Cultural Cartographic Archive: empowering communities through archi-digital technology

This paper will present research that was conducted with the goal of developing a digital archive using interactive media and open source applications to generate a multi-faceted public community database. Based in the Embudo Valley of northern New Mexico this research documents the architectural and cultural landscapes of this historic community. The data model is a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort that re-examines the boundaries of traditional architectural research and moves towards a working model incorporating a faculty-student team whose expertise lie in a variety of disciplines. Areas of expertise include landscape architecture, historical preservation, architecture, community and regional planning, economics and demographics, informatics and digital visualization. This demonstration project evolved into a multi-media data repository intended to both empower and enable the community to take control of their future by engaging in conversations with local and global communities