Introduction to the TX series
Synagogue design and community consciousness before and after WWII.
Settlement: How, where, and when Jews came into the country.
Business: How Jews got into, succeeded, and went out of business.
Identity: Staying Jewish or running for cover.
Leaving home and staying behind
One hundred years ago Jewish communities fluorished in many
small towns throughout the State. Most are gone; a once-diffuse
population contracted into the largest cities. What remains are
a few flaking commercial signs, the cemeteries, and the synagogues.
And those, if not sold for other uses or abandoned to decay, have
nearly faded from the conscious memory of those who used them.
Despite obvious historical and sometimes sentimental interest
there is neither the will nor money to physically restore most
of them. This project seeks to demonstrate an alternate means
of preserving the memory and experience of these souvenirs of
Jewish heritage.
Virtual restoration uses computer-aided design techniques to simulate
the aural and visual experience of buildings that would otherwise
be lost to decay. It is a three-part process: (1) descriptive
documentation of the buildings via historical research, field
measurement and photography, (2) construction of a navigable 3D
solid model, and (3) animation of the model in an interactive
VR format (for which you will need the
Quicktime VR viewer).
By themselves the buildings don't say much; but they were once
animated by people, some of whom are still around to tell their
stories. Using the town itself as the "script" former
(or current) residents will during a recorded walking tour guide
us through time and place. In final presentation form the 3D navigable
model, photographs, and recordings will be combined to tell the
stories of these places.