To mark its 60th anniversary, the Union of Architects in Bulgaria (UAB) is organizing a solemn celebration and exhibitions. As part of this initiative, Skener Gallery and Institute for Independent Digital Research and Technologies (INDIT) announced their participation in a special AI project aimed at the digital reconstruction of works dedicated to three significant architects — Kolyo Ficheto, arch. Yordan Milanov and arch. Georgi Ovcharov.
AI Installation
The project aims to honor the architectural heritage in Bulgaria, to create a dialogue between the past and the present, and to show how artificial intelligence can be a tool not only for scientific applications, but also for artistic interpretation.
Through its own AI model, the team “reinterprets” original and archival paintings related to the images and the surrounding architecture of these three figures, combining historical information, stylistic features and contemporary visual techniques, namely:
-
Kolyo Ficheto — famous for his construction skills, bridges, churches, public buildings, as this year marks the 225th anniversary of his birth. sbj-bg.eu
-
arch. Yordan Milanov — a key figure in Bulgarian architecture from the beginning of the 20th century, who left significant public and monumental buildings.
-
arch. Georgi Ovcharov — worked during the interwar and postwar periods, with contributions to more modernist and academic architecture.
These individuals were not chosen by chance — they symbolize the transition: from traditional artisanal architectural thought to modern methods, as well as a diversity of styles, time layers and public contribution.
Skener Gallery provided artistic and curatorial expertise: selection of visual references, art concept, scenographic design of the exhibition, presentation to the audience, and INDIT took over the technical part: research and selection of AI algorithms (neural networks, style transformations), training and fine-tuning of models, image processing and integration into an exhibition format.
This union between “art” and “technology” demonstrates how digital methods can contribute to the subsequent visual understanding of heritage, without erasing the historical value.