Maps are too exciting! Digital innovations in Cartography

Celestial Globe by John Senex (1728), Rare Books and Manuscript Reading Room of the Weston Library, Oxford

key details

10 October 2024
On site (Weston Library, Oxford) – Online on Zoom
11am — 5pm (CET)

Reference

about

For the past two years, Factum Foundation has been working with the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford University on ARCHiOx (the Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Oxford), parallel project to ARCHiVe. Both projects share the vision of making high-resolution 3D and color-recording a regular part of the workflow in libraries, museums, and private collections, with the final goal of improving accessibility and research.

This symposium, dedicated to digital innovation in the field of cartography, is generously funded and co-organised by the Sunderland Collection. Co-organisers are Bodleian Libraries, Oxford University and Factum Foundation in the context of ARCHiOx.

Technologies continuously evolve transforming the representation of space and geography, shaping new forms of consciousness and knowledge. Digital technologies are mediating access to and research into cartographic material. 2D and 3D digital recording and display technologies are being employed to document rare maps, globes, and other cartographic material, enhancing research and playing a crucial role in the decision-making processes focused on both access and preservation. The same GIS being used to map our planet are also mapping the surface of vellum manuscripts, or mapping projected digital images. This material evidence, when combined with machine learning and immersive display technologies, has the potential to cultivate a new intimacy with the physical world.

As the physical world is digitised, the digital world becomes increasingly physical. Maps help us navigate this unfamiliar terrain. The symposium will bring together experts in cartographic history and cartographers of the digital world in a celebration and exploration of the role that maps play to provide access to real and imaginary worlds.

You can attend in person or online: please register here.

More info also on Oculi Mundi – Sunderland Collection.

This event is included in the AOA programme. Students from partner universities requiring CFU credits and attending on Zoom, are kindly requested to sign in and out by sending their name and University in a private chat message to Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

Programme

11am (CET)

Morning Session: The art of cartography and new evidence

Richard Ovenden | University of Oxford
Judith Siefring | Bodleian Library
John Barrett | Bodleian Library
Nick Millea | Bodleian Library
Yossef Rapoport | Queen Mary University
Sanne Frequin | Utrecht University

11–11.15am: Welcome by Richard Ovenden OBE, Bodley’s Librarian, Head of Gardens, Libraries and Museums at the University of Oxford.

11.15am–1pm: Panel and Q&A: The art of cartography and new evidence
Chaired by Judith Siefring, Head of Digital Collections Discovery, Bodleian Libraries

Material evidence of the surface of objects (20 minutes)
John Barrett, Lead Photographer at ARCHiOx and the first person to use the Selene Photometric Stereo System within a major library.
Spectacular! A digital exploration of medieval Gough Map of Britain (20 minutes)
Nick Millea, Map Curator at the Bodleian Libraries
The Greatest Medieval Map-Maker: Al-Sharif al-Idrisi and Roger’s Silver Disc (20 minutes)
Yossef Rapoport, Professor of Islamic History at Queen Mary University, London
A Ship’s Globe in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht (20 minutes)
Sanne Frequin, Assistant Professor of Humanities and Art History, University of Utrecht

1.30pm (CET)

Special presentation – Nesting Globes: visualising the current global situation

Bruce Mau | Massive Change Network

1.30pm–2pm: Special presentation – Nesting Globes: visualising the current global situation
Bruce Mau, designer, philosopher, architect, and educator.

3pm (CET)

Afternoon session: Mapping in a digital world

Giovanni Pala | University of Oxford
Katherine McDonough | Lancaster University
Sarah Kenderdine | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Ed Parsons | Google Earth
Adam Lowe | Factum Foundation

3–4.45pm: Panel and Q&A: Mapping in a digital world
Chaired by Giovanni Pala, economic historian of technology and information

Map Search: Using AI to explore map content (20 minutes)
Katherine McDonough, Lecturer in Digital Humanities at Lancaster University; Senior Research Fellow and head of the Machines Reading Maps Project at The Alan Turing Institute.
Deep Mapping: from archives to the universe (20 minutes)
Sarah Kenderdine, Professor of Digital Humanities at École Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland; Director of the Laboratory of Experimental Museology.
Geospatial transformation (20 minutes)
Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist, tech evangelist, and co-founder of Google Earth.

4.50pm–5pm: Conclusions: Adam Lowe, Founder of Factum Foundation and Factum Arte

Workshop on Analysis and Recording of Cultural Heritage in Venice

key details

30 September — 2 October 2024
20 hours / Location: Venice / Cost: €350
Deadline 8 September 2024

about

The ARCHiVe Centre of Fondazione Giorgio Cini is presenting a workshop for the second consecutive year, focusing on the application of high-resolution, contactless digital technologies for the digitisation of documentary, archival, and library materials. Over 20 hours, the intensive workshop will introduce participants to specific 2D digitisation technologies and methods, as well as the application of deep learning techniques, computer vision, and the use of artificial intelligence in the post-production of digital files.

The three-day workshop will be held in person and will be based on a learning-by-doing approach, alternating theoretical training on photography, archives, and the preservation and enhancement of digital heritage with practical sessions, allowing participants to experience the handling and acquisition of materials. The workshop is open to a selected group of participants (students and professionals from various backgrounds) who will have the opportunity to learn and interact directly with the ARCHiVe team.

Accommodation for two nights at the Vittore Branca Centre Residence on the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, lunch on the first day, and an ACTV pass for travel within the lagoon for the duration of the workshop are included in the participation fee. A certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the workshop.

Programme

September 30, 2024

Day 1

Morning (11am – 1:30pm)

Welcome, general intro and programme overview
Ice-breaker: student presentations (3 mins each)
Presentation of Fondazione Giorgio Cini and its Archival Funds and Collections + Q&A
Visit to the Fondazione Giorgio Cini (including the Library, the Rare Books Collection and the Photo Library)

Afternoon (2:30pm – 5:30pm)

ARCHiVe presentation (projects, research and technologies)
Introduction to the principles of Photography + Q&A
Feedback and reflections from day 1
Optional: visit to the Homo Faber exhibition

October 1, 2024

Day 2

Morning (9am – 1:30pm)

Introduction to the different types of documents and how to handle them + Q&A
Practical 2d recording (session 1 and 2), divided into 4 groups
Post-processing

Afternoon (2:30pm – 5:30pm)

Practical 2d recording (session 3), divided into 4 groups
Post-processing
Feedback and reflections from day 2

October 2, 2024

Day 3

Morning (9am – 1:30pm)

Practical 2d recording (session 4), divided into 4 groups
Post-processing
Lecture on metadata creation, digital archives and digital library + Q&A
Developing projects for final presentation, divided into 4 groups

Afternoon (2:30pm –5pm)

Final presentation of the preliminary results of the workshop and possible outputs for the data recorded
Reflection on how to use the recorded information to preserve, study and disseminate cultural heritage
Feedback and reflections
Certificates and celebration drinks
Close

Useful information

The course will only proceed if 12 participants are reached.

If your application is accepted, you will receive an email by September 11 that will provide a deadline for accepting and paying for your place. Your place will be held until this deadline.

If you have any questions, please get in touch: info.aoa@cini.it

Recording the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore and its collections

Un ragazzo fotografa la facciata della chiesa di San Giorgio Maggiore. — Recording with photogrammetry the facade of San Giorgio Maggiore Church © Otto Lowe for Factum Foundation

3D model of San Giorgio Maggiore Church © Factum Foundation

3D render of the altar in the San Giorgio Maggiore Church © Factum Foundation

Using LiDAR to record the Longhena Staircase at Fondazione Cini © Otto Lowe for Factum Foundation

3D render of the cloisters © Factum Foundation

key details

27 September 2021
Onsite at ARCHiVe / Online on Zoom
4pm — 6pm (CET)

Reference

about

Participating in the celebrations for the 70th birthday of Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Adam Lowe and Frédéric Kaplan, introduced by Renata Codello, Secretary General of the foundation, presented the methods and technologies in use for the monitoring and recording of the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore and the surrounding waters.
This presentation explains the 3D recording methods and the data processing actions to the audience at ARCHiVe, introducing the possibilities offered by these innovative techniques.

Adam Lowe explains the project of documenting the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore, starting from the photogrammetry recording of the Basilica of San Giorgio Maggiore by Andrea Palladio, then of Fondazione Giorgio Cini architectures and spaces. Concludes Frédéric Kaplan explaining the process of analysis of recorded data, introducing to the idea of a “mirror world”.

This talk introduces the topics later developed in the course Three-dimensional digitization curated by Factum Foundation in 2021.

Lecturers

Adam Lowe

He is the director of Factum Arte and founder of Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation. He was trained in Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Drawing in Oxford and the RCA London. In 2001, Lowe moved to Madrid and created Factum Arte, a multidisciplinary workshop dedicated to digital mediation for the production of works for contemporary artists. Lowe founded Factum Foundation in 2009 with the aim of using Factum Arte’s innovative processes and technologies for preservation, high-resolution recording, education, and the development of thought-provoking exhibitions.
He has been an adjunct professor at the MS Historic Preservation at Columbia University, New York since 2016. In 2019, Lowe became a British Designer Industry, awarded by the British Royal Society of Arts.

Frédéric Kaplan

He directs the College of Humanities at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He also holds the chair of Digital Humanities and is president of the Time Machine Organization, a non-profit organization of over 600 institutions. He is the author of a dozen books, translated into several languages, and more than a hundred scientific publications. His work has also been exhibited in several major museums, including the Venice Architecture Biennale, the Grand Palais, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.