Bringing construction principles to life at the Centre for Building Heritage

Focusing on building history, the National Technical Museum'sCentre for Building Heritage in the Czech town of Plasy examines nearly 2,000 years of design from Roman times right through to the 19th century.

Describing traditional craft, construction principles and architectural details, the Civil Engineering exhibition within the Centre features more than 23 interactive displays, which represented a strong opportunity for AV technology to bring the subject matter to life. Seven of the installations feature Panasonic equipment.

The Centre is part of the Czech Republic's National Technical Museum, based in Prague. It's the first building exhibition in the Czech Republic, and is also home to a large study depository alongside the exhibits. It seeks to promote and preserve historical building knowledge to help with preservation and restoration efforts.

"It's a unique attraction for the Czech Republic, and one that we think led really well to incorporating as much interactivity as possible to bring it to life"

As well as the indoor exhibits the farmyard outside has been converted into a 'Yard of Building Crafts', aimed at passing on traditional methods and skills through courses and workshops. There are period-accurate fully functional workshops, including a brick kiln, stonemason's workshop and indoor and outdoor forges.

The Civil Engineering exhibition, housed in a former brewery, is divided into areas each covering a particular aspect of construction. Its design and build was funded by the European Regional Development Fund, along with the European Union's Integrated Operational Programme.

"We wanted to respect the buildings and complement them with our work"

Visitors can learn about all the techniques and expertise involved in construction at the Centre, ranging from foundations to the rafters and roofing. Another area of the exhibit looks at the principles of wiring and plumbing.

The project has made use of a variety of AV technology in a number of interactive displays, designed and installed by Czech integrator AV MEDIA. Exhibition designers are beginning to realise the potential AV has to help bring subjects to life, using animation, projection mapping and interactivity that draw visitors in and makes for a far more engaging experience.

An array of Panasonic Visual Systems technology have been used around the museum, including a number of 47-and 42- inch LFE and LFV Series displays and five PT-RZ370 projectors.

The projectors have been used in a visualisation of the Centre's construction, holographically showing visitors how the project was completed as the buildings rise up out of the ground.

"The exposition is all about merging the history of the topic with the tasteful support of modern audio-visual resources"

The high brightness and resilience of laser projection ensures visitors have a consistent experience with the installations. Modern laser projectors offer far more brightness than conventional lamp-based projectors, with maintenance-free operation of up to 20,000 hours. With the heavy usage typical of a museum exhibit, the Centre's management can also be recourced that there are no lamp or filter changes that need to be carried out.

Miloš Pitelka is Project Manager at AV MEDIA responsible for the exhibition's construction,"It's a unique attraction for the Czech Republic, and one that we think led really well to incorporating as much interactivity as possible to bring it to life."

The project was completed in collaboration with Praguebased architects TBI.architekti. Thomas Bilek, an architectural engineer from the firm, explains, "When creating the exhibition at Plasy's brewery and courtyard, we wanted to respect the buildings and complement them with our work, so that the farm exhibition did not glaringly stand out and intrude on the existing buildings."

"The exposition is all about merging the history of the topic with the tasteful support of modern audio-visual resources, with the aim of providing the most visual interpretation possible."

For more information on theNational Technical Museum and Centre for Building Heritage please visit: www.ntm.cz orwww.muzeum-plasy.cz