Overnight it was
announced that the nation's most celebrated architectural site, Sydney Opera
House, will be digitally documented for future generations by a team from
Scotland.
The Scottish Government today announced that Sydney Opera House
has been chosen as one of 10 international sites to be digitally documented for
the benefit of future generations.
The Scottish Ten project – a partnership between Scotland’s
heritage agency, Historic Scotland, the Digital Design Studio at The Glasgow
School of Art and not-for-profit digital heritage organisation, CyArk – will
use cutting-edge 3D scanning and visualisation technology to digitally scan
Sydney Opera House in 2013.
Sydney Opera House is the fourth international site to be
selected for the Scottish Ten project, which will digitally record five of
Scotland’s World Heritage sites and five international sites. The purpose of
creating the digital models is to develop world class conservation, research,
education and management systems for the sites. Sydney Opera House is the sole
Australian site in the project.
Minister for the Arts, George Souris, said: “The New South Wales
Government is delighted that Sydney Opera House has been selected for this
innovative, international project. It recognises how highly the international
community values our nation’s most celebrated architectural site.
“The world-leading expertise and technology of the Scottish Ten
team will be of great benefit to Sydney Opera House in its ongoing conservation
and maintenance,” he said.
“On behalf of the New South Wales Government I would like to
thank the Scottish Government for selecting Sydney Opera House to be involved
in this exciting project.”
Louise Herron, Sydney Opera House CEO, added: “To be the only
Australian site included in the Scottish Ten project is a huge honour.
Collaborating with international leaders in digital documentation will give us
much needed technical and architectural insights as we plan for the future of
one of the world’s greatest 20th century buildings.”
Selected as an outstanding example of Australian built heritage,
the Scottish Ten project will use digital scanning to provide unprecedented
visual access to a building that cannot be seen in its entirety from the ground
level.
The World Heritage Listed Sydney Opera House welcomes over 8.2
million visitors on site every year. It hosts 1,800 performances attended by
1.4 million people each year and is one of the world’s busiest performing arts
and tourism destinations.
