The UCLA Spatial Blog

UCLA Roman Forum Project / Temple of Artemis Project

School of the Arts and Architecture

Primary contact

Diane Favro
Professor
Architecture and Urban Design
(310) 825-5374
dfavro@ucla.edu

Project URL

etc.ucla.edu
dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Forum

Additional project researchers

Roman Forum: Bernie Frischer, University of Virginia
Roman Forum: Chris Johanson, UCLA
Temple of Artemis: Fikret Yegul, University of California, Santa Barbara

Project description

The Roman Forum was the heart of ancient Rome, yet it has rarely been reconstructed as a totality.  The UCLA Roman Forum Project uses real-time technology to model the entire Forum as it appeared in the late Empire.  Viewers can move in and through the buildings evaluating sightlines and spatial arrangements, experiencing different lighting conditions, and hearing Latin conversations, among other features.  The carefully researched whole is linked to comprehensive metadata available to a broad audience on an NSF-sponsored website.

The UCLA Roman Forum Project Temple of Artemis Project examines different representational techniques used for documenting and understanding this enormous building in Sardis, Turkey.  Elegant measured drawings, detailed virtual reality digital models showing sequential building phases, a combined digital-drawing-model depicting hand drawings in 3d, and a projected physical model made from a 3d scan will form the basis for a exhibition exploring both the building’s evolution and the effectiveness of different types of representations to convey information.

Special thanks to all the sponsors, including the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, National Science Foundation, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, UCLA Academic Technology Services, the Steinmetz Family, Intel, and all the others who made the Digital Roman Forum Project possible.

Project video