we communicate, how we disseminate and how we protect cultural heritage.

Foundation staff preparing for the “Scanning Seti” exhibition at the Antikenmuseum Basel.  Credit: The Factum Foundation

So, technology that produces copies has an important role in making sites and heritage accessible to people?

For me there is a difference between visualization and replication. Screen communication is already changing the way we understand many objects: from our data you can study sites in every detail and in a very objective way over the internet. Through the screen, data can be disseminated in many ways, depending on the power of software we have. One thing we did at Factum Foundation is to prepare the data we record, so you can see all the data we have and also the surface data in the same archive. This is already a way that changes how you perceive an object. Just think about Nicholas Reeves, the Egyptologist that believes to have found the doorway in the burial chamber of Tutankhamun, only from studying our data in America, at the University of Arizona! This has been possible by separating the relief from the colour and it was only possible because it was high resolution data, that can be studied at distance, on a screen.

Don’t miss the third and final part of our interview with Lowe! It will available next week. To learn more about the Factum Foundation, visit their website, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or watch videos of their team and technology at work on Vimeo.

About the Factum Foundation

The Factum Foundation was established to demonstrate the importance of documenting, monitoring, studying, recreating and disseminating the world’s cultural heritage through the development of high-resolution recording and re-materialization techniques. The Foundation’s activities include but are not limited to: building digital archives for preservation and further study, creating and organising touring exhibitions of the Foundation’s work, setting up training centres for locals to learn the different technologies developed by the Foundation to record their own cultural heritage, and producing exact facsimiles as part of a new approach to conservation and restoration. The Foundation’s promotes the public’s access to cultural heritage and ensures that future generations can inherit the past in a condition in which it can be studied in depth and emotionally engaged with.

The Foundation’s sister company, Factum Arte, is dedicated to digital mediation. They work both in the production of works for contemporary artists and in the production of facsimiles. Some of their successful innovations include the development of the 3D Lucida Scanner; the writing of a 3D retouching software for use in the tombs in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt; the development of a flatbed scanning system to record colour used on Veronese’s Wedding at Cana; a flatbed digital printer that can repeatedly overprint in perfect registration; a 3D printer that prints in cement from STL files; and the development of a system to record fragile manuscripts and books when they are open at an angle of less than 90 degrees  (used in the Biblioteca Nacional Madrid) to record El Beato de Liebana.

“Factum is keen to work alongside Iconem in many ways and in many complementary things. While most of Iconem’s work tends to be for visualization, most of our work tends to be focused on recollecting the data needed to re-materialize things.” The Factum Foundation founder, Adam Lowe.

Francesco del Cossa’s Annunciation Virgin and Annuciation Angel were recorded with the Lucida 3D Scanner by the Factum Foundation in 2012. Credit: The Factum Foundation

Does the nature of a non-authentic piece of art affect the comprehension of or transmission of its cultural value?

The question is a very difficult one. I think we’re living in a time when the relation between originality and authenticity needs to be examined with an intellectual rigor and a forensic accuracy.

First of all, the idea of an original object is not as fixed as people imagine. Think of an object just discovered, dating back to 3000 years ago: it will change and age depending on the conditions of temperature and humidity as it is exposed. You’re looking at an object which is very articulate: it contains the evidence of many acts and intentions. But with many objects we’re looking at that have been in the public domain, they have been restored, in different times, in different places, by different people. We know that every act of restoration changes the nature of an object, so in this case you’re looking not only at the original object but also at all the different levels of things that have happened to it in its life.

I think that this awareness is very important in terms of ideas of originality and authenticity. Where the thing is different is the technology that is now available, allows us to record the surface, the colour and what lies under the surface: using 3D recording technologies and multispectral composigotography we can now build extraordinarily accurate maps that work as a time slice, as a record of an object in a specific moment of time. And that allows us to understand what occurred to that object, to really look at it and study it with forensic accuracy. This is the first time in history when accurate surface recording technology is coming into the equation. Recording the surface immediately tells many things about the nature of an object.

The recreation of the Hall of Beauties in the exhibition 'Scanning Seti: the Regeneration of a Pharaonic Tomb' at the Antikenmuseum Basel, on view now. Credit: The Factum Foundation

Factum’s original intention was to build a scanning system. We designed and built the Lucida scanner which is able to record the surface of an object with a very close correspondence. At the moment we measure with a resolution of 100 micron, you have a hundred million points per square meter. That measure allows you to inspect the data very very closely. This is very complementary, I think, to other methods as photogrammetry and white light scanning. Most of those techniques record the shape or something more than the surface. Once you know the surface and the shape and all these other aspects, then you’re in a territory where you can study and really understand an object.

If your question is whether I lose something in studying the copy and not the original, what I can say is that all the copies will be only partial copies of the original object. What we’re looking at is how data changes, what data changes and how best we can preserve them for future generations.

Be sure to check back next week to read part two of this interview. To learn more about the Factum Foundation, visit their website, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, or watch videos of their team and technology at work on Vimeo.