A Neighbourhood Story

Watch how a local community in Florence helped us to discover a lost church and locate the artworks from London's National Gallery that were originally inside, transforming their own sense of place in the process.

After five years researching the lost church of San Pier Maggiore, Florence, we came back to the street where the building once stood to test our finished digital visualization of the church, now available via an iOS app for mobiles and tablets: Hidden Florence 3D: San Pier Maggiore. Residents and businesses, who have helped us find hidden parts of the demolished church in their houses and shops, saw their perceptions of the area change as they explored their daily surroundings through the app.

This film shows how a complicated puzzle of research and user experience converges in an augmented reality app that engages publics in Florence and London in new ways. The app can be launched in the National Gallery, London, or in Florence where the church formerly stood, or in any open space.