Project Type:
Interpretive Concept for Visitor Centre, Interactive Site Museum, and Multimedia Installation
Partners:
Ville de Namur, Division du Patrimoine de la Région Wallonne
Background:
The city of Namur is the political capital of Wallonia. It is also a primary cultural center. Its impressive monuments and extensive archaeological remains offer a unique resource both for local residents and foreign visitors. The overall plan for public interpretation at Namur will incorporate some of the most important historic areas of the city: a) the medieval architecture and archaeology of the Castle of the Counts b) the archaeology and military architecture of the later Citadel fortifications to the west and c) the archaeology and history of the Grognon, at the confluence of the Meuse and Sambre Rivers. The Castle of the Counts will be the first of the sites to be extensively developed. The Citadel, including the medieval remains of the Castle of the Counts of Namur, is the dominating physical feature of Namur’s urban landscape and symbolizes the city’s long history of power and influence in this region. Architecturally, its easternmost sector represents the heavily fortified enclosure from which the territory was ruled and defended throughout the Middle Ages by the Counts of Namur. In the coming years, a newly designed visitor center will offer the chance to explore fascinating aspects of Namur’s civil and military history. | Interpretive Technology:
Utilising the wealth of recent archaeological finds, historic documents, and medieval iconography, the redesigned visitor center will interpret the history and cultural significance of the citadel through traditional museum displays of artifacts as well as advanced techniques of 3D computer modeling and interactive storytelling to recreate the history of the citadel and the life that was lived in its medieval castle. The surviving towers of the medieval castle, the Tour au Four and Tour aux Chartes, reconstructed to their original height, will be the visual symbol of the new public presentation of the citadel. The rooms between the two towers will feature an exhibition on Namur’s military history, supplemented by computer installations to provide an interactive resource about Namur’s various sieges and the people, tactics, and weapons, involved in each of them. The Ename Center has made a 3D enhanced application which tells the story of the former chapter at the Castle of the Counts..
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