3d Virtual Reconstruction of the Middle Stoa in the Athens Ancient Agora

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Reconstruction is an action that re-builds a ruin or a non-existing structure trying to reproduce its form and shape at a given moment of its past. Reconstruction of Cultural Heritage monuments used to be common practice during the 19 th and 20 th centuries. However, contemporary ways of thinking and approaching the issue of reviving the past have introduced a lot of scepticism as far as reconstructions are concerned. An attractive alternative is virtual reconstruction, which does not involve any intervention to the existing relics, while it offers all advantages to the curator. In this paper the virtual reconstruction of a non-existing building of the Athenian Agora is described, presented and visualized. All data collected were evaluated and used appropriately for the final product. It is evident that, on one hand, the data collected do not all belong to the target period and, on the other, not all the data necessary to built up the model are available today. Therefore, one needs to carefully select the data corresponding to the period of study and complete them with suitable hypotheses. It is imperative that both tasks must be done in collaboration of the archaeologists and architects responsible for the monument. In this context a hierarchy of the data was developed, based on their reliability as far as their "correctness" is concerned. The data were categorized for their reliability after careful evaluation. The accuracy of the data depends on the source; hence the data which originate from a drawing or from one study of the 3D reconstructed monument are considered more accurate than data which come from a source referring to architectural elements of other monuments or written reports of travelers. Sometimes the data appear in more than one source, in this case they must be checked for their reliability. In cases of remaining artifacts that could be found in the museum and belonged to the building a different approach was followed. They were used to produce 3D models and these were later attached to the final 3D model. From the final virtual reconstruction a short video has also been produced for the better visualization of the result.

Archaeological anastylosis of two Macedonian tombs in a 3D virtual environment

“…This gives the opportunity to evaluate the different alternatives before any actual reconstruction on the monument. This practice has been attempted in the past in many cases with successful results (Lentini, 2009;Matini, Einifar, Kitamoto, & Ono, 2009;de Fuentes, Valle Melón, & Rodríguez Miranda, 2010;Patay-Horváth, 2011;Valle Melón, Lopetegi Galarraga, & Rodriguez Miranda, 2005;Kontogianni, Georgopoulos, Saraga, Alexandraki, & Tsogka, 2013). The two reconstruction actions described in this paper are perfect examples for performing virtual anastylosis as the original parts had been moved either to museums or in a position different to the original one.…”

3d Documentation and Virtual Archaeological Restoration of Macedonian Tombs

“…This allows for evaluating the various solutions before any physical intervention in the monument itself. This action has been attempted in the past in many cases with successful results (De Fuentes et al 2010, Lentini 2009, Matini et al 2009, Patey-Horvath 2011, Valle Melon 2005, Kontogianni et al 2013). Both these two cases described in this paper are ideal for attempting virtual restorations, because the architectural elements have been moved to distant museums or they are simply stored in a place different than their original position.…”

Exploiting Textured 3D Models for Developing Serious Games

“…6) whose 3D model was historically reconstructed (Kontogianni et al 2013 In the fourth category belong the models which were created with image based Structure from Motion (SfM) methods. In this category belong the artifacts of the Middle Stoa as it is mentioned above and the 3D model of the Holy Apostles church.…”