A 3D Walk through Historical Drawings of the South Gates of Delft - the very gates depicted by Vermeer.


Pre-walk Instruction

The Making of this 3D walk through Delft's cultural heritage. Technical process & credits.

Go experience the actual QuickTime movies. They are now online at the site of the Department of Industrial Design, Delft. http://studiolab.ide.tudelft.nl/vermeer/

Making of: http://www.delftintegraal.tudelft.nl/info/index3348.html?hoofdstuk=Artikel&ArtID=2679


 

As of Tuesday, 26 June 2001 the web site of Dutch art historian Kees Kaldenbach will feature a world premiere - an Internet QuickTime film in which one can walk through historical artists' drawings of the area depicted in Johannes Vermeer's 'View of Delft'. This movie is the result of several years of multi-disciplinary co-operation and collaboration between the author and the Delft Polytechnic University.

What sets it apart from many 3-dimension Virtual Reality films is that the original drawings are still intact. At the Delft municipal archives a series of scans were made from these drawings. Aided by modern image software they were then made 3-dimensional, and a sequence created leading from one spatial drawing into the next.

The resulting QuickTime film is unique, allowing the viewer to visit historical 17th century Delft by entering contemporary drawings. We begin alongside the southern defense walls, walking west into a 1695 drawing of the Rotterdam Gate by Josua De Grave. As you enter its drawbridge note the detail in the work by Van Kessel showing the front of this gate. Vermeer painted this massive defense gate from the south side circa 1661. This QuickTime movie then takes you through this gate and into Delft. The Armamentarium, (weapon warehouse) is transformed into 3D virtual reality, based on a historic engraving from 1667. Finally you cross the water, turn right and approach the town facades of the great gates depicted by De Grave. You will see the Rotterdam gate to the left, the Schiedam gate in the middle and to the right the smaller Kethel gate. This latter gate was the one used by people and carriages on their way towards the harbour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A QuickTime walk through the south gates of Delft

 

 

Immediately above you see the town facades depicted by De Grave. To the left you will see the Rotterdam gate (G1, G2), in the middle the Schiedam gate (G3) and on the right hand side its smaller Kethel gate (G4) through which people and carriages went their way towards the harbour.

This QuickTime movie is now online - for free - at the site of the Department of Industrial Design, Delft:http://studiolab.ide.tudelft.nl/vermeer/ This project was initated by Kees Kaldenbach and has been executed by the Department of Industrial Design of the faculty OCP (Design Engineering and Production) of the Delft University of Technology.

 

There are two other QuickTime movies available which show forward movements through two drawings. The one on the left hand side flies over the water of the Delft harbour. The colour image starts from close to the spot where Vermeer chose his viewpoint. The very last QuickTime movie travels through the image of an engraving as it moves towards the spot where once a building stood from which Vermeer prepared his View of Delft. Original images from Image and Sound Department, Delft Archives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All movies and images under copyright Kees Kaldenbach 2001. Please contact him before you copy , store or print any of these images. Text copyright Kees Kaldenbach.Questions about this project? Do send an email to kalden@xs4all.nl


 

 

 

 

Launched 27 June 2001. This page was updated Dec 8, 2014.