5. BETWEEN A REDISCOVERED PAST AND A REBUILT FUTURE

POST-EARTHQUAKE WIKI-RECONSTRUCTION

In 2009 Aquila, city in the heart of centre Italy, with a rich historical and artistic heritage, was hit by an earthquake which annihilated most of the centre town. Today it is possible to build the future without forgetting the past, thanks to the project ‘Us, AQUILA’, born from the collaboration of Google and the Major of Aquila. An online platform allows the reconstruction of the historical memory of the city to inspire the rebirth. Everybody can explore the city through an interactive map, add one’s testimony, share memories, photos and videos. Users can also make 3D models if they want to try their skills and favour the physical reconstruction of the city – the tools are freely provided by Google: the applications Sketch Up and 3D Building Modeling. These models will then be uploaded on to the website and seen all round the world with Google Earth.

Link: US, AQUILA
www.noilaquila.com/

Video: US, AQUILA (2 minutes)

3D WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES

There is another destroyed city, again by natural calamities, but this happened 2000 years ago. It’s one of Italy’s most important archaeological sites: Pompei, the famous city that was buried by the eruption of the volcano Vesuvio in 79 AD. In this case we find again an example of how the web can contribute to keep historical memory alive. The collaboration between Google and the Italian Ministry of Culture has made possible the 3D visit to Pompei through Google Street View. The same project involves the virtual trip to 10 other World Heritage Properties selectioned by UNESCO.

Video: 3D WORLD HERITAGE PROPERTIES (2 minutes)

WORLD HISTORY THROUGH 100 OBJECTS AND THE MEMORY BANK

World Heritage Properties is not the only project going in that direction. In the UK, BBC in collaboration with British Museum has told the world story through 100 objects, thus creating a journey in time across various media, which brings together radio, web and physical exhibitions. For the occasion, an online platform with interactive time line has been produced: it allows a visual immersion in the object’s history. Again, another example of web 2.0 helping the reconstruction of the past. Users have the opportunity to upload their own goods and contribute with their personal stories.

Link: A History of the World
www.bbc.co.uk

Memoro (memoro.org) is the non-profit association behind the ambitious project ‘the Memory Bank’, the digital archive in constant evolution that uses the format of collaborative web to collect the experiences of people born before 1950 in the shape of audio and video files. Last summer Memoro invited its users to a rather unusual holiday. A journey in time to spend a day in the past led by the people who lived in that period, in order to experience through their words those stories that would otherwise be lost.

The aim is to build an online archive of past holidays, through the tales of people who directly experienced those periods. There are many testimonies collected by the project. Elvio talks about the time he spent travelling through Italy with his Lambretta, camping overnight. Renato remembers his teenagehood and gives vintage tips on how to be successful with girls. Anna describes her winter holidays in the mountains and when, coming back from a day on the snow, all the children would put their feet in the basin filled with hot water, warmed up on the wood stove. There’s even the recording of one of the contributor’s grandfather dated 1987, who, while coming back from Greece by train, decided to leave this message to his loved ones, telling them that he wanted the following line as an epigraph on his grave: ‘Life is wonderful. It’s the only journey he didn’t manage to organise himself’.

Video: BACK TO THE FUTURE (2 minutes)