Conjectural reconstruction of the A Famosa Fortress in Melaka

Strathclyde theses - ask staff. Thesis no. : T13128This thesis develops a methodology for dealing with 3D virtual heritage reconstruction of a damaged heritage which has minimal extant resources. The fortress known as A Famosa in Melaka, Malaysia is used as the subject matter. The selection of this fortress has been based on its historical value as the oldest partially extant European building in the historic city of Melaka. Melaka was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2008. Presently, efforts to physically preserve this fortress are limited due to logistic and financial constraints. Considering the important role it plays in the history of Melaka and its potential as a tourist attraction. The 3D preservation of this heritage is of considerable national importance. Due to the condition of the fortress (which has been largely destroyed) advanced digital reconstruction technology such as photogrammetry and laser scanning cannot be used to gather data for building a model. To address this issue, several case studies of similar 3D reconstruction projects have been conducted and compared. It is found that the only solution is to use the traditional 3D modelling approach. Prior to the 3D reconstruction process, various and extensive data verifications have been conducted on the different types of resources collected which relate to the fortress. There are visual data, textual descriptions and the existing remains. The establishing of a verifiable conjectural layout of the fortress is a major part of the thesis and the developed methodology makes an important contribution to the subject area. The thesis includes methodologies such as original on-site research and data collection at various archaeological sites of similar fortress in India and Sri Lanka, the innovative application of mathematical analysis to determine 'best fit' plans from the conflicting documentary evidence available and also detailed on-site survey work which is resolving other previously unclear aspects of building construction. The results are presented as a complete 3D model of the A Famosa fortress, followed by human evaluation to support the importance of this digital preservation of A Famosa and identify future possible developments of this model in research, tourism, history and education.This thesis develops a methodology for dealing with 3D virtual heritage reconstruction of a damaged heritage which has minimal extant resources. The fortress known as A Famosa in Melaka, Malaysia is used as the subject matter. The selection of this fortress has been based on its historical value as the oldest partially extant European building in the historic city of Melaka. Melaka was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2008. Presently, efforts to physically preserve this fortress are limited due to logistic and financial constraints. Considering the important role it plays in the history of Melaka and its potential as a tourist attraction. The 3D preservation of this heritage is of considerable national importance. Due to the condition of the fortress (which has been largely destroyed) advanced digital reconstruction technology such as photogrammetry and laser scanning cannot be used to gather data for building a model. To address this issue, several case studies of similar 3D reconstruction projects have been conducted and compared. It is found that the only solution is to use the traditional 3D modelling approach. Prior to the 3D reconstruction process, various and extensive data verifications have been conducted on the different types of resources collected which relate to the fortress. There are visual data, textual descriptions and the existing remains. The establishing of a verifiable conjectural layout of the fortress is a major part of the thesis and the developed methodology makes an important contribution to the subject area. The thesis includes methodologies such as original on-site research and data collection at various archaeological sites of similar fortress in India and Sri Lanka, the innovative application of mathematical analysis to determine 'best fit' plans from the conflicting documentary evidence available and also detailed on-site survey work which is resolving other previously unclear aspects of building construction. The results are presented as a complete 3D model of the A Famosa fortress, followed by human evaluation to support the importance of this digital preservation of A Famosa and identify future possible developments of this model in research, tourism, history and education