Virtual Reconstruction of Medieval Architecture

We describe the reconstruction of a medieval building as an example of how the use of 3D computer graphics can facilitate the reconstruction of an ancient site. We suggest that different stages of a virtual reconstruction imply the use of different rendering techniques, as the style of visualization has a significant impact on both the reconstruction process and the presentation to non-expert viewers. The use of computers as means of re-creating lost cultural heritage, such as ancient buildings, has become a growing field of application for computer graphics, not only for presentational purposes: The computer-based reconstruction of a building enables virtual walkthroughs and allows to validate a research model better than any other media 1. Researchers, however, face a classical dilemma: On the one hand, they can actually only supply information about details that have been excavated. Consequently, artifacts that do not have an excavation basis cannot be depicted. On the other hand, there is a demand for visualizations that are as realistic as possible. Simply leaving out details, like doors, is as wrong as depicting objects that have not been excavated. So, researchers have to extrapolate missing data in order to convey a comprehensive visualization of the reconstructed site. The re-creation of a medieval site especially suffers from this lack of data, as we are going to illustrate by the example of the virtual reconstruction of the “Kaiserpfalz”, the lost palace of Otto the Great in Magdeburg, Germany. However, we also argue that a computer-based reconstruction process helps to reveal deficiencies that would remain unnoticed if traditional methods were used.