baroque folies
New representation of italian baroque churches using LiDAR technology
Spring | 2022
University of Pennsylvania
Location : Philadelphia, PA
Instructor: Andrew Saunders
Individual project
This project is a re-representation attempt for L'immacolata concenzione in Rome by Guarini using point cloud data and meshes generated by using advanced LiDAR technology. It captures the complex multi-centric geometries in unprecedented detail. Moving beyond traditional photography, the LiDAR models enable precise 3D analysis and immersive exploration of spatial and structural intricacies. Combining historical surveying with innovative digital representation, the project provides a novel platform for scholarly reassessment and advanced study of Baroque spatial composition and its representational potential.
Processing Point-cloud Data
//Mesh generated from poin cloud data (Top & Middle); Guarini's floor plan (Bottom)
//Assets used to stitch point cloud data
Re-drawing geometry lines
The geometry of the Baroque interior is governed by multiple centers. In plan, the monopolar nature of typically stable Euclidean figures including the circle, triangle, square and hexagon are elongated, perturbed and transmuted through the precise insertion of competing centers both internal and external to the interior volume.
Unwrapped
This representation method reveals interior and exterior simultaneously. Freed from traditional photographic perspectives, viewers perceive the Baroque interior as a unified, complex space. The project delivers a dual experience, both immersive and detached, capturing the infinite yet contained nature of Baroque architecture.
The design process began by fragmenting the church scan, moving away from its role as a continuous structural entity. Instead, the edges and seams are used as a hinge connecting different assets of the church geometry to create a new representation.