DEZA-Mandat: Programm zur Initiierung und Förderung von Forschungspartnerschaften der Schweizer Fachhochschulen mit Entwicklungs- und Transitionsländern:

Real time Tourism Information System for Trinidad and Valle de los Ingenios.

Project Country: Cuba

Summary of Project Activities Implemented
Real time models become an interesting tool for interactive visualizations of past, present and future city- and landscapes. In a KTI research project by HSR and the Multi Media Laboratory, University of Zürich the workflow between CAD, Visualization and Real Time Software was optimized. Now it is possible to create models in CAD and visualize them in real time in TerrainView, a software from a Zürich based company. The Know How (software and its application) developed as part of the research project was transferred to the Architecture Department of Technical University Havanna.

Trinidad and the Valley of Sugar Mills are listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The city and and its surrounding landscape represent a very special part of town and landscape development in Cuba. The region is a very popular tourist attraction. Real time models showing different phases of the town and landscape development could be ideal for supporting an understanding of this unique Cuban UNESCO World Heritage. Therefore a group of architects of the Department for Architecture at Technical University of Havanna (ISPJAE) built an initial 3D Model of the historic part of Trinidad and the Valle de los Ingenios.

Goal
After a 3D Model of the historic part of Trinidad and the Valle de los Ingenios (situation of today) was build in Phase I, further models will be developed in Phase II, showing the town development and changes in the landscape in the 18. / 19. century and in the future (planned development of the region).

Results Expected vs. Results Achieved by Swiss Technical University and by Partner
The know how transfer from Switzerland to Cuba worked fine and the Cuban partner had all tools and knowledge in time in order to realize the goal. Unfortunately the model can be only considered initial. Some more time has to be spent on it by the Cuban partner in order to use it for presentations and generating money in Switzerland.

Validation of Results by Swiss Technical University and by Partner
The Cuban partners are contempt with the results. The Swiss partner needs a working real time model.

Sustainability / Outlook
At the Department for Architecture at Technical University of Havanna (ISJAE) a professor being in charge for Information Technology in teaching and research has to be defined in order to continue with Phase II.

Project Duration
9 month

Contact
Jorge Pena, Instituto Superior Politecnico Jose Antonio Echeverria (ISPJAE), Facultad de Arquitectura, La Habana, Cuba., jorpediaz@yahoo.com

Nancy Benitez Vazques, Conservador de la Ciudad de Trinidad, Trinidad, Cuba.

Prof. P. Petschek , HSR Hochschule fuer Technik Rapperswil, Abteilung Landschaftsarchitektur, Oberseestrasse 10, CH-8640 Rapperswil, peter.petschek@hsr.ch