Timeline of Select Projects | Index of Projects

Title Year(s) Field Description
35mm Slide Digitization and Algorithmic Discovery 2018 - 2022

Following the success of work completed during the IMLS Sparks! Grant, the Media Center is continuing work on the automated archival discovery within the Department of Art History and Archaeology's slide collection.

360º Panoramas in Context 1998 - 2016 Architecture

Since its inception, the Media Center has engaged in numerous photography campaigns, visiting essential sites from the global history of art and architecture and producing thousands of panoramic nodes. Here we present a small sample from our portfolio, placing the panoramas in context by mapping them to architectural plans.

A Collection in Context: The Hispanic Society of America 2012 - 2013 Museology, North America

Concerned as much with the museum as an institution as with the objects contained within it, this digital monograph is constructed around a virtual tour of the Hispanic Society galleries, recreating the museumgoer experience carefully orchestrated by the Society's founder, Archer Milton Huntington.

A Thousand Years of Church Architecture Architecture, Europe

Simple Flash animation of generic floorplans showing the evolution of European religious architecture

Africa and African Art 2005 - 2006 Africa

Course monograph with links to Mnemosyne image portfolios and external resources

Ajanta Cave Painting, Asia

Stitched photographs of cave wall murals with image detail hotspots

Alhambra Architecture, Europe

Flash-based monograph containing panoramas, images, videos, and diagrams of various rooms of the Alhambra complex in Granada, Spain

Amiens Animated Glossary Architecture, Europe

Interactive floorplan and elevation diagrams that allow students to learn and test themselves on Gothic architectural terms

Amiens Cathedral Interactive Glossary 1996 - 1997 Architecture, Europe

Monograph on Amiens Cathedral featuring photographs, drawings and plans, 3D renderings, and texts.

Amiens Cathedral: Part I Reflections 1997 - 1998

Narrated two-part video available on YouTube using 3D renderings and animations to explain the architecture and building techniques of Amiens Cathedral.

Amiens Cathedral: Part II Revelation 1997 - 1998

Narrated two-part video available on YouTube using 3D renderings and animations to explain the architecture and building techniques of Amiens Cathedral.

Amiens Choral Tour Architecture, Music

In support of the exploration of the intersection of humanities disciplines, the Media Center has augmented our virtual reality tour of Amiens to include a choral performance captured from multiple locations in the cathedral.

Ancient and Early Christian Sites of Rome 2012 - 2013 Architecture, Europe

Media Center staff and interns accompanied the Spring 2012 Undergraduate Travel Seminar to Rome to document monuments of Ancient Roman and Early Christian architecture.

Andy Warhol, "Colored Campbell's Soup Can" Painting, North America

Collection of 19 images of Warhol's Campbell's Soup Can paintings

Andy Warhol, "Thirteen Most Wanted Men" Painting, North America

Collection of 21 images of Warhol's "Thirteen Most Wanted Men" installation at the 1964 New York World's Fair

Angkor: Architecture in Cambodia 2012 - 2013 Architecture, Asia

Late Media Center Director Caleb Smith photographed this rich collection of temple architecture from the Khmer Empire in Angkor, present-day Cambodia.

Archaeobase Architecture, Europe

Unfinished archaeological database containing data from Professor Clemente Marconi's Ancient Selinus excavation

Architecture of North Korea Architecture, Asia

This collection of photographs of government-sponsored architecture in Pyongyang, the Demilitarized Zone, and other sites of interest was taken by Columbia Art History student Lorenzo Vigotti.

ArchMap Architecture, Asia, Europe

This architecture mapping database was the predecessor to Art Atlas

Arg-e Bam: Before and After Architecture, Asia

This website presents a collection of photographs, panoramas, and aerial views of The Citadel of Bam (Arg-e Bam), Iran taken in 2003 and 2004, before and after a large earthquake devastated most of the medieval city.

Art and Architecture in Puglia: SIIA Research Trip 2020 - 2020 Architecture, Painting, Europe

In coordination with Prof. Michael Cole’s Spanish Italy & the Iberian Americas project, the Media Center was able to join the research group on a trip to the Puglia region of southern Italy.

Art Atlas 2014 - 2020

The Art Atlas platform provides an interface for the mapping and photography-based projects of Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology, featuring still images, 360? panoramas, textual data and historical materials.

Art History Department Website

Informational website for Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology

Art Humanities 2014 - 2015 Europe, North America

All materials from the original Masterpieces of Western Art website are now hosted on the Columbia College Core Office's website for greater consistency with the other Core classes.

Art Humanities Teaching Resources Architecture, Painting, Sculpture, Europe, North America

This companion site to Art Humanities serves as a repository for instructor resources and briefings.

Art Humanities VR 2018 - 2020

Working with Prof. Noam Elcott, Chair of Art Humanities, the Media Center is developing an immersive Virtual Reality experience for Art Humanities in the classroom using 360º panoramas from fieldwork. Lead by instructors, students use Oculus GO VR headsets to experience sites in the curriculum like never before.

Asian Art Humanities 2002 - 2003 East Asia

Course monograph with links to Courseworks, Mnemosyne, CLIO, and other Media Center sites.

Bauhaus and German Modernism: Travel Seminar 2019 - 2019 Architecture, Europe

Lead by Prof. Barry Bergdoll, the Fall 2019 Travel Seminar gave the Media Center the opportunity to document significant Bauhaus sites during the centennial.

Breugel: The Netherlandish Proverbs Painting, Europe

Annotated details of Breugel's painting

Bruegel, Pieter, "Battle between Carnival and Lent" Painting, Europe

Image of the painting and details

Bruegel, Pieter, "Children's Games" Painting, Europe

Image of the painting and details

Bruegel, Pieter, "Tower of Babel" Painting, Europe

Image of the painting and details

Choral Tour of Amiens 2019 - 2019

In support of the exploration of the intersection of humanities disciplines, the Media Center has augmented our virtual reality tour of Amiens to include a choral performance captured from multiple locations in the cathedral.

Cities of Knowledge: Amman Travel Seminar 2016 - 2017

The Spring 2016 Travel Seminar led by Prof. Avinoam Shalem provided an opportunity for the Media Center to document sites of interest in and around the city of Amman.

Columbia Image Bank on Artstor Image Database

The Art History Teaching Collection, compiled by the Media Center for Art History from scans of slides and photographs, is accessible to anyone on Columbia's campus or with a Columbia University UNI.

Computational Tools for Modeling, Visualizing and Analyzing Historic and Archaeological Sites 2002 - 2004 Architecture, Africa, Europe, North America

This project aimed "to create new computational tools" for for studying historic structures and archaeological sites, then to compile the data into a database and educational website. Featured locations include Amheida, Egypt; Monte Polizzo, Italy; Thulamela, South Africa; Beauvais Cathedral, France; and St. John the Divine, New York City.

Conques, The Church of St. Foy, Animated Glossary 1999 - 2000 Architecture, Europe

Timed Flash animation of architectural terminology

dbcourses

Database for older websites and course monographs, since taken offline

Delight in Design: Silver for the Raj 2008 - 2009 Decorative Arts, Asia

Delight in Design was created as an online resource for an exhibition of South Asian silver at the Wallach Gallery in 2008, curated by Vidya Dehejia, Barbara Stoler Miller Professor of Indian and South Asian Art.

Designing Saint Peter's 2003 - 2004 Architecture, Europe

Animation showing successive iterations of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome through comparison of groundplans

Documenting Japan 2010 - 2011 Architecture, Asia

During an Artstor-sponsored fieldwork campaign in May 2010, the Media Center documented significant architectural sites in Japan from the 8th to 21st centuries and gained unparalleled access to some of the nation's most famous monuments.

Durham Cathedral and Old St. Peter's Basilica: A Comparison of the Ground Plans 1999 - 2000 Architecture, Europe

Overlaid floorplans comparing the architecture of Durham Cathedral and the old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome

Durham Cathedral Interactive Ground Plan Architecture, Europe

Black-and-white photographs of Durham Cathedral plotted in a building floorplan

Exploring Chinese Painting: A Test Module for Undergraduate Teaching Painting, Asia

Interactive timeline of masterworks of Chinese painting 900-1750 CE. Users can compare multiple works along the timeline or view individual pieces in detail, including four long scroll paintings.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, Bear Run, Pennsylvania 2001 - 2002 Architecture, North America

Flash-based virtual tour of The Kaufmann House, commonly known as Fallingwater, featuring panoramas mapped onto a plan of the house and grounds

Goddess, Heroine, Beast: Anna Hyatt Huntington's New York Sculpture, 1902-1936 2013 - 2014 Sculpture, North America

An online catalog for the Wallach Art Gallery exibit of the same name

Goya: Disasters of War Prints, Europe

Scans of thirteen of Goya's Disasters of War prints with captions, organized as a slideshow

Great Vista Peak, Mount Taishan, Shandong 2007 - 2008 Sculpture, Asia

Animation of the rock inscriptions on Great Vista Peak disappearing in reverse chronological order of creation to reveal the mountain face as it likely appeared pre-inscriptions

History Department Website

Informational website for Columbia University's Department of History

History of Architecture - Real Virtual, Representing Architectural Time and Space 1998 - 2005 Architecture, Africa, Asia, Europe, North America

This History of Architecture Web site is designed to support undergraduate education by focusing on interactive panoramas as a method of expanding the options for classroom presentations of architectural subjects.

Illuminating Art History: Kress Foundation Digital Art History Grant 2022 - 2024 Art History, Slides, Photograph

A two-year Digital Art History grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation enabled the digitization and online dissemination of the Columbia University Department of Art History and Archaeology’s Lantern Slide Collection.

Istanbul Documentation Project 2011 - 2017

The Istanbul Documentation Project aims to create a digital platform for the virtual presentation of Istanbul's Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and early Republican sites and monuments and thus provides a rich resource for scholars, students, and the general public.

Istanbul Documentation Project (1) Architecture, Europe

This was the first iteration of the Istanbul Documentation Project.

Istanbul Documentation Project (2) Architecture, Europe

The Istanbul Documentation Project aims to create a digital platform for the virtual presentation of Istanbul's Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and early Republican sites and monuments and thus provides a rich resource for scholars, students, and the general public.

Istanbul Documentation Project 2016 2016 - 2017

In the fall of 2016 Post-Doctoral student Georgios Makris joined the Istanbul Documentation Project to work with Prof. Holger Klein and the Media Center to update the project and prepare it to engage with a larger audience of scholars.

Kangxi Emperor's Southern Tour: Scroll Seven Painting, Asia

Digitized, stitched images of Chinese scroll paintings with annotations and translations. One of four digitized. Also part of the Exploring Chinese Painting site.

Kangxi Emperor's Southern Tour: Scroll Three Painting, Asia

Digitized, stitched images of Chinese scroll paintings with annotations and translations. One of four digitized. Also part of the Exploring Chinese Painting site.

La Villa Savoye: The Five Points of New Architecture 2005 - 2006 Architecture, Europe

This website demonstrates how Le Corbusier's Five Points of New Architecture are deployed in his Villa Savoye, and primarily features panoramas plotted on floorplans.

Life of a Cathedral: Notre Dame of Amiens 2015 - 2018

Working with Prof. Stephen Murray and graduate students Emogene Cataldo and Tori Schmidt, the Media Center is developing an immersive resource for students in Art Humanities to experience the cathedral of Amiens.

Luna Image Database

Before Artstor, Luna hosted the Art History Teaching Collection images.

MA in Art History Presents 2017 - 2018 Art History

Under the guidance of Frédérique Baumgartner, the Media Center works with student curators in the MA in Art History program to develop content and build an exhibition website.

Mapping Architecture in Medieval and Renaissance Naples Architecture, Urban Planning, Europe

An unfinished website on the growth of Naples from the Classical Era to the Renaissance, with historical maps and paintings and a brief history of the city.

Mapping Gothic France 2008 - 2012 Architecture, Europe

This comprehensive database of Gothic monuments in France contains more than twenty thousand original photographs and panoramas, accompanied by contextual materials, including historical texts, timelines, and interactive maps.

Mapping Mesopotamian Monuments 2013 - 2023

Mapping Mesopotamian Monuments presents a topographical survey of the standing historical and architectural remains in the region across Iraqi Kurdistan in Dohuk, Erbil, and Suleymaniyeh, and in South-Eastern Turkey. A work in progress, this monument survey hopes to include the rest of Iraq, into the south.

Mapping the Art and Architecture of Renaissance Venice 2002 - 2005 Architecture, Europe

This digital learning environment offers students the opportunity to engage the art and architecture of Renaissance Venice, seen through the famous view of the city by Jacopo de'Barbari, a monumental woodblock print dated 1500.

MCID 2014 - 2018

The Media Center Image Database (MCID) hosts the Department of Art History's teaching collections, special collections, and original photography of globally significant art and architecture. Fieldwork highlights include Istanbul, Iraq, Rome, Chicago, The American Southwest, and Japan.

MCID (MDID) 2011 - 2012 Image Database

The Media Center Image Database (MCID) hosts the Department of Art History's teaching collections, special collections, and original photography of globally significant art and architecture. Fieldwork highlights include Istanbul, Iraq, Rome, Chicago, The American Southwest, and Japan.

Medieval Architecture Digital Teaching Project 2000 - 2001 Architecture, Europe

Collection of academic texts, primary and secondary sources, historical images, floorplans, and panoramas on a variety of Medieval Architectural styles.

Medieval Millennium 1999 - 2000 Architecture, Sculpture, Europe

Early course monograph created for a class and Metropolitan Museum exhibit of the same name.

Mnemosyne Image Database

Before MCID, Mnemosyne was the Media Center's database for hosting all its image resources.

Modern Architecture of Chicago 2009 - 2010 Architecture, North America

Highlights in this photographic survey of late-19th and 20th-century architecture in Chicago, IL include iconic structures by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Frank Gehry, and Rem Koolhaas, plus the Museum of Science and Industry, the last remaining building from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition.

Monet's Rouen Cathedral Painting, Europe

Scans of 26 of Monet's Rouen Cathedral paintings, viewable in color or monochrome. The site also has a sun wheel feature that organizes ten of the paintings by approximate time of day they were made.

Panoramas of World Architecture 2016 - 2017

The Panoramas of World Architecture collection presents the resources of the former History of Architecture site integrated with the new Art Atlas platform

Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral Animated Ground Plan Architecture, Europe

Flash animations of floorplan and elevation.

Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral Interactive Elevation Diagrams Architecture, Europe

Floorplan with plotted, rollover elevation diagrams.

Paris, Notre-Dame Cathedral Interactive Ground Plan Architecture, Europe

Black-and-white historical images of Notre-Dame plotted on a building floorplan

Parthenon Frieze 2001 - 2002 Sculpture, Europe

Annotated floorplans and images of the Parthenon frieze, organized by facade.

Qianlong Emperor's Southern Tour: Scroll Four Painting, Asia

Digitized, stitched images of Chinese scroll paintings with annotations and translations. One of four digitized. Also part of the Exploring Chinese Painting site.

Qianlong Emperor's Southern Tour: Scroll Six Painting, Asia

Digitized, stitched images of Chinese scroll paintings with annotations and translations. One of four digitized. Also part of the Exploring Chinese Painting site.

Raphael's Fresco of the Disputa of the Vatican's Stanza della Segnatura 2000 - 2001 Painting, Europe

Video of late Professor David Rosand describing Raphael's fresco with computer-animated illustrations.

Raphael's Fresco of the School of Athens 2000 - 2001 Painting, Europe

Video of late Professor David Rosand describing Raphael's fresco with computer-animated illustrations.

Raphael, The Stanza della Segnatura 1998 - 2000 Painting, Europe

This website devoted to the Stanza della Segnatura in contains images, details, descriptions, and explanations of the iconography and techniques for each of Raphael's frescoes.

Recording the Grandeur of the Qing / Nanxuntu: Southern Inspection Tour Scrolls 2005 - 2009 Painting, Asia

These monumental scrolls, commissioned by the Kangxi and Quinlong Emperors of the Qing Dynasty to record their multiple inspection tours, provide a unique and vivid glimpse into the grandeur of late imperial China and are the focus of this web site. The site has been updated to a new version by Asia for Educators

Restoring Byzantium 2004 - 2005 Architecture, Europe

Focusing on the late-1940s restoration of the Kariye Camii, a Byzantine-era church in Istanbul, the website contains current photographs, historical phographs, panoramas, 3D models and animations, floorplans, academic texts, a glossary, a bibliography, and useful links.

Reverse Engineering the Image Library: IMLS Sparks! Grant 2017 - 2018

This award funded a project to assess the feasibility of using deep learning and computer vision to automatically sort digitized 35mm slides, with the goal of creating an open-source, scalable framework for archival discovery in legacy slide collections worldwide.

Robert Moses and the Modern City 2006 - 2007 Urban Planning, Architecture, North America

Designed as an online resource for the three-part exhibition Robert Moses and the Modern City, this website includes an interactive map of the works of Robert Moses in New York City, an extensive collection of photographs, and text on each exhibition.

Rock-cut Architecture of India 2010 - 2012 Architecture, Asia

This photographic survey features just some of India's more than 1,500 rock cut structures, ancient and medieval buildings that represent amazing achievements of structural engineering and craftmanship.

Roman and Early Christian Germany: CAM Graduate Tour 2018 - 2018 Ancient Roman, Europe

The Media Center was able to join the Center for the Ancient Mediterranean Annual Graduate Tour and document sites of Roman and Early Christian Germany lead by Prof. Holger A. Klein and Prof. Francesco de Angelis.

Romanesque Churches of the Bourbonnais 2003 - 2007 Architecture, Europe

This web resource presents unique research, chronicling the documentation of over thirty Romanesque structures through comprehensive digital photography and three-dimensional panoramas.

Selinus Arcopolis Project 2006 - 2007 Architecture, Europe

Website documenting the 2006-07 excavation of the acropolis at the Ancient Greek colony of Selinus in modern-day Sicily, with very detailed aerial map of the site.

Seneca Village Project 2011 - 2012 Urban Planning, North America

Formed in 1998, the Seneca Village Project is focused on the study of a 19th-century African-American and Irish-immigrant community that was located in today's Central Park in New York City and on its commemoration in an educational context.

Shahnama (Book of Kings) of Safavid Shah Tahmasp (The Feast of Sadah) Painting, Asia

This site features a high-resolution, zoomable image of the "Feast of Sadah" page of this 16th-century Iranian illuminated manuscript, along with descriptions of the iconography, history, and historical figures found therein.

Shaping Renaissance Rome: Travel Seminar 2018 - 2018

Lead by Prof. Michael Waters, the Spring 2018 Travel Seminar allowed the Media Center to document Renaissance architecture in Rome, Italy.

South America Fieldwork Architecture, South America

Two Columbia University graduate students, Rebecca Fitle and Amanda Gannaway, took these images of important archaeological and cultural heritage sites in Bolivia and Peru.

South Asia Cultural Heritage Sites Architecture, Asia

Using a Flash-based map with cultural site, cities, elevation, languages, population, etc. overlays, this site highlights important architectural sites in the India subcontinent. Each site contains floorplans, a description and history of the site, and links to image portfolios and panoramas.

Spanish Italy and the Iberian Americas 2015 - 2017

Led by Prof. Michael Cole, Prof. Alessandra Russo, and PhD. student Isabella Lorez-Chavez, this website serves as a platform for a group of scholars to share images and articles as well as write blog posts for discussion.

Tarim: Community and the Built Environment in Yemen 2001 - 2007 Architecture, Asia

Created by the late Media Center director James Conlon, this website primarily contains information and data about the conservation of ornate mud-architecture houses in Tarim, Yemen, along with a collection of original photographs and panoramas.

Tarim: The Image Database of the Tarim Documentation Project Architecture, Asia

An image database for the "Tarim: Community and the Built Environment in Yemen" website.

The American Southwest 2013 - 2014 Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, North America

Photographed in New Mexico and Arizona, this collection features a range of art and architecture, from pre-Columbian Native American settlements and Spanish Colonial mission churches to Modern Navajo architecture and contemporary Southwestern art.

The Asian Art Digital Teaching Project 2004 - 2008 Architecture, Painting, Asia

This teaching module showcases Media Center projects and image collections relating to Middle, South, and East Asian art and architecture in order to better serve the faculty and students of Columbia University.

The Byzantine Church of Hagia Sophia at Vize in Turkish Thrace 2003 - 2004 Architecture, Europe

Website documenting the excavation and restoration of Hagia Sophia, Vize, through texts, images, and floorplans.

The Carol J. Mackey Archive 2020 - 2021 Pre-Columbian

In coordination with Prof. Lisa Trever and alumna Dr. Amanda Gannaway, the Media Center created an online interface for the archive encompassing more than 5800 images from Dr. Mackey’s slide collection of ceramic vessels and other objects from the north coast of Peru.

The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine Architecture, North America

Images and panoramas of this Neo-Gothic New York church plotted on a floorplan.

The Great Mosque of Mopti 2008 - 2009 Architecture, Africa

Created by late Media Center Director James Conlon following the Terra 2008 conference in Bamako, Mali, this site features panoramas and images of this classic African Islamic mud monument dating from 1935. There is also a brief history and bibliography of the region and building.

The Photograph Collection: Kress Foundation Digital Art History Grant 2020 - 2023 Art History, Photograph

A two-year Digital Art History grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation enabled the digitization and online dissemination of the Columbia University Department of Art History and Archaeology’s Photograph Collection.

Thulamela: Computational Tools for Modeling, Visualizing, and Analyzing Historic and Archaeological Sites Architecture, Africa

Part of the "Computational Tools for Modeling, Visualizing and Analyzing Historic and Archaeological Sites" project, "Thulamela" is the most completed subproject with its own separate website.

Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe 2010 - 2011 Decorative Arts, Europe

The Media Center produced the digital monograph for the 2010-11 exhibition Treasures of Heaven: Saints, Relics, and Devotion in Medieval Europe, co-organized by the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Walters Art Museum, and the British Museum.

Treasures Rediscovered: Chinese Stone Sculpture from the Sackler Collections at Columbia University Sculpture, Asia

Featuring still images, rotational object photography, and curator's texts, this Media Center site was built to serve as a digital catalog for an exhibit of Chinese sculpture from Dr. Arthur M. Sackler's large donation of Asian artworks to Columbia University.

Unpacking Les Demoiselles d'Avignon - Pablo Picasso 2004 - 2005 Painting, Europe

This site contains information on Picasso's seminal work Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, including essays, prepatory drawings, and biographical information on the artist. All images can be compared against the final painting in the image viewer.

Venice, A Database 2007 - 2008 Architecture, Europe

In 2007, ARTstor sponsored a Media Center photography campaign in Venice, Italy, which produced over 340 panoramas of a range of historically significant sites from various eras in the city's history.

Virtual Reality Tours 2015 - 2017

Drawing from our collection of panoramas produced over the past two decades of fieldwork, the Media Center is creating Virtual Reality tours which allow users to move between different panoramas at monuments. These same tours can be viewed using Google Cardboard and smart phones to experience the panoramas in virtual reailty.

Wallach Website

Informational website for the Wallach Art Gallery at Columbia University.

What is a Sign? An Introduction to Saussure 2007 - 2008 Visual Theory, Europe

A series of slides explaining Saussure's theories of semiotics as they relate to Modern Art, with illustrations.