Kukonkatu gallery update: some art pieces are short videos, and there's a new wireframe texture to show the virtual gallery walls nicely in AR. Also upgrades to base software libraries.
Warjakka3D is a research project to recreate some of the houses from old Varjakka as 3D digital models, and place these models virtually on the old foundations. Using the Warjakka App on a smartphone, you can explore what the houses looked like 100 years ago – inside and out – and read stories about their inhabitants.
The houses can be switched from old-style interiors and become gallery spaces for artwork created as part of the Warjakan Tarinat project and Warjakka Artists Residency programme.
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Varjakka is a small village located across the bay from Oulu, Finland.
It has a school, harbour, manor house, bar and is currently home to around 400 households. A small deserted Island sits just off the coast, accessible by boat or cable ferry in the Summer, and by walking or skiing when the sea becomes frozen.
This was not always the case.
100 years ago, Varjakka was a busy industrial centre, with the island home to Varjakka Sawmill – one of the biggest in Europe at the time. The mill attracted workers from all over Finland, Sweden and Russia and Varjakka was home to most of the 700 employees. In 1929, the Wall Street crash had affected international trade and when the main drive shaft failed, it was decided that the mill was no longer viable. Gradually the island became abandoned. During the second world war, prisoners from the nearby POW camp worked on the island making charcoal. It was a holiday destination in the 50s, 60s, 70s and early 80s but today it sits quietly, waiting for its uncertain future.
