Matthew Brennan - portrait

Matthew Brennan

Booth Family Rome Prize
September 9, 2019–April 3, 2020
Profession
PhD Candidate, School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington
Project title
3D digitization of the Accademia at Hadrian’s Villa and its digital preservation
Project description

Hadrian’s Villa is a large complex located in Tivoli. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999, in 2006 it was placed onto the World Monuments list of endangered sites. In 2011, the threat worsened when the Regione Lazio proposed to situate Rome’s new garbage dump nearby. Though blocked in 2012, it was revived in 2018. This project proposes a new three-dimensional survey of the Accademia of Hadrian’s Villa using photogrammetry, yielding a highly detailed and accurate 3D model of the site. The results will be added to the existing and freely available Digital Hadrian’s Villa website. Technologies such as UAVs, digital cameras, and 3D modeling make documentation and preservation of monuments such as Hadrian’s Villa more feasible than ever before. Our generation has a unique opportunity to employ these tools for purposes of preserving and providing free public access to precious cultural-heritage remains before they are further damaged or destroyed by natural disaster or human folly.