Digitally-Assisted Stone Carving on Canada's Parliament Hill

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss the results of a collaboration between the Carleton Immersive Media Studio (CIMS), the Dominion Sculptor of Canada, and the Heritage Conservation Directorate (HCD) of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC), on the development of a digitally-assisted stone carving process. The collaboration couples the distinguished skill of the Dominion Sculptor with digital acquisition and digital fabrication technologies in the reconstruction of a stone relief sculpture on the façade of the East Block building of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, Canada. A variety of digital technologies were used including, hand-held laser scanning, digital photogrammetry, 3d-printing, CNC milling, and robotic stone milling, in initial research for the fabrication of maquettes and the collaboration with the Dominion Sculptor.