Timeline of Select Projects | Index of Projects

Title Year(s) Field Description
A Thousand Years of Church Architecture Architecture, Europe

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

Luna Image Database

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

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 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 (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.

MCID Metadata Restructuring 2024 - 2026 Image Database

With over 110,000 new individual images added to MCID in the last couple years from digitization projects alone, MCID's reliance on collections as a primary organizational focus hinders findability of these important new resources. The Media Center has initiated an MCID restructuring project, designed to build connections across collections and increase findability of media of all types. This project is still in process and will be announced formally when available.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Villa Savoye 3D Didactic Tool 2024 - 2024 Architecture, Europe

The Media Center has crafted a highly detailed, born-digital 3D model of the Villa Savoye which serves as a platform for several modes of exploration. The building can be viewed as an illustration of Le Corbusier’s Five Points of Architecture with animations to demonstrate each element in context, making the digital tool an expression of those principles. Predefined itineraries move the viewer through the rooms of the Villa to replicate the flow of space experienced in-person. Additionally, the Villa can be rendered at various periods in its history to examine the differing paint colors over the span of its use and restorations.

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.