3D WEBGIS APPLICATIONS FOR DIGITAL HUMANITIES STUDIES: THE TURIN 1911 PROJECT

Abstract. Documentation of CH is paramount to preserve its memory and allow its study, especially when CH is meant to be dismantled, as for the architectures of World’s Fairs. Very few efforts are undertaken to achieve this goal and national and international institutions rarely adopt innovative digital technologies. Digital technologies and products like 3D digital models are successfully and largely applied in CH domains, while webGIS is less explored for CH. Nevertheless, 3D digital models are rarely adopted to accompany digital archives and Digital Humanities studies. Very few cases use 3D models for World’s Fairs’ study and documentation. WebGIS is not used for World’s Fairs, and are scarcely adopted and not fully exploited by Digital Humanities and digital archives for sharing data and information about CH. Turin 1911 is the first digital project aimed to virtually document, recreate, and study an entire World’s Fair. Combining digital technologies (geo-DB, 3D digital reconstruction, and 3D webGIS) with cataloging standards, Turin 1911 is a pioneering initiative that applies these innovations to Digital Humanities in order to share information online. In this paper, dedicated webGIS applications are developed for the Turin 1911 needs, reporting the designed procedure, challenges in the development phase, and potentialities for Digital Humanities research. Finally, BIM models are also integrated in webGIS apps, making visible no more visible architectures. The paper discusses how webGIS apps could become a way for sharing information and data, but also a working environment for Digital Humanities studies where the research takes place in 3D environments.