scholarly journals Historically Based Room Acoustic Analysis and Auralization of a Church in the 1470s

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1586
Author(s):  
Hanna Autio ◽  
Mathias Barbagallo ◽  
Carolina Ask ◽  
Delphine Bard Hagberg ◽  
Eva Lindqvist Sandgren ◽  
...  

Worship space acoustics have been established as an important part of a nation’s cultural heritage and area of acoustic research, but more research is needed regarding the region of northern Europe. This paper describes the historical acoustics of an important abbey church in Sweden in the 1470s. A digital historical reconstruction is developed. Liturgical material specific to this location is recorded and auralized within the digital reconstruction, and a room acoustic analysis is performed. The analysis is guided by liturgical practices in the church and the monastic order connected to it. It is found that the historical sound field in the church is characterized by the existence of two distinct acoustical subspaces within it, each corresponding to a location dedicated to the daily services of the monastical congregations. The subspaces show significantly better acoustic conditions for liturgical activities compared to the nave, which is very reverberant under the conditions of daily services. Acoustic transmission from the two subspaces is limited, indicating that the monastic congregations were visually and acoustically separated from the visitors in the nave and each other.

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-16
Author(s):  
Kristin Love Huffman ◽  
Iara Dundas

In San Geminiano: “A Ruby among Many Pearls,” Kristin Love Huffman and Iara Dundas use a digital reconstruction to reconsider the sixteenth-century Venetian church of San Geminiano and its siting within Piazza San Marco. Demolished in 1807, the church was significant within its Venetian context, but its importance has largely been forgotten. Through their historical reconstruction, based on analyses of archival plans and elevations, illustrated representations, written descriptions and inscriptions, and theoretical treatises, Huffman and Dundas demonstrate the methodological processes of 3-D modeling and the interpretive value of the resulting models for the study of architectural and urban histories. In addition, their work on San Geminiano enables a reevaluation of this historically important yet now lost structure's architecture and its relationship to the space of Piazza San Marco—the political center, socioeconomic nexus, and ceremonial entry point of Venice.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 464
Author(s):  
Marie Clausén

My paper analyses the 15th-century seven-sacraments font at the medieval church of St Peter and St Paul at Salle in Norfolk (England). The church guides and gazetteers that describe the font, and the church in which it is situated, owe both their style and content to Art History, focusing as they do on their material and aesthetic dimensions. The guides also tend towards isolating the various elements of the font, and these in turn from the rest of the architectural elements, fittings and furniture of the church, as if they could be meaningfully experienced or interpreted as discrete entities, in isolation from one another. While none of the font descriptions can be faulted for being inaccurate, they can, as a result of these tendencies, be held insufficient, and not quite to the purpose. My analysis of the font, by means of Heidegger’s concept of Dwelling, does not separate the font either from the rest of the church, nor from other fonts, but acknowledges that it comes to be, and be seen as, what it is only when considered as standing in ‘myriad referential relations’ to other things, as well as to ourselves. This perspective has enabled me to draw out what it is about the font at Salle that can be experienced as not merely beautiful or interesting, but also as meaningful to those—believers and non-believers alike—who encounter it. By reconsidering the proper mode of perceiving and engaging with the font, we may spare it from being commodified, from becoming a unit in the standing reserve of cultural heritage, and in so doing, we, too, may be momentarily freed from our false identities as units of production and agents of consumption. The medieval fonts and churches of Norfolk are, I argue, not valuable as a result of their putative antiquarian qualities, but invaluable in their extending to us a possibility of dwelling—as mortals—on the earth—under the sky—before the divinities.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 972
Author(s):  
Weiqiao Wang

Although the two parallel architectural forms, Han Buddhists and the Cistercian monasteries, seem, on the surface, to be very different—belonging to different religions, different cultural backgrounds, and different ways of construction—they share many similarities in the internal institutional model of monks’ lives and the corresponding architectural core values. The worship space plays the most significant role in both monastic life and layout. In this study, the Three Temples of Guoqing Si and the Church of the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet are used as examples to elucidate the connotations behind the architectural forms, in order to further explore how worship spaces serve as an intermediary between deities, monks, and pilgrims. Based on field research and experience of monastic life, this comparative study highlights two fundamental similarities between the Three Temples and the Church: First, both worship spaces are derived from imperial prototypes, have a similar priority of construction, occupy the most important place in both sacred venues, and both serve as a reference for the development of monastic layout. Second, both worship spaces are composed of a similar programmed functional layout, including similar space dominators as well as itineraries. Beyond the surface similarities, this article further analyzes the reasons behind the three differences found. Due to their different understanding of deities, both worship spaces show different ways of worship, images of deities, and distances towards them.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (23) ◽  
pp. 106
Author(s):  
Damiano Aiello ◽  
Cecilia Bolognesi

<p class="VARAbstract">Can we preserve cultural heritage and, consequently, the memory of the past? To answer this question, one should look at the digital revolution that the world has gone through in recent decades and analyse the complex and the dialectical relationship between cultural heritage and new technologies. Thanks to these, increasingly accurate reconstructions of archaeological sites and historical monuments are possible. The resulting digital replicas are fundamental to experience and understand cultural heritage in innovative ways: they have complex and dynamic relationships with the original objects. This research paper highlights the importance and the scientific validity of digital replicas aimed at understanding, enhancing and protecting cultural heritage. The study focuses on the virtual reconstruction of the constructive phases, from the mid-15<sup>th</sup> century to date, of one of the most emblematic Gothic-Renaissance buildings in the city of Milan (Italy): the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, famous worldwide for hosting Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper painting. This site proved to be an ideal case study because of its troubled and little-known history that led to numerous changes over the centuries. Thanks to a methodological approach based on the analysis of the documentary sources and three-dimensional (3D) modelling, it was possible to outline the chronological succession of the convent transformations; the way in which these overlapped the pre-existing structures was described starting from the Renaissance harmonious and organic interventions, to finally reach 18<sup>th</sup>-19<sup>th </sup>centuries inhomogeneous and incompatible additions. Finally, the research was completed by mapping the 3D models based on the sources used and their different levels of accuracy. The 3D models have thus become a valid tool for checking and verifying the reconstruction hypotheses.</p><p class="VARAbstract">Highlights:</p><ul><li><p>The study focused on the virtual reconstruction of the convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie, one of the most emblematicGothic-Renaissance buildings in the city of Milan.</p></li><li><p>By combining data from documentary sources, architectural treatises, period photos and digital survey, the mainbuilding phases of the convent, from the 15th century to date, were digitally reconstructed.</p></li><li><p>The 3D models are enriched with information about the accuracy of the digital reconstruction, creating 3D databasesthat can be easily consulted and updated.</p></li></ul>


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 158-169
Author(s):  
João Luís Marques

Since the 1960s, the artistic and architectural interventions carried out in the church of Santa Isabel and Rato Chapel, in Lisbon, brought to the debate the overlap of different narratives in these two different spaces of worship: the first, is a parish church preserved by the earthquake of Lisbon (1755), which had its liturgical space redesigned before the Second Vatican Council; the second, is a private chapel annexed to a 18th century palace that became a symbolic worship space for students and engaged young professionals since the 1970s. Enriched with the work of either well-known artists or, sometimes, anonymous architects, the two case studies show us the life of monuments, where Modern and Contemporary Art and Architecture participate in preserving and enhancing their cultural value. At the same time, the liturgical and pastoral activities are shown to be the engine behind successive interventions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sotiris Logothetis ◽  
Efstratios Stylianidis

<p class="VARAbstract">The Building Information Modelling (BIM) software enables the users to communicate and design, understand appearance, performance and cost in the spatial and urban design process. Another important use of the BIM technology is the documentation and 3D reconstruction of cultural heritage monuments. The appropriate BIM software equips the users with tools to easily capture and analyse concepts and maintain the coordination of design data through documentation and 3D modelling. Many developments come up in the BIM field and software industry for design, construction-reconstruction, restoration and management of the cultural heritage 3D models, using BIM tools; mainly commercial as well as free or open source. Nevertheless, recently the growing popularity of open source has altered the landscape in software industry, as they attract many users.</p><p class="VARAbstract">This paper presents a review of some recent research on the topic. We review the recent developments focusing on the OSS that can be used at various stages of BIM process in the digital documentation of cultural heritage. The results show that there is more preference in the commercial software due to the fact that the OSS is not yet complete and covers all stages of the BIM process. However, lately we have the Edificius in architectural BIM design and “BIM Vision” as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model viewer that try to attract as many users as possible. These tools are free and they could well be used for the digital reconstruction of cultural heritage.</p>


Author(s):  
Judith Herrin

This chapter analyzes the cultural heritage, the imperial precedents, and variety of visual models on which powerful Byzantine empresses could draw. In particular, it demonstrates that by the eighth and ninth centuries there were significant resources available that might permit imperial authority to adopt feminine forms. The reason for this chronological framework lies in the prominence of two empresses, Irene and Theodora, during the periods of iconoclasm (roughly calculated from 730 to 843). Both reversed bans imposed on the veneration of icons. Irene set a precedent by summoning the Seventh Ecumenical Council held in 787, which justified icons and restored them to a central position in the church, while Theodora is commemorated as a saint for her role in ending the second phase of iconoclasm in 843.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Fratoni ◽  
Dario D’Orazio ◽  
Luca Barbaresi

The construction of a new worship space in cross-laminated timber provides a good opportunity to include acoustic needs in the whole design development. The surface porosity and the lightweight of wooden elements may be carefully considered in order to improve the intelligibility of priests’ voice. In this work, a practical approach for obtaining a global acoustic comfort using sustainable materials is provided, using geometrical acoustic simulations. Material properties and architectural geometries were taken into account in order to evaluate subjective reverberation, speech intelligibility, and spatial perception over the whole audience. Results show how the sound energy distribution in the case study follows the sound field models proposed by scholars and how the ceiling shape—inspired by industrial sheds—contributes to the acoustic comfort of the faithfuls.


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