Lighthouses are considered part of our industrial heritage in that they are an infrastructure at the service of navigation, an indispensable nocturnal signalling system for navigators and a useful landmark for both maritime and air traffic. The lighthouses in question belong to the Demanio Marittimo Militare, a department of the Italian Navy. They are still relatively unknown and above all they are not easily accessible. For decades now numerous lighthouses, including the buildings around them used by the lighthouse managers, have stopped working and have been completely decommissioned and abandoned. For this reason it was considered useful to conduct a scientific study of this valuable form of heritage linked to the navigation industry, in order to obtain first-hand knowledge of it and to highlight its true value. The work focuses on the study of four lighthouses located in Puglia in the South-East of Italy, in the area formerly known as Terra d'Otranto (covering the modern-day provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto). The lighthouses studied include those of San Cataldo (near Lecce), Punta Palascìa (near Capo d'Otranto, the most easterly point of Italy), Capo Santa Maria di Leuca and the island of Sant'Andrea near Gallipoli. From the methodological point of view, the present study is an example of a low-cost approach to the problem of documenting and promoting archaeological and architectural heritage items. Specifically, the aim is to create a DVR (Desktop Virtual Reality) platform to enable the public to enjoy heterogeneous digital content at a distance, available both on-line and off-line, derived from the study of architectural characteristics and the analysis of existing documentation on the Terra d'Otranto lighthouses. The individual items under study were surveyed using Digital Photogrammetry (Photo-modelling) techniques and re-created in three dimensions. All the data available (archival, bibliographical, photographic, iconographic, etc.) are connected to the three-dimensional object, which thus constitutes the informational basis of the entire platform, conceived as a 3D DataBase. The ultimate objective is to find a valid methodological framework for the creation of a virtual thematic museum, or "Lighthouse Museum", starting with the site on the island of Sant'Andrea near Gallipoli, home of a now decommissioned lighthouse, but also a site of considerable historic, archaeological and environmental importance.
A virtual thematic museum of the Terra d'Otranto lighthouses based on a low cost methodology
Gabellone F;Monte A
2005
Abstract
Lighthouses are considered part of our industrial heritage in that they are an infrastructure at the service of navigation, an indispensable nocturnal signalling system for navigators and a useful landmark for both maritime and air traffic. The lighthouses in question belong to the Demanio Marittimo Militare, a department of the Italian Navy. They are still relatively unknown and above all they are not easily accessible. For decades now numerous lighthouses, including the buildings around them used by the lighthouse managers, have stopped working and have been completely decommissioned and abandoned. For this reason it was considered useful to conduct a scientific study of this valuable form of heritage linked to the navigation industry, in order to obtain first-hand knowledge of it and to highlight its true value. The work focuses on the study of four lighthouses located in Puglia in the South-East of Italy, in the area formerly known as Terra d'Otranto (covering the modern-day provinces of Lecce, Brindisi and Taranto). The lighthouses studied include those of San Cataldo (near Lecce), Punta Palascìa (near Capo d'Otranto, the most easterly point of Italy), Capo Santa Maria di Leuca and the island of Sant'Andrea near Gallipoli. From the methodological point of view, the present study is an example of a low-cost approach to the problem of documenting and promoting archaeological and architectural heritage items. Specifically, the aim is to create a DVR (Desktop Virtual Reality) platform to enable the public to enjoy heterogeneous digital content at a distance, available both on-line and off-line, derived from the study of architectural characteristics and the analysis of existing documentation on the Terra d'Otranto lighthouses. The individual items under study were surveyed using Digital Photogrammetry (Photo-modelling) techniques and re-created in three dimensions. All the data available (archival, bibliographical, photographic, iconographic, etc.) are connected to the three-dimensional object, which thus constitutes the informational basis of the entire platform, conceived as a 3D DataBase. The ultimate objective is to find a valid methodological framework for the creation of a virtual thematic museum, or "Lighthouse Museum", starting with the site on the island of Sant'Andrea near Gallipoli, home of a now decommissioned lighthouse, but also a site of considerable historic, archaeological and environmental importance.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
