The brief and the finished project
Our collaboration with Muzeum Brněnska – the Podhorácké Museum in Předklášteří began with a project combining history, architecture and modern 3D technology. The museum asked us to produce a 3D-printed educational set of the entire Porta Coeli monastery complex for learning programmes for children and school groups. Long-term use was part of the brief from the start: the models needed to be sturdy, safe, easy to understand and clear enough for audiences of all ages.
We 3D-printed the individual buildings at a scale of 1 : 500, enlarged by a further +20 % as requested by the client. This provided a practical size for handling and viewing details. Each building was prepared for FDM 3D printing, with hidden supports, shapes optimised for easy removal from the build plate and reinforced thin features to withstand repeated, intensive use. Printing was followed by hand cleaning and gentle surface finishing to give the models a consistent, clean appearance.
The result was a set of robust, freestanding buildings that was immediately put to use in educational programmes on medieval architecture and the region’s history.
From printed models to digital reconstruction
Later, the museum returned with a new and more involved challenge: a digital reconstruction of the lost Chapel of St Catherine, which once stood close to the monastery but has left almost no surviving fabric. The aim was to create a faithful spatial model for exhibitions, further research and presentations of the monastery’s history.
The reconstruction drew on available archaeological findings, historical plans and surviving fragments of the ground plan. Other important sources included iconographic evidence, contemporary parallels and consultations with specialists in early Gothic architecture. We also drew on published conclusions by Prof. Jiří Belcredi and archaeologist Jan Špaček, whose long-term research into sacred buildings at Porta Coeli helped place the reconstruction in the broader context of architectural development at the time.
Using these sources, we gradually developed a plausible structural form consistent with known 13th-century proportional principles.
- a simple, vertically oriented composition,
- early Gothic pointed arches,
- proportional relationships between the nave and chancel,
- the way the interior was vaulted,
- natural lighting and the building’s orientation.
The resulting digital model is therefore based on a careful synthesis of available research and contemporary building principles, rather than conjecture alone.
The model was then prepared for 3D printing, again at a scale of 1:500 (+20%), to match the appearance and size of the previously printed monastery buildings. The result is a compact, legible object that complements the educational set and helps visitors imagine a building that no longer exists.
Two projects, one aim: bringing history closer through modern technology
Both commissions share an ambition to make Porta Coeli’s historic setting:
- easy to understand,
- tangible,
- technically accurate,
- and visually accessible to non-specialists.
3D printing allowed us to bring archaeology, architecture, education and the digitisation of cultural heritage together in one practical project.
