Ukraine Heritage Aid - the Synagogue in Novoselytsia
Background
Armed conflicts pose an existential threat to Cultural Heritage, as seen in the ongoing war in Ukraine. Historic monuments have been deliberately targeted, not only resulting in physical destruction but also erasing national and regional identities. Digital technologies, including 3D laser scanning and digital 3D modelling are increasingly used to create digital records of at-risk sites. However, challenges such as limited funding, time consuming segmentation and modelling as well as a lack of standards, interoperability and long-term archiving hinder their full potential. Heritage Building Information Modelling (HBIM) presents a valuable tool for creating sustainable research data for precise documentation and restoration planning. The war in Ukraine highlights the urgent need for a quick response for improved digital preservation strategies and interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure that Cultural Heritage, even when physically threatened, can be safeguarded and restored for future generations at least in digital form.
Aim and Context
The AI MAINZ is colaborating in this pilot project with the working group HerJUk as part of the UAAC and several other partners to explore new ways of documenting endangerd Cultural Heritage as first respons actions. The pilot project focusses on the former Synagogue in Novoselytsia (Chernivtsi oblast, Ukraine), which was built in 1919 and is famous for its virtous ceiling paintings. The partnes include amongst others:
- UAAC (Ukraine Art Aide Center)
- HerJUk (Working Group Jewish Architectural Heritage in Ukraine)
- SKEIRON (3D-scaning and heritage preservation firm based in the Ukraine)
- Prof. Eugeny Kotlyar, Department of Art History and the Department of Monumental Paintings (Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts)
- Mykola Kuschnir, Director of the Museum of the History and Culture of Bukovinian Jews (Chernivtsi, Ukraine)
- Prof. Dr. Stephan Hoppe, Institute of Art History (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)
- Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Lipińska, Institute of Art History (University of Cologne)
Based on a professional building survey conducted by SKEIRON and the post production of the raw data from 2024, the AI MAINZ utilized the 3D point cloud data to generate a full functional digital Twin using the method of heritage building information modelling (HBIM) in a seminar at the University of applied Sciences Mainz in the summer term of 2025.
Results and Proceedings
The result of this colaboration is a prototyp of a full functional digital 3D model of the Synagogue in its current state (2024) with additional segmentation, classification and color-coding of the main architectural interventions as well as texturization of the main prayer hall, with the ceiling paintings rediscovered in 2009. A documentation of the modelling process as well as renderings of the modell will be part of an exhibition at the university of cologne: "Painted Prayers. Forgotten Wall Paintings in Synagogues of Ukrainian Bukovina" opening in November 2025.