Exploring cultural heritage through acoustic digital reconstructions

The fire at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 2019 and the one at Gran Teatro La Fenice opera hall in Venice in 1996 are reminders of the fragile nature of humanity’s cultural heritage. Fortunately, acoustic measurements, numerical simulations, and digital reconstructions can recover— and to some extent preserve— the sound of humanity’s great architectural sites. What’s more, those techniques provide a way for archaeologists, historians, musicologists, and the general public to experience the lost acoustics of damaged or destroyed places.