The Founation of Cities in the
Middle Ages
German Historical Museum, Berlin
Completed: 2006
The goal of an installation in the German Historical Museum in Berlin was to arouse the interest of the visitors for the topic, the "Newly Founded Cities" in the Middle Ages. The core of the exhibit is the reconstruction of a model of the medieval city Straubing. The original model made by Jacob Sandtner in the sixteenth century with 700 buildings is exhibited in the Bavarian National Museum in Munich. The model was extensively photographed, measured and afterwards digitally three-dimensionally reconstructed on the computer. A haptic model was produced from the data using the Rapid Prototyping Procedure. The plaster printing procedure was used. Besides a very exact transfer of the geometry, this procedure also makes it possible to produce models in color. The exhibit consists of two parts: a reclining haptic model and a vertical projection screen behind the model. Both are vehicles of information.