Articles by Maria De Falco

The aim of this paper is to explore the interaction between design and archaeology in building Museum engagement experiences. In particular, a case study from the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (MANN) will be presented. This study was carried out as part of OBVIA - Out Of Boundaries Viral Art Dissemination, a joint public engagement project sponsored by the Museum and partners such as the Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’ and the Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’. The target of the project was to stimulate innovative communication and promotion actions. Specific research activities carried out by the Dipartimento di Architettura e Disegno Industriale dell’Università degli Studi della Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’, were dedicated to the development of Experience Design strategies for museum engagement and audience development. This study resulted in the creation of kits to be used during hands-on laboratories for children. The kit ‘Museum Details’ focused on the observation and reproduction of details of archaeological artifacts exhibited in the Museum. These kits included a map, instruments for detailed observation, moulding clay and casts to create 3D reproductions of original archaeological details. The necessity of a high detailed reproduction of small features of archaeological findings was an opportunity to experiment with the acquisition of accurate 3D models. In particular, the work carried out by Mnemosyne3D focused on five findings from the Magna Graecia collection. The main challenge was to detect sub-millimetric details on a reflecting surface. Photogrammetry was chosen as method for 3D scanning, a structure from motion acquisition technique. The post processing, through 3D sculpting and CAD 3D software, aimed to enhance the features of the models in order to make them suitable for casting and plastic reproductions.