In July 2006 Daria Tsoupikova and I, Robert Kooima, made a trip to Kizhi Island in Lake Onega, Republic of Karelia, Russia. Kizhi is home to a museum of wooden architecture dating back over 300 years. The centerpiece of the museum is the Church of the Transfiguration, a Russian Orthodox cathedral constructed on Kizhi Island in 1714. It stands over 40 meters tall and is constructed entirely of hand-cut wood. This structure has decayed significantly over hundreds of hard winters. A major project is currently underway to preserve and protect this priceless piece of Russia's history.
The goal of our trip was to acquire the materials necessary to create a 3D computer model of the church and its surroundings in order to depict them in virtual reality throughout the past and in the present. Daria, an assistant professor in the School of Art & Design at UIC, initiated this project and acquired a grant that payed our travel expenses. I am a research assistant at the Electronic Visualization Lab and am responsible for the technical matters of the project software.
The Kizhi Museum includes more than 80 examples of Russian wooden architecture, but our focus is on Kizhi Pogost, the structures of the monastery native to the island. This includes the Church of the Transfiguration, the belfry, the Church of the Intercession, and the enclosure surrounding the three.
The bulk of our work focused on photographic documentation of the structures in detail. We captured thousands of images. Daria did nearly all of the shooting.
Many of the images she captured are intended for use as geometry reference during creation of the 3D models. Every nook and cranny of these structures was photographed at high resolution. When working in Maya to recreate this geometry in 3D, these images will be valuable.
Many images are intended for use as texture source. Once the geometry of a structure has been defined in 3D, images such as these are applied to its surfaces to enhance the detail of the model and provide correct color and appearance. Each of these source images is comprised of 8 million pixels.
In addition to our photography of the site itself, we were allowed access to the Kizhi archive where we acquired photographic copies of several dozen highly detailed measured diagrams. These images will help ensure that the final 3D model correctly represents the size and construction of the structure.
After jumping several bureaucratic hurdles, we were granted complete access to the site. This included the freedom to remain on the island after-hours, and to explore the belfry and the interior of church itself, places no tourist is allowed. The staff were very friendly, open, and trusting toward us.
One of the more surprising aspects of the current state of the Church of the Transfiguration is its interior. In the interests of preservation and restoration it has been stripped to the bare logs. A massive 7-level steel structure has been erected, filling the entirety of the space and supporting each of the church's massive structural beams. A complete fire control system has been installed and water piping extends throughout. Electrical wiring feeds work lighting as well as several closed circuit cameras on each level. Plank flooring and ladders have been added atop the steel structure to allow access. In effect, the structure is no longer a church. In all likelyhood, it is not currently even capable of standing on its own.
Here is a flash photo taken on the uppermost level, some 30 meters above the foundation, just below the central cupola. The internal volume of the church is dense with this ugly scaffolding. There was no light here and I needed to capture some geometry reference on HDV.
Here is what I saw looking up. This image gives some idea of the structure's complexity.
The current state of the interior has motivated an increased emphasis on the interior of the 3D model that our project intends to produce. Like any Russian Orthodox church, the original interior was ornate, with dozens of icons set within complex woodwork. It is hoped that our project will reproduce some measure of the appearance of this environment, an important aspect of the Church of the Transfiguration that cannot be experienced today.
Toward this end, we acquired access to the area where the icons and ornamentation are stored today. Very little of this was in a photo-able state. This portion of the modelling work may represent even greater challenge than the structure of the church itself.
Subsequent work on the project will be done at EVL in Chicago. The materials collected will be processed, enhanced, and combined to form 3D models, panoramas, environments, and interactive applications for display on the variety of high resolution and virtual reality devices in our lab, and hopefully elsewere.
Kizhi is magnificent. Its architecture is astonishing, and becomes more so when one ponders the efforts and methods of its construction three centuries ago. True solitude and isolation can be found on the islands of Lake Onega. Only a few degrees south of the arctic circle, the summer sun set at nearly midnight. A July heat wave pushed temperatures into the 90s, warming the lake and providing a rare opportunity for midnight swimming under a blue sky. Truly memorable.
