words by Gabi Logan
Michelangelo Buonarroti’s architectural works are on virtual display this month at the 19th Annual Restoration Arts and Cultural Conservation Fair in Ferrara. This exhibition launches the Michelangelo’s Box project, a 3D display of Michelangelo’s architectural commissions in Florence during the time of Lorenzo de’ Medici.
A digital technology collaboration between the Centro Diaprem at the Department of Architecture of the University of Ferrara and the Department of Architecture at the University of Florence, the exhibit incorporates highly-detailed morphological scans of the entire San Lorenzo church complex, including the Biblioteca Laurenziana (Laurencean Library) and the Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy), with its tombs.
Michelangelo’s box projects 3D, multisensory images of the architectural sites, allowing the buildings to be exhibited outside of Italy like the maestro’s paintings, sculptures, and other works of art. Based on a 2x2x2 model, the cube format can be expanded and adapted to fit the exhibition space and allow visitors to “walk through” the buildings.
Project organizers plan to install the exhibit in piazzas, parks, and museums around the world following the debut in Ferrara. In collaboration with cultural centres and universities, Michelangelo’s box will travel to world cultural capitals, from Los Angeles to New Delhi.
