The physical and spatial character of a design proposal is always difficult to understand, and the traditional graphic techniques (such as hand renderings or scale models) that might be used to communicate design intentions to clients, lenders, boards of architectural review, and local zoning authorities are often rejected by project managers because they are expensive and time consuming relative to anticipated benefits. However, a photo-realistic method of depicting designs for rehabilitation, adaptive use, and infill projects in the existing context of the site could facilitate the decision processes from project inception to design development, review, and approval. Such computer simulations could lead to new capital investments by providing a more believable graphic vision of resource development potential. Such a system would also be used to graphically represent the complex issues raised in regulatory ordinances and design guidelines, and thus foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the significant cultural values that should be preserved and celebrated. Electronic renderings would similarly be effective tools for promoting a general awareness of heritage resource assets and liabilities in the community.
An important component of the project was to target of broadly representative design and planning issues using the computer image processing techniques. It was expected that the project would provide design case studies for other preservation organizations and agencies seeking to address similar design issues in their own Main Street revitalization efforts.
1. Hammond: Infill design for a vacant site in the downtown commercial district
2. Minden: Graphic design for signage to identify the Minden Main Street Program and the Germantown Historic Site
3. Ruston: Adaptive use design for residential townhouse units and facade rehabilitation for the oldest surviving commercial structure in the downtown commercial district
4. Winnsboro: Facade rehabilitation for adaptive use of the Princess Theater as a multi-purpose community center
Project phases included:
1. Travel to each of the four Louisiana towns to video and photographically document the designated sites;
2. Digital conversion of selected video and photographic images through framegrabbing and scanning in order to place the graphic information in the computer-based environment;
3. Image manipulation, drawing, and three dimensional modeling to develop and depict design treatments appropriate to each of the four project types; and,
4. Presentation of computer generated renderings of the design proposals to each of the communities.
In each of the four towns, the video document was methodically created by slowly moving around the exterior of the selected site, recording overall views of associated structures and specific contextual data. Detailed information about materials, joints, evidence of physical condition, unique or significant features, and specific environmental information was included as part of the video record. Photography complemented the video record by providing high resolution images of exterior building elevations and architectural details.
The challenge of the project in Minden was to develop signage that would identify the city's Main Street Historic District and the Germantown Colony Historic Site. The TIPS program was used to generate the graphic design for the signs. The design alternatives were then merged with video captured views of Minden. The graphic design was abstracted from the site plan of the Historic District, and the design is adaptable to a variety of graphic needs, including street banners, posters, tee-shirts, and stationary. The design for Germantown Colony recalled the main features of the original log cabin that remains at the site. Both signs are designed to be appropriate for highway installations as well as for city streets.
In Ruston, 3-D computer modeling was used to develop a proposal for an adaptive use of a derelict historic structure that was the town's oldest surviving commercial building. A developer was interested in rehabilitating the structure as residential units, and consequently a scheme for 14 apartments was designed. The computer generated proposal was merged with scanned photographic images of the site, and the computer model was then mapped with textures and colors appropriate to the context of the district.
The project in Winnsboro involved the restoration of the facade of the Princess Theatre, a community landmark that had been modified repeatedly and had fallen into disrepair. The community was to undertake the restoration work on a volunteer basis, and they needed a graphic rendering of the restored facade not only to guide the work, but also to recruit and inspire the volunteers themselves. First, a photograph of the existing condition of the theatre was scanned into the computer. Then, using a scanned (c.1930) photo as a reference, the image was manipulated with AT&T Truevision's TIPS to render the proposed treatment.
All of the projects achieved a measure of success in public presentations to the respective communities. In Hammond, the project promoted a dialogue between a broad range of people about the opportunities of reinvestment in the economically distressed Historic District. In Minden, the city government commissioned the manufacture and installation of the proposed sign design as a visual aid to tourists. The developer of the Ruston project modified his architectural design in response to the favorable public review generated by the computer visualization. The computer rendering of the Princess Theatre in Winnsboro assisted in the mobilization of additional volunteers, and reinforced the community's commitment to action. As a consequence, the owner of the building donated the structure to the community.
1. documentation of cultural resources by gathering single frame images from real time video recordings, scanned graphics and text, and data generated by computer. Buildings that might not prove economically or logistically feasible to document with extensive hand measurements and drawings can be just as thoroughly and accurately recorded with photography and video.
2. information management through the synthesis of graphic documentary evidence relating to the context of each site, as well as to building proportions, dimensions, materials, textures, colors, and stylistic character. Through the use of computers, this information can be integrated into a single working environment. Once an integrated graphic information base exists, the system user should be able to exercise a high degree of discretion in accessing and extracting specific information from it as required to fulfill management or design needs.
3. resource conservation through computer generated simulations of historic context and proposed designs or treatments. A more comprehensive understanding of the natural and cultural context, and the impact of proposed changes, is possible through computer image processing. These processed images can be supplemented with drawings, photographs, and text. Such techniques can be particularly useful when a new building is designed for an historic district, or changes to an otherwise environmentally or culturally sensitive area are contemplated. The effects of these design or management proposals can be studied by merging the visual record of the existing context with a graphic simulation of the proposed changes. Visual simulations can promote a dialogue between resource administrators, planners, architects, developers, and the concerned public that results in a greater consensus, and perhaps more informed decisions, about the effects of alternative management strategies.
4. heritage education and resource interpretation through graphic visualizations that can communicate a sense of contextual scale and continuity that conventional graphic techniques cannot convey as vividly or accurately. Full motion video is especially appropriate for describing a context where time related changes are essential factors (wind, water, automobile or pedestrian traffic, etc.). Research studies have compared viewer responses to videotaped landscapes with responses by observers of the actual landscapes. These experiments with video surrogates suggest that if the video image includes most of the textural and color variation present in the actual scene, respondents will react similarly to the scene and the video surrogate (Smith, 1985). This means that visual completeness and perceived resolution and color are important attributes for successful surrogates. Since it is the function of a video system to reproduce an original scene as faithfully as possible (subject to limitations of resolution, geometry, photometry, and color), the medium has the potential to enhance the public and professional dialogue about heritage conservation. Public perceptions of site values and design intentions can be clarified with the skillful manipulation of video images. Importantly, video has also become a familiar medium of popular communication and VCR's are becoming as ubiquitous as television itself. Consequently, video technology is positioned to play a significant role in heritage education and resource interpretation.
The utilization of a graphics environment for developing and studying resource conservation strategies represents a potentially powerful strategy for giving regulatory bodies, design and planning professionals, developers, and the public a means of more accurately visualizing the increasingly complex issues that must be addressed in managing cultural resources. A computer-based environment that permits image manipulation and graphic processing makes it possible to realistically represent the physical context of the project. In turn, these same visual simulation techniques can be used to study the physical implications of proposed design strategies.
Clearly, the reliance on a graphic means of communicating heritage values and conservation treatments can play a fundamental role in shaping successful resource management strategies. The increasingly complex issues that must be addressed in the preservation processes can be effectively resolved only through the development of new tools and techniques. The appropriate use of emerging computer-based visualization technologies can provide a means of communicating the design opportunities, intentions, and alternatives that are critical to understanding the character and values of heritage resources. As such, these technologies hold significant promise for enhancing the quality of the built environment by contributing to the preservation and celebration of our threatened cultural heritage.
We can hope that these projects will contribute to the ongoing development of the technical means for effectively integrating cultural experience, design, and technology. By applying existing (and emerging) computer technologies, this project introduced a fast, cost-effective visualization method to facilitate the process of protecting and enhancing the cultural heritage of Louisiana. If the positive response that the products of the study elicited at presentations in Hammond, Minden, Ruston, and Winnsboro is an accurate indication, this visualization work has already proven useful in promoting both heritage conservation and a greater understanding of design processes and cultural values.
Misunderstandings about the capabilities of computers have kept the preservation community from capitalizing on information management and decision support technologies of truly remarkable potential. It's unrealistic to assume that computer hardware and software developers will ever produce an "off-the-shelf" system suitable for heritage conservation. These electronic wizards do not understand the broad implications that heritage conservation issues have for community planning and development. Nor do they perceive the marketing opportunities that might compel them to tailor information management systems specifically for heritage conservation. As with the development of any other tool, appropriate computer applications for conservation requires an intimate understanding of cultural resource management needs and objectives. Therein lies the rub. If the preservation community continues to maintain a reactive posture to technological opportunities, the development of computer-based conservation applications simply won't happen. Only through the active participation of conservation experts in this process of technological adaptation, can effective computer-based heritage conservation tools be realized. Most preservation professionals have at least a sense that computers can be useful, and that computers should be component to a broad variety of heritage conservation tasks. Out of this vague recognition of computer potential, and out of the frustration and confusion that emanates from the accelerating pace of developments in computer technologies, the one clear message is that more initiatives such as these projects are needed. Such projects will continue to:
facilitate the development of methods for visualizing design in heritage conservation;
promote technology transfer as an essential component in developing new heritage conservation methods and decision support systems; and,
promote heritage education through the electronic dissemination of information relating to resource management plans, design proposals, and material treatments.
The active support and participation of the conservation community in these efforts will make computer- based design visualization a basic component in achieving the objective of well-informed, cost effective "heritage conservation."
Out of a recognition that visual communication is fundamental to promoting the interdisciplinary, public/private sector dialogue that is essential to the preservation and revitalization of Louisiana communities, the State Office of Historic Preservation and the Division for the Arts provided key financial and logistical support that made this project possible. I would like to thank the mayors, the Main Street Program Managers and Committee Members, property owners, and citizens of the four towns involved in this project for their contribution to the work, and to applaud them for their commitment to the future of their respective communities.