Archaeology « - Altair4 Multimedia S.r.l.

The first step to tackle the reconstruction problem of an archaeological context, depends on the collection of the historical and iconographic documentation and on architectural and photographic assessments. The reading and the interdisciplinary interpretation of the data, made by specialists in the different fields – archaeologists, architects, paleobotanists and so on – will allow for the formation of one or more reconstruction hypotheses. However imposing and quantitatively considerable the remains of an ancient architectural group might be, these remains will be able to provide us with adequate data for a correct and true reconstruction of its real aspect in ancient times. Through the analysis of the most important data and of their correlation with the historical sources it will be possible to get a very detailed idea of the work’s original image, but this is still just an idea. Virtual restoration, therefore, becomes the graphic representation of a reconstructed ideal image just as it has formed through the collected data interpretation.

Only the correct reading of architecture, aimed at recognizing the highlighted grammar aspects, allows us to produce a valid and harmonious graphic representation. Even a very detailed graphic reconstruction, of an architectural product, aimed at giving the viewer a stimulating image of reality, will always necessarily be the result of a synthesis. The three-dimensional transposition of the object in a bi-dimensional space through descriptive geometry tools is a data synthesis operation in itself. A synthesis always implies the exploitation of specific aspects to the detriment of others and consequently a data loss.

A meticulous search of all useful historical and artistic elements, the accurate reading and interpretation of surveys, actually represent really an inescapable aspect in archaeological work reconstruction, but they aren’t sufficient unless we examine the so-called resemblance parameters. It is, indeed, resemblance that allows us to perceive the landscape as a truer picture interpreted and painted by an artist, different from the original captured by a photographic shot. It will be the reconstruction resemblance, with elements belonging to the same cultural group that have reached the present day, which will at last allow us to recognize in a reconstruction “A POSSIBLE RECONSTRUCTION” The resemblance or lack thereof are, on an unconscious level, decisive factors to accept the virtual reality reconstruction as a plausible reconstruction, making it usable for a large group of users; only by establishing this emotional balance will it be possible to see reconstruction as a part of this wider and complex fabric within the historical cultural environment to which the reconstructed work belonged.

The evolutionary process of geometric representation language and methods during human history has always been aimed at searching for more and more elaborate systems of nature imitation. The invention of perspective by Brunelleschi and its theoretical organization thanks to Leon Battista Alberti, have been the basis and the fulcrum of all later experiences. It is not surprising that the calculations done by modern-day machines, thanks to the most advanced digital technology products, are still governed by rules set during the Renaissance. From the methodology viewpoint of geometric representation it is fair to say that the changes are limited to the means used for a specific end; on the contrary, it is in the ways of approaching it that the true revolution takes place. Modern-day virtual reality techniques completely revolutionize the connection between user and fruition object; they make available and allow us to enjoy some dynamic and temporal space parameters that until today were only the privilege of a direct experience in real space. The technology we use nowadays based on the spherical anamorphosis in real time of pre-calculated three-dimensional images, makes an “immersive” experience possible on a home computer without resorting to the use of expensive hardware and software equipment, allowing for information implementation on widespread media (CD-ROM, internet), thus favouring the circulation and comparison of ideas.