Dublin’s original Abbey Theatre first opened its doors on the 27th December 1904. It is now long since gone. Its physical memory, however, lives on in historical evidence, the recently created digital reconstruction of its original 1904 auditorium and stage and the fragmented remains of its front entrance building, which housed the original ground floor vestibule, and now rest nestled in a haven on Vico Road.
The visualisation project documented in this blog represents the first step in reopening the old Marlborough Street doors leading into the ground floor vestibule and digitally reconstructing this once lively and important social space. It was carried out at the beginning of April 2014 and forms part of assessed coursework for the MPhil in Digital Humanities and Culture at Trinity College Dublin (Module CL7037). As part of the project historical evidence has been identified and evaluated in order to reconstruct the accurately calculated dimensions and principal interior features of the former vestibule using digital modelling techniques. This is a crucial step in creating an accurate 3D digital massing model that can be used to reconstruct a more detailed digital model of the vestibule in the future. The project builds on the impressive Abbey Theatre, 1904 visualisation by Dr Hugh Denard and NOHO, opening up further dimensions of the theatre to explore.
