This paper describes the development of an artistic visualization project that restores the architectural history of the world famous wood churches and architectural museum, Kizhi.

Kizhi is the architectural complex located on an island in Lake Onega in northern Karelia, Russia. The Church of Transfiguration, the Church of Intersession and the Belfry form the central part of the complex.

The churches were built in harmony with the surrounding landscape and contain a priceless collection of icons and relics of Russian heritage. This historically important site is included in the List of Most Endangered Sites of the World Monuments Watch protected by World Heritage List of UNESCO.

This project aims to restore the original architecture of Kizhi museum and to visualize the architectural changes of the museum area over the last 300 years. The visualization is being developed based on high resolution photographs, video surveys, textural data obtained during the initial visit of the site and resources from the Kizhi State Open-Air Museum archives.

The project strives to capitalize on the advances of computer graphics technology and stereoscopic high-resolution display technology to advance the development of historical restoration in an artistic direction.

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Tsoupikova, D., Kooima, R., Passing Excellence, The Interactive Art Visualization Of the Kizhi Ensemble, Proceedings of the CIPA Symposium, Athens, Greece, October 1st, 2007.