Fotini Christia: Architectural heritage like you haven't seen it before
"Ways of Seeing" project documents endangered Afghan heritage sites through digital imaging, virtual reality, and hand-drawn professional renderings.
A digital rendering of the Green Mosque in Balkh, Afghanistan, a 16th Century building. MIT's "Ways of Seeing" project, directed by Professor Fotini Christia, is a historic preservation effort recording architecture through digital imaging, Extended Reality techniques, and hand-drawn architectural renderings. A group on the ground first took thousands of on-site photos, many of which were later assembled by MIT PhD candidate Nikolaos Vlavianos into this digital image. The project will be accessible through the MIT Libraries by the end of June 2023.
Image: Nikolaos Vlavianos
The shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa is a spectacular mosque in Balkh, Afghanistan. Also known as the "Green Mosque" due to the brilliant color of its tiled and painted dome, the intricately decorated building dates to the 16th Century.
If it were more accessible, the Green Mosque would attract many visitors. But Balkh is located in northern Afghanistan, roughly 50 miles from the border with Uzbekistan, and few outsiders will ever reach it. Still, anyone can now get a vivid sense of the mosque, thanks to MIT's new "Ways of Seeing" project, an innovative form of historic preservation.