Visit the Maricel Palace to experience it firsthand and explore the collection of 3D capitals to delve into applied digital accessibility

(This article is an adaptation for the Sitges Museums website of the original text published on LinkedIn by cultural heritage manager and museologist Luz Gamiz-Bellver, from the Giravolt program. The content has been minimally adjusted to suit the museum's institutional and outreach context, while maintaining the essence and main arguments about the project.

The project

The Palau de Maricel, part of the Sitges Museums, recently presented a collection of 24 3D digitizations as the starting point for a project with the aim of expanding and comprehensively documenting its heritage. The goal is to make it accessible to everyone, wherever they may be.

This initiative was born out of a desire to offer tools that facilitate both specialized research and public interpretation of the pieces, broadening potential audiences and fostering a more inclusive experience.

The project was launched within the framework of the grant program for documentation of the Museums Service of the Department of Culture of the Government of Catalonia and is the result of a collaboration between the Sitges Museums, UAB Open Labs, CORE Cultural Heritage and the Giravolt program. Although accessibility is one of its central pillars, the initiative also reinforces its commitment to research, education, and the preservation of the collections.

Technological Mapping and Context

The collection of digitized capitals is part of the set of 36 capitals that Pere Jou, a Sitges native by choice, created for the Palau de Maricel when he arrived in the town at just 25 years old.

This monumental complex now houses a museum that, since the 1969-70 renovation, is much more than a repository of artworks: its architecture, with its striking aesthetic presence, provides a unique context for both the collection and the visitor experience.

Thanks to the combination of digital technologies, QR codes, and innovative resources for digitization and heritage storytelling, the Palau de Maricel presents a proposal that redefines the visitor experience, reorganizes itineraries, and fosters a more autonomous and personal construction of the meaning of the pieces.

Thus, the museum offers content that acts as a channel for mediation and contributes to to shape the meaning of heritage assets. By scanning the QR code, the visitor directly accesses the 3D representation of the piece, which allows a detailed exploration from all angles and incorporates explanations that promote a personal and unique understanding.

From Idea to Solution

The proposal involves incorporating QR codes into the pedestals of the capitals to facilitate on-site access to information about each piece. In this way, the digital resources become digital twins of Pere Jou's capitals, allowing visitors to observe all their details and overcome physical limitations, such as their position on pedestals or the height of those located on columns.

The 3D models are accompanied by interpretive resources in the form of storytelling, which helps to discover the iconography, the figures depicted, and other relevant aspects of each work.

The use of QR codes also has the advantage of being widely known, so the learning curve is practically zero. Likewise, navigation within the 3D models is intuitive and based on simple gestures such as swiping and pinching, without the need for prior instructions. The Sketchfab platform, where the codes are located, allows users to activate notifications and follow a narrative that structures a new way of visiting the museum.

Universal Access, Personalized Reading

This project represents another step forward in Museus de Sitges' ongoing efforts to promote accessibility. It complements other initiatives such as relief panels, Braille inscriptions on accessible labels, and exhibitions that encourage guided tours designed to transform the relationship with the collection.

The goal is for everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances, to be able to construct their own subjective and personal meaning from the museum experience.

The 3D models and their interpretive narratives enhance accessibility both inside and outside the museum, as they can be consulted anytime, anywhere. All of this is made possible by Giravolt's Sketchfab, which brings together this collection of capitals along with other heritage assets from the museum.

Visit the Maricel Palace to experience it firsthand and explore the collection of 3D capitals to delve into applied digital accessibility:

https://sketchfab.com/giravolt/collections/capitells-de-pere-jou-al-conjunt-de-maricel-2797a78bd48e49f5bba34cd636584851