E’02: Portali e Lunette: A Multimedia Catalogue for the Preservation of Venice’s Artistic Entrances

Click here to visit this project's page on Prof. Carrera's website.

Summary
The goal of this project was to promote the conservation of lunette and portali. Portali are entranceways and lunette are the art contained in the arch of a portale. The project group intended to achieve this goal by creating a multimedia catalog, assessing the condition of the art, creating restoration cost estimates, selecting individual pieces as restoration priorities, creating educational materials, and facilitating fundraising efforts. The lunette were located by searching the sestiere on foot. When they were located, the lunette were catalogued with information about their architectural, physical, and condition data. This group also included data about the lunette orientation, exposure, and environment, which all contribute to their deterioration. The repair costs were estimated using a number of equations and stored in the catalog as well. The group catalogued a total of 552 portali, including 71 lunette, and 705 fanlights.
The most important contribution that this group made is towards the preservation for the lunette. To help educate people on the state of the lunette, they created a variety of informational material, including a website, walking tour guides, a calendar, placemats, and games. Also, by determining which lunette were in the most need of restoration, this group has laid the foundation for actual repair and conservation. They have suggested a model for a non-profit organization that would include branches responsible for the preservation, fundraising, and education concerning portali and lunette.

Team
Erica Bartos
Rebecca Croteau
DJ Lemmo
Katrina Salamon

Sponsor
Founded by Professor Fabio Carrera in 1988, the Venice Project Center @ WPI is an academic initiative designed to allow undergraduate engineering students to study abroad, to apply skills and knowledge to solve real-world problems, to further develop these skills, and to provide valuable assistance to a city endangered by environmental, socio-economic and man-made factors.