Digital Heritage Interpretation of Modernist Modular Architecture: The K67 Kiosk

Abstract

In 1966, a Slovenian architect and designer, Saša J. Mächtig, conceived a structural kiosk design to answer the need for a standardized system to promote vending and other services in public spaces. From a cultural heritage perspective, the K67 kiosk can be examined as both tangible immovable and movable heritage. Moreover, due to a strong collective memory of the social groups who interacted with these kiosks, the K67 can also be identified as an object with a significant intangible heritage. This chapter investigates how museums and other memory institutions, as well as artists, architects, designers, and researchers, have been interpreting this icon over the years, and how 3D digital technologies can systematically assist in the documentation and audience engagement of modular modernist heritage. The use of a computer-aided design repository of the 24 major modular elements created upon the author’s digitized original manual drafts and the 3D scanning of the major architectural details not featured in the drawings is explored. The repository has enabled the creation of various K67 compositions in virtual, mixed, and physical reality, including modular 3D printed models, the scenarios of an online 3D puzzle serious game, and an augmented reality application. In addition, virtual reality experiences, allowing users to explore the architecture from an interior and exterior perspective, have also been developed. This project has demonstrated how an iconic architectural design can be documented and presented in a way that increases audience engagement and recognizes its cultural significance.