Reykjavik 871 +/-2

Museum/site

The Reykjavik City Museum,

Project website

Submitted by

The Reykjavik City Museum and Gagarin ehf.

Project type

Interactive multimedia installation in an archaeological exhibition.

Summary

The presentation explains how modern technology is used to explain living conditions and housing of the settlers in Reykjavik, using a virtual 3-D model and other media. The settlement exhibition is focused on the interpretation of the ruins, of the long house. It engages all the senses, e.g. sound, smell and sight, enriching the presentation in a playful fashion.

The longhouse site, which is located about two metres beneath present-day ground level, underneath a new hotel in the city centre, is surrounded by a dark-blue oval exhibition wall, into which a panoramic photograph of the view from the site is set, altered to show the environment of the early settlers. An illuminated stripe in the wall indicates the surface level at the time when the Settlement Layer of tephra fell in 871 +/- 2.

Visitors can explore cultural affinities between the nations around the North Atlantic, and Viking expansion and settlements during the Viking Age.

Tech spec

Media content developed with Adobe Creative Suite2, After effects, 3D StudioMax and Flash. XML programming in Java and Actionscript.