Immersive Reconstructions
The scorched-earth policies of the Salvadoran Armed forces and paramilitary groups left behind landscapes of destroyed and abandoned settlements across the departments of Chalatenango, Cabañas, and others. Today, these sites remain closely tied to historical and individual memories of the war and, in some cases, host memorials and monuments to those lost during the civil war. In many other cases, these former homes, schools, and even churches are quickly disappearing into the landscape and from local memory. To aid in preserving historical memory, justice, and healing, the Surviving Memory team aims to record and reconstruct virtually destroyed and abandoned Salvadoran villages.
The reconstruction project deploys methodologies similar to the massacre mapping project and begins with creating a two-dimensional plan for the reconstruction site. The team works with survivors and local partners to identify and record individual structures, settlement and terrain features, land use, and collect testimonials about the buildings and their inhabitants. These data are added to a GIS where additional data from imagery, historical maps, and photos are added. Then, individual 3D models of village structures based on testimonials and fieldwork are generated. With the plan and 3D models complete, the next step in the process is to bring the data and models together in a game engine. A 3D terrain is created from available geospatial datasets, and the terrain is manually edited based on site surveys and testimonials. Then, the 3D models are placed on the landscape along with vegetation and decoration to complete the reconstruction.
The final steps include adding interactive and immersive exhibit features to the virtual village. These features can include informational placards, testimonials, music, archival records, or photos, depending on the data available at each site.