On 24 August 79 AD, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, burying them under tons of volcanic ash. In Herculaneum, a luxurious villa owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law housed the largest library from the classical world that has survived to the present day. Some 1,800 papyrus scrolls were discovered and their contents unfortunately remain a secret — every time researchers try to unroll them, they are destroyed.
The most remarkable find so far has been a third of "On Nature", the lost work of Epicurus. There are those, though, who are hopeful that, among the blackened papyri, classical works by Sophocles, Aeschylus or Euripides that never reached us could be found.
This is where we bring the story to an end, since the previously unknown content of these scrolls has begun to come to light thanks to technology and innovation. French and Italian scientists have managed to read fragments of these papyri using a variety of X-rays to avoid the risk of unrolling them, bringing forth a legacy of thought and culture that had been silenced for twenty centuries.
This is just one example of how clues about our culture can be snatched away from us over time or as a result of fatality and how, increasingly, technology can help us prevent this from happening. ACCIONA is stepping up to the challenge of preserving humanity's heritage with large-scale 3D printing. Here's how.
How can we ensure that future generations have access to humanity's heritage? How can we avoid losing such heritage as a result of natural disasters, conflicts or the erosion of time itself? At ACCIONA, we have found a technology that acts as an insurance for the artistic capital of our past against any risks: large-scale 3D printing.
In fact, we can already see the benefits from its first results. The Romanesque Arch of San Pedro de las Dueñas in the gardens of the Spanish National Archaeological Museum (NAM) in Madrid is the first work of art to be 3D printed in concrete, built by ACCIONA using an additive method, layer by layer, while the original from the monastery of the same name in León, Spain, is preserved inside the museum.
ACCIONA's 3D-printed Arch of San Pedro de las Dueñas opens the door to the future of conservation and recovery of heritage. The new copy created with 3D printing takes the strain off the original work, built in the 12th century, since it can be exposed to contact with visitors and scholars without concern, thus facilitating research and more intense face-to-face exposure.
But how can such a complex architectural work be copied and 3D printed in an identical way to its original? A laser scanner captures of the larger areas to ascertain its shape and a hand-held scanner works on the finer areas. The result is a digital model identical to the original that is transformed into concrete by a 3D printer using D-Shape technology. The model is then textured to give it a realistic appearance; accentuating the final details, finished off by adding the capitals, made using high-resolution 3D printing techniques.
A 3D printer translates digital model into concrete identical to the original.
With the 3D printed Arch of San Pedro de las Dueñas capturing all of its sculptural details, ACCIONA has confirmed that it is able to reproduce anything from a small ornamental piece to a large building. In this way, not only are masterpieces protected against unpredictable climates or changes in diplomatic approaches, but they can also be displayed at exhibitions via replicas made using this technology or made available to universities and research bodies in the form of 3D prints.
Digitalising parts and subsequently printing them in materials such as concrete ensures that there is a backup of their dimensions and texture that safeguards the legacy of our past from the threat of disappearing forever.
In many respects, it is a living museum. The beauty of its architecture, and the antiquated machinery sparkling within its halls, are a delight to behold. But a century after construction, Seira hydroelectric power station is still generating clean energy.
