Heritage Preservation with Precision: Mimara Museum Facade

In the heart of Zagreb, the Mimara Museum is a treasure trove of art and a cultural heritage monument. However, the building faced significant structural challenges after the major earthquake that struck Zagreb in 2020. As a protected cultural heritage site, the museum's restoration aims to return it to its original, pre-earthquake condition. Over the past year and a half, extensive efforts have been underway to restore the building, and cutting-edge technology has played a crucial role in ensuring the highest level of accuracy. One such example is the remarkable work by UOIG Vidmar, who used advanced laser scanning and reality capture to facilitate the reconstruction of the museum’s intricate facade.

UOIG Vidmar's Role in the Restoration

UOIG Vidmar took on the task of capturing the museum’s facade details with an extraordinary level of precision. Their objective was to document and model the decorative elements that adorn the facade—moldings, vases, railings, and window frames—so that these features could be faithfully reproduced. The scans they captured would serve two vital purposes: producing 3D-printed replicas of the details and generating templates for the specialized materials used in the facade restoration.

The project covered ten specific locations on the building where such details were meticulously scanned, with a required accuracy of + / - 1 mm. The scans were first processed into point clouds and later into 3D models for CNC machines and 3D printing. UOIG Vidmar's work ensured that the Mimara Museum would retain the essence of its historic design while being restored to modern structural standards.

Showcasing the Facade Scans in NUBIGON

For a project as intricate as this, having a powerful visualization tool like NUBIGON was invaluable. UOIG Vidmar used NUBIGON to render detailed point clouds of the facade, showcasing the captured features through various display modes. The ability to visualize these fine details was essential for both documentation and presenting the work to stakeholders.

Key NUBIGON features such as shaded surface mode and silhouette x-ray mode provided rich perspectives of the facade, emphasizing the depth and intricacy of the ornamentation. These visualization modes allowed viewers to appreciate the unique architectural elements, even before the restoration work was complete. Close-up camera shots highlighted the precision of the scans, giving viewers a sense of the accuracy achieved, down to the finest detail.

In addition to static renders, UOIG Vidmar created four videos using NUBIGON, each showcasing specific facade details. These videos served as an excellent tool for communicating progress to restoration teams and stakeholders, providing technical clarity and visual context for the project.

The Future of Heritage Restoration

This project highlights the potential of laser scanning and 3D modeling in heritage conservation and demonstrates the importance of visualization software like NUBIGON in presenting the highest quality of restoration work. As the Mimara Museum nears the completion of its restoration, the work done by UOIG Vidmar will serve as a lasting example of how technology can support cultural preservation, bringing historic buildings back to life without losing their original character.

The Mimara Museum’s reconstruction is a testament to how modern reality capture and NUBIGON’s visualization capabilities can work together to preserve the past for future generations.