Murata, K. Laboratory

3D Archiving of Medieval Byzantine Churches in Laconia, Greece (Kajima Foundation Research Grant, Principal Investigator: Koji Murata, FY2022)

　This research aims to preserve the heritage information of medieval Byzantine churches in Greece through digitization, and to promote multidisciplinary studies of those churches through their digital models.
　While there are many architectural heritage sites in the world, very few of them have been properly managed and restored. Medieval Christian churches are often decorated with wall paintings and inscriptions, which represent a valuable heritage that conveys the state of past society to the present day. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, the area of our research, there are thousands of these churches, most of which are in a state of disrepair and in danger of collapse. Therefore, this research aims to create a digital model of the churches in question using photogrammetric methods, and to organize a digital archive by adding the appropriate metadata and managing the records. Photogrammetry is a means of recording as much heritage information as possible quickly and economically, which will facilitate the information management of architectural heritage; in addition, by making the digital models available to researchers in various fields, it will lead to a better understanding of the social functions of medieval churches from a multidisciplinary perspective. Moreover, our plan is to provide the modeling method itself and the digital models created to local administrative authorities with the intention of promoting heritage documentation by citizens and the use of this resource in education and tourism. We welcome prospective students interested in the medieval heritage and its conservation and utilization through the use of information technology.