Guided augmented reality tour tested by high school students within the “Heritage for the next century” project

On Wednesday, the 21^st of March, a guided tour took place in the centre of Bucharest, organised by the National Institute for Cultural Research and Training, ARCEN Association and street artist Pisica Pătrată (“Sqare Cat”). The tour is part of the activities organised within the cultural project “Heritage for the next century”.

The tour was focused on the built heritage and it was attended by 17 students from the „Mihai Viteazul” National College and „Nicolae Tonitza” Plastic Arts High School, Bucharest. On the route, the high school students had the opportunity to test the application Patrimoniu 100, especially developed for this project, a digital tool using augmented reality with the purpose to draw attention on the danger of vandalism on heritage buildings.

“In the documentation module of the Patrimoniu 100 app there is a map with marked heritage buildings, built on the basis of a list of monuments with historical value which we compiled from several sources. So far we have managed to gather around two-three thousand monuments found on Romania’s territory. Overall, there are, indeed, several tens of thousands, so there is still much work to do. We recommend the app users to report the state of the buildings via the documentation module, with images and informative texts, then we are going to take the GPS coordinates from the image details, and thus we can develop the database together.” – Ciprian Făcăeru, Augmented Space Agency

„It is important to be aware of the public space as belonging to you, to the inhabitants of the city, to look upon it in a different manner, to be more critical on what you see, aesthetically speaking; to be critical with yourselves and not to pass by without noticing and without caring about what’s going on around you. The urban space is yours, it’s everybody’s and it’s important for it to be as beautiful as possible.” – Alexandru Ciubotariu, street-artist

The tour, guided by Edmond Niculușcă and Alberto Groșescu (ARCEN Association), started on Arthur Verona Street, at “Ion Mincu” House, it crossed Icoanei Street, where the Central School is located, went through Ioanid Park, limited on one side by Dumbrava Roşie Street, an area where a real fight for the protection of Bucharest’s historical buildings from the early 1900s is going on. Alexandru Ciubotariu, the ambassador of the “Heritage for the next century” project, explained the difference between street art and vandalism to the students.

This activity was organised in partnership with: DC Communication, Augmented Space Agency (the agency that created the Patrimoniu 100 digital app), the Romanian Association for Culture, Education and Normality (ARCEN) and Alexandru Ciubotariu, „Pisica Pătrată” – street-artist involved in cultural projects, in the field of heritage and its valorisation.

Initiated by INCFC, the “Heritage for the next century” project has gathered, while unfolding, several entities concerned with the protection and preservation of the memory of the built heritage of Bucharest, as well as with the education of youth on the architectural value of the Capital.

Besides the digital tools of alternative education and the initiatives of raising public awareness, the project has also generated a series of mini-documentaries, signed by director Ileana Szasz, which tackle the manner in which local communities have positively or negatively influenced the state of some historical monuments all around Romania. The video materials are available on the official site of the project: www.patrimoniu100.ro

The “Heritage for the next century” project is funded by Romania’s Government, through the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, within the programme of projects, events and activities dedicated to the Centenary of the Great Union (1918-2018) and of the First World War, and supported by the county school inspectorates and learning institutions involved in the project.