Multimedia Laboratory for Cultural Heritage
The Multimedia Laboratory for Cultural Heritage is part of the Information Technology Laboratory at the Faculty of Architecture.
The laboratory was officially opened in March 2005. It was established within the framework of the two-year project "Support for the Use of New Technologies in the Teaching, Preservation, and Promotion of Cultural and Natural Heritage," funded by the British Council Bulgaria through the British Council Cultural and Natural Heritage Fund for South East Europe. The project was implemented by a team of experts from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, the Association for Cultural Tourism, and ICOMOS/Bulgaria, in partnership with the British Council Bulgaria, under the leadership of Prof. Todor Krstev, D.Sc. Arch. In 2008, the technological platform was enhanced within the Heritage: ESPRIT project. The laboratory is equipped with new specialized technologies to aid in the preservation of cultural heritage – a technological set for laser measurements and a digital spherical camera.
The facilities of the Multimedia Laboratory for Cultural Heritage are actively used for training students in Architecture and Urbanism in disciplines related to cultural heritage at the Dept. of "History and Theory of Architecture".
The Multimedia Laboratory for Cultural Heritage performs specialized documentation of cultural heritage sites using a spherical camera (Spheron VR). It enables full synchronous photo-documentation of all viewpoints within the interior and exterior spaces of the sites. Spherical photo-documentation has numerous advantages and offers various possibilities for practical application:
- Full completion of the documentary archive of the site for scientific knowledge purposes;
- An effective and accessible tool for systematic scientific monitoring of the site – allowing for comparative analysis of its condition before, during, and after restoration interventions, tracking degradation processes or their containment, and implementing public monitoring for its preservation;
- Creation of a popular format for presenting the site to the general public;
- Accumulation of information resources for creating future creative solutions for virtual and interactive presentation of the site (in museum or other environments).
The Multimedia Laboratory for Cultural Heritage actively participates in various projects related to the preservation of cultural heritage in partnership, the most important of which are:
2005: Multimedia exhibition "The Heritage of South East Europe" within the Regional Forum "Cultural Corridors of South East Europe", Varna;
2006: Creation of a website and multimedia product "Children and the Cultural Heritage of South East Europe" (Discover the Treasure – www.otkrivam.com), implemented with the help of the British Council Bulgaria, Grand Prize at the Albena Media Festival, 2006;
2006: Creation of the website "Cultural Corridors of South East Europe" (www.seecorridors.eu), implemented with the help of the Government of Luxembourg, the European Institute of Cultural Routes, and the Ministry of Culture;
2007-2008: Cultural Heritage: Education – Science – Preservation – Integrated in Tourism (Heritage: ESPRIT), selected in a competition by the Ministry of Education and Science, Second Prize at the Scientific and Educational Expo 2008.