BOSTON, MASS.- Iron Mountain Incorporated, the global leader in storage and information management services, and CyArk, a non-profit organization that digitally records, archives and helps preserve world heritage sites, today announced a new preservation project in Mexico City to digitally capture and preserve the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts). This project is the first to be executed by Iron Mountain and CyArk in Mexico, and it will support the Mexican Secretary of Culture’s goal to preserve the city’s historical monuments from natural and man-made threats.
Constructed from 1904 to 1934, the Palacio de Bellas Artes has been a part of the World Heritage listing, “Historic Center of Mexico City,” since 1987. It is the first National Theatre of Mexico, has presented exhibitions of Frida Kahlo’s works and concerts by Luciano Pavarotti, and regularly hosts performances by Ballet Folklórico de México Compania Nacional de Opera de Bellas Artes and the National Symphonic Orchestra. The site features an exterior that is primarily Neoclassical and Art Nouveau, while the interior is primarily Art Deco, and contains murals by Diego Rivera, a prominent Mexican painter, and David Alfaro Siqueiros, a Mexican social realist painter.
The Agenda Digital de Cultura (Digital Agenda for Culture) within Mexico’s Secretary of Culture sought help in documenting several of the principal monuments within the city, including the Palacio de Bellas Artes. Specifically selected for its cultural significance and critical need for preservation, the Palace’s immense weight and the city’s vulnerability to earthquakes were two additional factors in choosing this site.
“The Palacio de Bellas Artes is an important piece of cultural history to the people of Mexico City,” says John Ristevski, CEO, CyArk. “With the exquisite architectural features of the building, to the art, mural and performances it has housed, we are very excited to play a part in preserving this institution.”
For the Palacio des Bellas Artes project, the CyArk preservation team used a combination of digital recording technologies - including LiDAR, a technique that uses lasers to measure the distance to an object – to digitally capture and map that location in 3D and high-resolution digital imagery. By combining photogrammetry and LiDAR data, CyArk can create a 3D surface model of the Palace that contains both very accurate geometry as well as high quality information on interior features and texture. Some of these notable features include a one-of-a-kind stage curtain crafted by Tiffany’s in New York, a decorative arch above the stage, and the Palace’s historical theater.
Following that capture process, the digital copies are preserved in a secure Iron Mountain facility, ensuring a digital record of the structure exists for posterity. CyArk will also produce engineering drawing sets comprised of plans, sections and elevations of key areas within the Palace that provide a record of the site as it exists today and assists site managers in the ongoing maintenance of the building.
“Our role as a trusted guardian is a global one we activate for our customers - protecting and preserving what’s most important to them,” said Guillermo Guerra, general manager, Iron Mountain Mexico. “This role also gives us the opportunity to extend that expertise into the communities where we live and work through our partnership with CyArk. The Palacio de Bellas Artes is emblematic of our Mexican culture and we are proud to help ensure its digital blueprint and beauty is available to everyone.”
Iron Mountain is proud to support CyArk as part of the company’s philanthropic focus on supporting non-profit organizations that preserve and provide access to our shared cultural and historical heritage. Since 2015, Iron Mountain has partnered with 14 organizations and contributed more than $2.8M worth of financial support.
