Panoramas and Publications

As it's been nearly 10 months since I last posted to the blog, a quick update seems a bit overdue. Most of the time since last March has been spent writing, an activity that is, as it turns out, not particularly conducive to producing exciting project-related events. I am approaching the end of this process, however, and there are a few developments that I would like to pass on to those who might be interested.

The first involves the production of Quicktime and Flash VR panorama images of a number of Pompeian houses. Virtual reality panoramas are an effective way of representing/describing space in classroom and lecture situations and I have often used them in my teaching. Though a number of houses and other structures at Herculaneum have been photographed in this manner by the University of Auckland (see Herculaneum Panoramas), Pompeian dwellings have received less attention. I have only completed a few panoramas so far (taken primarily in the houses that I am currently working on), but I hope to produce a more substantial catalogue when time allows. Below you will find two images from this preliminary set. These are produced in cylindrical format, so they distort towards the top and the bottom. To move the panorama, simply click anywhere on the image and drag the mouse; zoom in and out by rolling the trackball.

Casa di Fabio Amandio (I.7.3)


Casa di Ercole (VI.7.6)

There are also a couple of publication-related updates that I would like to pass along. The Privata Luxuria volume (ed. A. Anguissola), which includes my paper The Form and Function of Boundaries in the Campanian House, will be published at the beginning of February. It will be available for purchase here.

In addition, I have recently written a review of the excellent Pompeii: Art, Industry, and Infrastructure, edited by E. Poehler, M. Flohr and K. Cole. This was published in the European Journal of Archaeology in December (EJA 15.3, pp. 555-559) and will be made available on my Academia.edu page in the near future, pending copyright allowance.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not mention another boundary-related publication on the horizon, this being my friend Evan Proudfoot's study of entranceway doors in Pompeian houses, which is due to be published this spring in the proceedings volume for TRAC 2012.

Modeling Menander: Reconstructing Boundaries in the Casa del Menandro at Pompeii

Additional materials for the poster that I am presenting at RAC/TRAC 2012 can be found below, including a much improved video of the Casa del Menandro boundary model. Since the model was originally completed in October, I have added some important architectural features, most noticeably the second storey of the main dining room (this is the facade looming above the peristyle's eastern, or left, ambulatory). I have also increased the resolution significantly and included the boundaries in this version, creating a fly-through that more closely represents the appearance of the house in antiquity (albeit still missing a number of crucial elements). A PDF of the poster itself is available for download here; additional comparative images of the house are also included below.

Atrium and peristyle from fauces

 Atrium, northeast corner

 Peristyle, eastern range

New Year's News and Notes

After another work-filled few months, I think that I've got enough news to justify a blog update. Things that are happening at the moment: 

1. TRAC 2012 Poster: I'm putting together a poster summarizing my work on the Casa del Menandro model for TRAC 2012 in Frankfurt. The poster will focus on the techniques used to construct the model as well as the results of this process; particular attention will be given to role that boundaries played in negotiating the relationship between "public" and "private" space within the house.

 2. Classical Urbanism: I am, once again, teaching a course on ancient cities through the University of Edinburgh's Open Studies program. The course begins on January 16th, and registration is open through the 14th. More information is available here.

3. The Form and Function of Boundaries in the Campanian House: This paper, which synthesizes some of the data from the DOPAHP's second phase, will be included in the forthcoming book Privata Luxuria: Towards an Archaeology of Intimacy, edited by Anna Anguissola. The volume should be available in the spring/early summer. 

As work on the dissertation continues, I suspect that there will be less need to update the blog (unless readers show a strong desire to proof my chapters). However, I'll do my best to provide relevant information as it becomes available. And to my friends and colleagues heading to the AIA Conference this weekend – I'll see you in Philadelphia!

Casa del Menandro Model Complete

After 5 months of work, the model of the Casa del Menandro is finally complete. Who knew that attempting to recreate every minute architectural detail of an incredibly complex structure would be so time-consuming? Now that the thing is finished, however, I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with it. The model has been constructed in two different forms: one with boundaries and one without. A video of the unbounded model can be found below -- it contains a few moments in which the program had a difficult time rendering the shading correctly, but otherwise it turned out pretty well.

And here are some images of the bounded version:

One thing that I have definitely learned regarding SketchUp: it does not like irregular plans/structures. And because the plans of most Pompeiian houses are not orthogonal, the process of linking walls/floors/roofs together can prove to be very, very difficult. If someone out there happens to know how to model irregular/multi-planar shapes in SketchUp without using multiple triangles or polygons, I would certainly be interested in learning about the technique!

Classics PG Seminar

For folks in and around Edinburgh: I will be giving an expanded version of the EAA paper in the first meeting of this year's Classics Postgraduate Seminar Series on Thursday, October 13th. The talk will start at 5 PM in the Meadows Lecture Theatre, Old Medical Quad. A full schedule of this semester's seminars is available here.