“Resurrecting Memories” is an immersive 3D reconstruction of my grandparents’ erstwhile home—where they lived for over half a century before it was lost to urban redevelopment in China. By marrying photogrammetry, procedural modeling, and high‑fidelity digital rendering, I have re‑created every brick, window, and corridor of the house in virtual space, infusing the architecture with the laughter, stories, and traditions that once echoed through its walls.
Anchored by firsthand interviews with my grandparents and contextual research into China’s demolition‑and‑relocation policies, this project transcends nostalgia. It stands as a testament to the endurance of family heritage: showing that even as physical structures yield to “progress,” the values, memories, and histories they housed can be preserved—and even brought vividly back to life—through technology. In exploring this virtual homestead, viewers are invited to walk the halls of personal—and collective—memory, reflecting on how places shape us long after they vanish.
Building Process
The project began with a deep dive into China’s rapid urbanization and the twin phenomena of government-led demolition-and-relocation versus illegal forced evictions. I studied policy papers and news reports to understand how whole neighborhoods are cleared in the name of progress—and how families’ ties to place are irreversibly severed. To ground this macro-scale research in personal experience, I conducted in-depth interviews with my grandparents, recording their recollections of daily life, festive gatherings, and the emotional weight of losing their 50-year-old homestead. Archival family photographs (see left) provided visual clues to architectural details—window styles, courtyard layouts, roof profiles—that would inform the digital rebuild.
asdasaad