3D-scans of churches

During an award ceremony on 2 June 2022, Indietopia won the Excellent Digital Idea contest, organised by Provincie Groningen. We’ll make reconstructions of churches in Groningen, using photogrammetry, drone photo scanning, Meshroom and RealityCapture. With the award money we can update our hardware to be on par with industry standards with the support of the province.

Drone and 3D-scans are useful to visualise (earthquake) damage, a current issue in the Groningen province. They can also be used for renovation, preservation and other purposes. We sent in our scan of the church in Eenrum for the contest (see video on the right).

Objectives

▪️ Archiving churches;
▪️ Showcasing churches to promote tourism and cultural events;
▪️ Providing 3D-models for free to the public (open-source);
▪️ Monitoring damage and shifts in the churches’ construction;
▪️ Enabling local businesses to make models for items such as soap and candles.

Process

This video shows the church of Klein Wetsinge from all angles. It took 29 hours, 1507 photos, 37.3 million polygons and 81 parts to create the video. With the new hardware we hope to speed up the process.

Download content

Anyone can download the 3D-models of this project via Sketchfab. The format is compatible with common 3D software. All the textures are already connected to the models. New models will regularly be added by our team to Sketchfab.

Eenrum

Age

Originally built in the 13th century, the church of Eenrum also features renovated parts from the 17th and 20th century.

Architecture

Bricks and tuff make up the Roman-Gothic church. Inside, the white plastered cross vaults contrast with the dark wooden furniture.

Interesting fact(s)

Twelve sessile oaks adorn the church’s graveyard. The church of Eenrum is located on the long distance walking route Pieterpad.

Garmerwolde

Age

Built in the 13th century, the church of Garmerwolde was originally Catholic. Protestants removed most Roman-Catholic items when they started using the church in the 16th century. The current building is what remains of the original cross-shaped layout. In 1859 the nave was demolished, leaving the choir and the transept. During WWII, the church underwent drastic restoration.

Architecture

Since 2003, the Roman-Gothic church has been under the care of the Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken and it’s managed by the local committee Garmerwolde. They arranged for improvements, from restoring of the vault paintings, to repairing the floor and replastering the walls.

Interesting fact(s)

With its exhibit tower, green church grounds and reception building, it is the first Schoolkerk (school church) in the Netherlands. Primary and secondary school pupils enjoy a wide range of activities here. On the weekend, the church is open for passers-by and culture enthusiasts.

Klein Wetsinge

Age

The church of Klein Wetsinge was built in the 19th century as a so-called waterstaatskerk, since it was made with the support of Rijkswaterstaat (part of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management).

Architecture

The neoclassical shape of the hall church fits with the sobriety of the surrounding landscape. Its large zinc-covered wooden roof ridge contrasts with the simplicity of the red brick base.

Interesting fact(s)

Since a renovation in 2015, the first floor of the church houses a tourist office with info on the Wadden area.

Partners

For this project we’ve partnered up with Stichting Oude Groninger Kerken, Schade door Mijnbouw and Groninger Archieven. SNN and the Provincie Groningen financed our testing ground Prototopia, enabling us to experiment at this level and make beautiful prototypes.

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