From Boatyard to Museum: 3D laser scanning and digital modelling of the Qatar Museums watercraft collection,Doha, Qatar

This article presents the results of a project to 3D laser scan and digitally model 14 watercraft from the Qatar Museums collection, comprising a range of regional vessels: most had not been surveyed previously. The project used the resulting point clouds generated 2D naval lines and orthographic records of the vessels in their current condition, and photorealistic 3D digital models for gallery display. This case study provides illustrative examples of the intermediate stages and final outputs. It assesses the pros and cons of 3D laser scanning as a survey technology for nautical scholars in terms of the time, cost, and skillset, as well as logistical considerations. It also compares the accuracy of traditional hand survey methods.     

Pompeii’s Stabian Baths. Mechanical behavior assessment of selected masonry structures during the 1st century seismic events

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried and preserved the Stabian Baths building in the exact configuration which the archaeological excavations carried out in the second half of the 19th century recovered. By combining archeologists’ studies with the analysis of deformations and cracking pattern due to the 1st century seismic events, in this article numerical models have been formulated which allowed the formation of some hypotheses coherent on the timeline of the events, the damage to as well as the change of the shape and stylistic language of the thermal building. Specifically, through global seismic analyses and kinematic analyses of masonry portions of the “destrictarium” block, it is proven that during the 1st century not only a sole catastrophic earthquake occurred but, at least, two important seismic events took place.

The purpose of this article is to identify and parameterize the responsible earthquake by the analysis of seismic effects detectable in the damages and archaeological remains of the masonry walls of the Stabian Baths. The identification of the earthquake and the grading of provoked damages represent a useful knowledge tool that provides information about the vulnerability of ancient buildings and can be suitably used also to safeguard architectural heritage from seismic risk.     

‘We have to cut our coat according to our cloth’: Hailsham,Chamberlain, and the Struggle for Rearmament, 1933–4

This article seeks to reassess the decision-making processes of the first stages of British rearmament in the early 1930s. In particular, it re-evaluates the role of Douglas Hogg, Viscount Hailsham, Secretary of State for War (1931–5), and his efforts to combat the determination of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain, to limit expenditure and resist preparing the Army for continental warfare. Hailsham is presented as the first British cabinet minister to recognise the dangers posed by a resurgent Germany and to understand that this threat could only be resisted by force. It is argued that the conclusions of the Defence Requirements Sub-Committee, including a ‘continental commitment’, were significantly weakened in the course of the subsequent deliberations of the Ministerial Committee to which its recommendations were submitted. A struggle between Hailsham and Chamberlain was the key feature of the meetings of the Ministerial Committee, but has been overlooked by previous historians. Despite Hailsham's best endeavours, it was the power of the Chancellor which prevailed, with significant implications for the evolution of the country's grand strategy over the years before the outbreak of the Second World War.     

‘That awful place was home’:1 Reflections on the Contested Meanings of craig dunain asylum

The paper explores a particular Scottish asylum geography (Craig Dunain Hospital near Inverness) as a meaningful social space. Drawing on archival evidence and combined with contemporary patient and staff voices, the contested meanings of this institution are discussed. In particular, patient narratives reveal both positive and negative assessments of internal and external asylum spaces. Changing feelings about the asylum are argued to be related to matters of geography, and are conceived in terms of distance from and proximity to the institution.     

The representation of time at two shaker village sites

Abstract

Historical restorations spatialise time, thus sometimes being criticised for their static representation of a dynamic reality. Yet restorations, like the groups they represent, themselves have complex histories. This paper explores how forms of representation relate to intended content historically, through discussion of two American sites: Hancock and Pleasant Hill Shaker Villages. Founded in the early 1960s, both saw demands for change by the 1990s. With the passing of the founders, these museum villages began to reevaluate their interpretive practices and plan for the future. The paper focuses on earlier decisions which have affected the representation of time.     

Max Mara and the origins of Italian ready‐to‐wear

This article charts the establishment and expansion of the ready‐to‐wear Max Mara label before the birth of the Max Mara group in 1967. Until recently, little consideration has been given to the evolution of Italian fashion, and few histories of dress or Italian culture even mention its presence before the 1970s. Still fewer acknowledge the crucial emergence of fashionable ready‐to‐wear in Italy in the 1960s, in which Max Mara played a key role, and which anticipated the international success of ‘Italian style’ in the 1970s and 1980s.