This paper investigates the unrealized Rogers Lacy Hotel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for Dallas in 1946 through historical research, digital reconstruction, and environmental simulation. Starting from original drawings, plans, sections, and perspective views, the authors develop a BIM-based three-dimensional model to analyze the architectural evolution of the project and its relationship with Wright’s broader ideas on skyscrapers and urban space. The study highlights how the design synthesized themes from earlier works such as St. Mark’s Tower, Price Tower, and the Romeo & Juliet windmill, while proposing an innovative glass curtainwall with translucent fiberglass insulation. The virtual reconstruction also places the building within the present-day urban context of Dallas and evaluates interior daylight performance through lighting simulations based on LEED-related criteria. Results show how digital modelling can reveal unresolved design inconsistencies, test hypothetical environmental behavior, and reassess an unbuilt project as a visionary contribution to twentieth-century vertical architecture.
Filippo Farsetti and the Dream of a Drawing Academy in Venice
After visiting Rome in the mid of XVIII century the Venetian nobleman Filippo Farsetti decided to establish in Venice a Drawing Academy. For this purpose, he commissioned the duplicates of the most important ancient and modern works of art so that young artists could train copying them. First, Farsetti exhibited his collection of plaster copies in the largest rooms of his palace on the Grand Ca-nal; later, he decided to transform his mansion into a real Drawing Academy. Farsetti asked the most famous architect of his time, Charles Louis Clérisseau, to design a project for the transformation of his palace; it, however, will never be realized.Considering the noble didactic purpose of Farsetti and the artistic value of Clérisseau, we performed a virtual reconstruction that attempts to give a digital life to the Drawing Academy. In particular, the 3D model, the virtual images and movies are going to be used to promote and disseminate the artistic and architectural heritage of Venice.
New Cultural Interfaces on the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice
In the digital age, museums have seen a significant expansion of the spaces and tools for disseminat-ing knowledge. Gallerie dell’Accademia had commissioned a permanent and multimedia video that summarized the results of the interdisciplinary research developed within Visualizing Venice – S. Maria della Carità, S. Agnese, and the Gesuati, three insulae make one – that told about the history of the urban and architectural transformations of the insula. Since it is not a totally immersive installation, some years later Gallerie asked to make some changes to the previous animation to allow a greater interactivity between user and observed data. In order to keep the visitor’s attention threshold high and active, different sections of short duration have been introduced, which can be interrogated and activated by sensors, while a Sound Shower system facilitates the understanding of the multimedia story through the listening of a narrator’s voice.
Immersive Technologies for the Museum of the Charterhouse of Calci
The Charterhouse of Pisa in Calci, one of the most important monasteries in Tuscany, now houses two important museums: the Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa and the National Museum of the Monumental Charterhouse of Calci. While the Natural History Museum has recently enriched its collection by offering structured and differentiated visits based on user type, the offerings of the Museum of the Monumental Charterhouse are not sufficiently adequate to meet the great his-torical value of the complex. This contribution therefore presents the first results of a project aimed at enhancing visits to the National Museum of the Charterhouse using immersive technologies. The project envisages the definition of a new visit path, modifying the current path and integrating it with immersive experiences of video mapping, VR/AR, sound immersion, informative totems, audio–visual supports, and multisensory activities.