ARREL project shows graphical documents of the Tarraco Circus

The Sketchfab platform now offers the graph database of the applied game Arrel, created by ICAC and the UAB and with the collaboration of the School of Architecture of Reus, Rovira i Virgili University (ETSA/URV). Focused on the architectural heritage of the Roman circus of Tarragona, it contains information on the front of the circus, its seating, the face and the Praetorian. The project was conducted by an interdisciplinary team led by Josep Maria Macias from the Catalan Institute of Classical Archaeology (ICAC) and Juan José Ramos from the Department of Telecommunications and Engineering Systems (UAB).

The material is divided into three 3D models from which secondary contents can be accessed: modern day Tarragona superimposed on the circus (https://skfb.ly/66Sys); a 3D model of the circus (https://skfb.ly/66YMw); and a pedagogical model of the circus in medieval times(https://skfb.ly/6oXAq). The material reflects the architectural heritage surrounding the Tarraco Circus from a diachronic and technical viewpoint and aims to be a consultation and visualisation tool of the most recent scientific findings.

Sketchfab, the “Youtube of 3D models”, is an open access platform which will be updated with new archaeological documents. Sketchfab allows users to navigate through virtual reality models, in this case created by the ICAC Unit of Graphic Documentation. The objective of these models is not to offer a precise info-graphic recreation of the circus, but to offer an architectural and urbanistic comprehension of Tarragona today as the heir of its Roman past. It is addressed to teaching centres interested in new forms of learning about the heritage found in today's urban space.

The initiative forms part of the Arrel project, an application for applied games in collaborative enviroments aiming to transmit information on the cultural heritage of Catalonia. This is its first step in that direction. The ICAC and UAB project received funding from RecerCaixa, a programme sponsored by the Obra Social “la Caixa” in collaboration with ACUP. It is at the same time a collaboration between the ICAC and ETSA/URV, as part of the HAR2015-64392-C4-2P MINECO-Feder project, which received technical support form the firm Leica Geosystems.