IDIA Lab’s Chris Harrison presented on the topic of photogrammetry at a workshop in İzmit, Turkey, the results of which have recently been published in Mimarlık | Tasarım Kültürü Dergisi (Architecture | Design Culture Magazine).
View the 3D Model
The workshop
The workshop was a collaboration between Ball State University’s College of Architecture and Planning (group led by Jonathan Spodek, FAIA), the Politecnico di Milano (group led by Prof. Elisabetta Rosina), and the host Kocaeli University (group led by Dr. Emre Kishali).
While the workshop focused broadly on theories of historic preservation in relation to the city of İzmit as a whole, Chris was invited to the workshop to present photogrammetry as a cheap, fast, and accessible method of site documentation and preservation. Chris led a team comprised of one student from each participating university and used the mosque and its grounds as a hands-on experience to teach various capture techniques.
While other documentation methods such as laser scanning exist, they require very expensive equipment that takes considerable training. Photogrammetry only requires a digital camera, which many people have on their cell phones these days. Using a free version of Autodesk’s browser-based ReMake, Chris and the students were able to capture and process the mosque interior and several smaller exterior details over the course of a few days.
Post processing
After returning from the workshop, we decided to further refine the model and optimize it for a virtual reality experience. Using a variety of softwares, the model was simplified so that it could be run as a live experience. This now enables visitors to experience a site located halfway across the world as if they were there.
