Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction. The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow

2026

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Monika Bogdanowska*, Miłosz Horodyski**

Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction.

The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow

DOI: 10.37190/arc260307

Published in open access. CC BY-NC license.

Abstract

This article analyses the issue of authenticity in architectural heritage in the context of virtual historical reconstruction. The starting point was the

question of whether, and to what extent, a digital model of a building can convey selected aspects of material, intangible and contextual authenticity.

The discussion is based on a case study of the Kijow cinema in Krakow, whose original 1967 state was digitally reconstructed using laser scanning,

archival research and 3D modelling, and subsequently implemented in the Unreal Editor for the Fortnite environment. The authors combined an analysis

of conservation doctrines with reections on digital representation, experience of a place and the platform-based nature of the gaming environment.

They highlighted the dierence between a digital twin and a virtual historical reconstruction. They discussed the risks arising from the model operating

within a closed commercial environment. The conclusions drawn from this case study highlight the need for transparency in the reconstruction process,

documentation of interpretative decisions, and archiving data outside the game platform.

Key words: authenticity, architecture, virtual historical reconstruction, “Kijow” Cinema, Fortnite/UEFN, digital representation

Introduction

Modern digitisation techniques oer previously unat-

tainable precision in documenting heritage, together with

new ways of experiencing it. Yet can the key value of her-

itage – authenticity, which identies an object as real, gen-

uine and credible – be transferred to a virtual environment,

where a digital representation may gradually become de-

tached from the material original or even replace it in the

minds of some audiences? Some scholars have proposed

re cognising the authenticity of a virtual object through

ano ther of its attributes, namely credibility, provided that

it con veys both the tangible and intangible values of the

ori ginal. This recognition must, however, be accompanied

by a “credibility meter”; without one, the object may be

mis represented and lose its intrinsic function as a historical

do cu ment (Bentkowska-Kafel 2008).

The motivation for the study was the observation that,

in the age of cultural-heritage digitisation – particularly of

architecture – the concept of authenticity is changing. Re

constructions of historic buildings in virtual environments

reveal both the potential of digital mediation and the risk

of losing the “spirit of place”, as dened in the Quebec

Declaration (ICOMOS 2008). The London Charter (2009)

emphasises that the authenticity of a digital visualisation

depends not only on the reliability of the source data but

also on the transparency of the process by which those data

are transformed.

This article aims to analyse changes in the concept of

authenticity and the conditions under which it may be pre-

served in virtual historical reconstruction. The discussion

focuses on architecture, for which the perception of space,

context and spatial sequence, together with technological-

ly mediated experience, is central to reception (Rasmus-

sen 1999). The study encompasses changing denitions

of authenticity in heritage discourse, examples illustrating

major tendencies in the digital representation of historic

buildings, and a case study of Kijow Cinema in Krakow

– a listed building and one of Poland’s pioneering exam-

ples of transferring architectural heritage into the Fortnite/

ORCID:

0000-0003-2227-2093.

Faculty of Architecture, Cra -

cow University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: monika.bogdanowska@

pk.edu.pl

ORCID:

0009-0005-4659-6422. Higher School of Business – Na -

tional Louis University (WSB-NLU), Nowy Sącz, Poland.

72 Monika Bogdanowska, Miłosz Horodyski

UEFN (Unreal Editor for Fortnite) game environment. The

UEFN model is treated not as a digital twin in the engineer-

ing sense, but as a virtual historical reconstruction: an in-

terpretative digital model created within a specic platform

context. On this basis, the article examines the relationship

between documentation, reconstruction and the platform

environment.

Methods

The article presents a case study of Kijow Cinema in Kra-

kow, supplemented by an analysis of conservation doctrines

concerning authenticity and a selective comparative over-

view of practices in the digital representation of heritage.

The method is interdisciplinary: it combines a conservation

perspective, focused on the reliability of documentation, the

transparency of the reconstruction process and the relation-

ship between the representation and the original, with a me-

dia-studies perspective on digital representation, platfor-

misation, interaction and the model’s increasing narrative

autonomy. Given the scope of the topic, the literature review

is organised into two areas – conservation doctrine and me-

dia studies – which are discussed in separate sections.

The theoretical section analyses doctrinal documents and

scholarship on heritage authenticity, including the Venice

Charter (ICOMOS 1964), the Nara Document on Authen-

ticity (UNESCO 1994), the Quebec Declaration (ICOMOS

2008), the London Charter (2009) and the Seville Princi-

ples (ICOMOS 2017). The empirical section examines the

process of creating the virtual historical reconstruction of

Kijow Cinema, from laser scanning and archival research,

through modelling and optimisation, to implementation in

UEFN. The analysis is complemented by a phenomeno-

logical reection on the experience of place and an exam-

ination of the platform medium, within which the model

begins to function as an interpretative and narrative object.

Because the study concerns a single case, its conclusions

are analytical and interpretative rather than generalisable.

The authors do not seek to formulate a general theory of au-

thenticity in virtual environments, but to identify the condi-

tions, limitations and risks revealed by the case.

Research context:

authenticity in heritage conservation

Evolution of the concept

In conservation discourse – as most clearly reected in

the Venice Charter (ICOMOS 1964) – “authenticity” was

treated as a foundational concept: a fundamental value as-

sumed to be intuitively understood. In common usage, the

term denotes the quality of being real, genuine and credi-

ble. Accordingly, what is not real cannot be authentic

Western theory emphasised material authenticity, an em -

phasis that was dicult to reconcile with Eastern perspec-

tives grounded in other values, such as the continuity of

tra -

“Authenticity: the quality of being real or true” (Cambridge Dic-

tionary n.d.).

dition or craftsmanship (Tomaszewski 2012). The Nara Doc-

ument on Authenticity (UNESCO 1994) there fore broad -

ened

the concept to encompass intangible he ritage. Herb

Stovel (2008) described this evolution as a shift from an ab -

solute value to a relative, culturally conditioned concept.

The same approach is reected in the World He ritage Com -

mittee’s guidance: inscription on the World He ritage List

requires the demonstration of Outstanding Universal Value,

accompanied by an assessment of the property’s authenti-

city and integrity. Authenticity is assessed by examining

the credibility of attributes including form and design,

materials and substance, use and function, traditions and

techniques, location and setting, and spirit and feeling,

under stood as “sources of information” about the proper-

ty’s va lues (UNESCO 2003a).

Contemporary approaches to virtual heritage have been

shaped by three ideas: documentation, reconstruction and

accessibility. The Quebec Declaration (ICOMOS 2008)

iden tied digital technologies as tools capable of connect-

ing tangible and intangible heritage. In reconstruction, au-

thenticity began to be sought less in material fabric itself

than in a documentation process grounded in reliable sourc-

es, transparent procedures and the social function of access.

The safeguarding of intangible heritage, which is carried by

people, has brought the public interest to the fore ( UNESCO

2016). Yet making heritage accessible also entails its trans-

formation into a product, a process that may weaken – or

even falsify – the relationship between the representation,

the material original and its context (Smith 2006).

This situation calls for deeper reection on the nature

of authenticity, which can now be considered in three di-

mensions: material, intangible and contextual. The material

dimension concerns the authenticity of substance, form and

construction techniques – the aspects most closely associat-

ed in Western conservation tradition with the “original” and

its physical continuity. The intangible dimension concerns

cultural practices and social uses of an object: rituals, mem-

ories, narratives and experiences shared by a community,

through which a space becomes a place. The contextual

di mension encompasses the object’s relationships with its

urban, historical and symbolic surroundings, as well as the

conditions of its contemporary mediation, including modes

of presentation, interpretative frameworks and the logic of

the medium, such as a commercial platform. These factors

jointly shape the perceived “truthfulness” of heritage. The

remainder of the article adopts this triad as an analytical

framework for assessing which dimensions of authenticity

can be transferred to a virtual environment and which are

inevitably transformed.

Authenticity in digital reconstructions

The London Charter shifts the focus of the discussion of

authenticity from the physical monument to the process of

its digitisation (Denard 2012). The authenticity of a virtual

reconstruction can be considered on two levels: documen-

tation, meaning the delity and reliability of the historical

data used, and reconstruction, meaning the transparency

of the nal visualisation. The Charter emphasises that au-

thenticity in the digital domain depends on the reliability

Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction. The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow 73

and availability of the documentation on which a model is

based. This principle is one of the key points of reference

for the present analysis.

One attempt to redene authenticity in light of new tech-

nological possibilities is the concept of “digitised authen-

ticity”, based not on the originality of material fabric but

on the credibility of a digital representation (Zapłata 2016).

The creator of a digital model thus ceases to be a neutral

documentarian and becomes a co-author or interpreter of

heritage. The work involves not merely copying but a series

of decisions – from the selection of source data and model-

ling methods to the form of nal presentation – that shape

how the work is received.

The Seville Principles (ICOMOS 2017) set out guide-

lines for virtual reconstructions. They emphasise a funda-

mental rule of intellectual integrity: every element that is

hypothetical or constitutes a contemporary addition must

be visually distinguishable from elements supported by

rm evidence. Jesús Muñoz Morcillo et al. (2017) go fur-

ther by advocating the acceptance of a “plurality of authen-

ticities”. Because reconstructions are interpretative, multi-

ple scientically justied versions may exist; each may be

regarded as “authentic” within its own context, provided

that methodological transparency is maintained.

Embodied experience plays a key role in human percep-

tion, a central proposition of phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty

2001). Increasingly, however, reality is perceived not direct-

ly but through digital technologies, and these technologies

are not neutral: they mediate and transform how the world

is perceived (Ihde 2009). In virtual reconstructions, this

transformation often narrows perception to an incomplete

range of sensory experience (Asanowicz 2012). At the same

time, digital representations are modular, variable and open

to further transformation, which aects how they function

in platform environments (Manovich 2006). Information

tech nologies have advanced to the point at which virtual

ex periences can produce real physical responses, including

cy ber sickness (Stauert, Niebling and Latoschik 2020).

Comparative contexts

of digital heritage representation

The relationship between architecture, identity and dig-

ital space did not emerge only with contemporary gaming

platforms. An important earlier point of reference was the

Virtual Guggenheim Museum, developed by Asymptote

for the Guggenheim Foundation. The project was not a re-

construction of an existing historic building but an attempt

to create autonomous digital architecture for works of art

existing in an online environment. It already revealed a ten-

sion between the immaterial logic of digital space and the

habits and expectations of audiences shaped by physical

architecture (Guggenheim Going Virtual 2000).

Another form of digital heritage representation com-

prises documentary models and digital twins, whose pur-

pose is not primarily to create a narrative experience, but

to support monitoring, data integration, archiving and in-

formation management. In this approach, the digital model

remains closely subordinated to the material original and to

its present or historical condition (Niccolucci, Felicetti and

Hermon 2022). The digital preservation of Tuvalu’s heri-

tage in response to climate threats illustrates this approach:

the representation is intended to support memory, cultural

continuity and the state’s political visibility (Dev 2025).

Heritage interpretation raises a further problem: how

can the message carried by an object be conveyed faithful-

ly while also being made engaging for a specic audience?

This was the central challenge of the Glastonbury App,

designed to support visits to a medieval abbey: children had

to be entertained without compromising the sacred char-

acter of the site. The developers rejected treasure hunting,

Arthurian legend and magic as themes because they consid-

ered them a distortion of the spirit of place; magic was also

regarded as unacceptable on axiological grounds. Instead,

they adopted a narrative of pilgrimage, which referred di-

rectly to the site’s tradition and used a shared journey in

search of spirituality to connect past and present genera-

tions. The example shows how easily the historical truth

of a heritage site can be distorted when popular narratives

displace an interpretation of the site’s essential character

(Gilchrist et al. 2025).

At the opposite end of the interpretative spectrum from

documentation (science) and education lies commerciali-

sa tion. The Yuanyuzhou platform, for example, oers me-

taverse technologies – avatars, AIGC, 3D, digital twins – as

a digital framework for heritage tourism in Henan Province.

Exploring heritage through VR headsets makes the experi-

ence feel “real”. The platform gives users access not only

to extensive information about a site, but also to services

in the physical world, including purchases. It therefore ex-

emplies the movement from online to oine in meeting

users’ needs; avatar customisation, including physical fea-

tures and clothing, is only a minor addition. The application

demonstrates the scale on which technology can be used

to promote and commercialise heritage (He, Qin 2024).

Questions of a heritage site’s authenticity recede into the

background, though they do not disappear altogether. Vis-

iting a place always involves many kinds of experience:

encounters with other people, memories of the comfort of

a hotel room, shopping, local cuisine and more.

The case of Kijow Cinema lies between these models. It

is not a digital twin because it is not dynamically connected

to the physical building. Nor is it autonomous digital archi-

tecture created from scratch for the internet, or a tool for

commercialising the site. It is a documentation-based virtu-

al historical reconstruction that, once implemented in Fort-

nite/UEFN, acquires additional exploratory, interactive and

narrative dimensions. The resulting tension between docu-

mentation, interpretation and the model’s increasing auton-

omy within the platform is the central object of analysis.

In light of these examples, authenticity in digital environ-

ments requires careful qualication. Digital representations

can support heritage documentation, education and accessi-

bility, but their value depends on their relationship to source

evidence, the transparency of interpretative decisions and

the durability of data beyond the immediate presentation

environment. The developments in conservation doctrine

outlined above show that authenticity can no longer be re-

duced to an object’s material fabric. This does not mean that

materiality has lost its importance; rather, assessments must

74 Monika Bogdanowska, Miłosz Horodyski

also consider the reliability of documentation, the transpar-

ency of reconstruction and the relationship between a digital

representation and its original.

Kijow Cinema: between the material original

and the virtual reconstruction

Kijow Cinema exemplies a project that moved beyond

the constraints of socialist functional modernism. Designed

by Witold Cęckiewicz in 1967 and conceived in close re-

lation to the Cracovia Hotel, the building was intended as

a space of prestige and an ideological demonstration of the

Polish People’s Republic (PRL) authorities’ openness to the

world (Fig. 1). Its architecture can be read as the symbol-

ic language of an era: a system of signs and a carrier of

cultural meanings in which form, function and social con-

text jointly create the meaning of place (Tuan 1977; Nor-

berg-Schulz 1980).

The form of Kijow Cinema – monumental yet light, ow-

ing to its glazed façade and column-free main auditorium

– communicated modernity and technological openness

unequivocally (Fig. 2). Its distinctive roof, conceived as

a “fth elevation” visible from the hotel rooms, was not

only an innovative engineering solution but also an aesthetic

accent in the spatial dialogue of the complex. A monumen-

tal ceramic wall composition by Krystyna Zgud-Strachoc-

ka became integral to the building’s symbolic dimension.

Created in the spirit of abstract modernism and inspired

by space exploration, it constituted an aesthetic rebellion

against socialist-modernist conventions and emphasised

the aspiration to modernity (Fig. 3). Over time, the building

underwent numerous alterations: the foyer was remodelled,

and the transparent glazing was replaced with tinted glass.

The research undertaken by a team led by Professor

Grzegorz Biliński of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow

aimed to recreate digitally the building’s original appear-

ance in 1967. In the context of the authenticity debate, this

was an attempt to restore not only the architectural form

but also the building’s original context and the way it was

experienced (Fig. 4).

The foundation of the virtual historical reconstruction

was the creation of as faithful a representation as possible

Fig. 1. Façade of Kijow Cinema in Krakow

(photo by W. Plewiński, 1967, courtesy of Kijow Cinema collection)

Il. 1. Fasada kina „Kijów” w Krakowie

(fot. W. Plewiński, 1967, źródło: ze zbiorów Kina „Kijów”)

Fig. 2. Vestibule of Kijow Cinema in Krakow (photo by M. Horodyski)

Il. 2. Westybul kina „Kijów” w Krakowie (fot. M. Horodyski)

Fig. 3. Kijow Cinema in Krakow

– detail of the Cosmos mosaic,

designed and executed by

K. Zgud-Strachocka, 1967

(photo by M. Bogdanowska)

Il. 3. Kino „Kijów” w Krakowie

– fragment mozaiki „Kosmos”

zaprojektowanej i wykonanej

przez K. Zgud-Strachocką, 1967

(fot. M. Bogdanowska)

Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction. The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow 75

of the building’s original appearance. The team carried out

a detailed laser scan of Kijow Cinema in its current form;

the building’s overall volume has not changed substantial-

ly. Over six days in May 2023, every part of the cinema was

systematically recorded with a Faro Focus S350 scanner.

The resulting high-density point cloud enabled the recon-

struction of details at high resolution. This precision made

it possible to capture even very small architectural features,

a prerequisite for discussing authenticity – understood here

as delity of representation – within conservation doctrine.

The next stage was archival research into Cęckiewicz’s

designs, Wojciech Plewiński’s photographs and details of

Zgud-Strachocka’s ceramic composition. These materials

provided the basis for transforming the raw point cloud into

an interactive model. The process was not purely technical;

it comprised a sequence of deliberate interpretative deci-

sions. Every optimisation involved a compromise between

geometric complexity and performance and could therefore

reduce the delity of the representation. First, the raw scan

data were cleaned and combined into a coherent whole in

Leica Cyclone and Autodesk ReCap. A 3D model was then

constructed in Autodesk 3ds Max from this digital record,

with realistic material textures applied while maintaining

high geometric precision. At this stage, the team had to de-

cide which elements required full delity, which could be

simplied and which had to be reconstructed hypothetical-

ly. The nal stage was to adapt the model for real-time op-

eration in UEFN. This involved simplifying the geometric

mesh, reducing the polygon count, and preparing variants at

dierent levels of detail (LOD), displayed according to the

user’s distance from the object. The Lumen lighting system

and ambient sound were used to improve spatial legibility

and strengthen the sense of presence. These measures were

necessary to ensure smooth performance in the Fortnite plat-

form environment, but they also required decisions about the

extent of simplication and therefore aected the preserva-

tion of the model’s geometric and material delity (Fig. 5).

The research concluded with qualitative analyses in-

tended to assess the credibility of the reconstruction from

the user’s perspective. VR workshops were organised for

a small group of experts and students. They examined phe-

nomenological dimensions of the experience, including im-

mersion and spatial perception. A complementary narrative

analysis assessed the model’s ability to convey the histor-

ical context and the “spirit of place” – the elusive quality

that determines whether a digital copy remains a credible

vehicle for the values associated with authenticity. The

conclusions were then situated within current theoretical

debates and the relevant scholarship.

Discussion

Digital twin versus virtual historical reconstruction

In conservation and technical literature, a digital twin

is a dynamic, continuously updated model connected to

a physical object in real time through sensor data (IoT). It

is used primarily in engineering and in managing the life

cycle of buildings or systems. A virtual historical recon-

struction, also described as an interpretative digital model,

is dierent: it is not supplied with current data but is built

from archival sources and historical materials. Its purpose

is not monitoring, but the reconstruction or interpretation

of an object. The Kijow Cinema model in UEFN belongs

to this second category. It is not a digital twin, but a one-

o, interpretative visualisation of the cinema’s 1967 state,

produced through a series of deliberate research and con

servation decisions. This distinction is essential both for

correctly assessing “digitised authenticity” and for trans-

parently communicating to users the scope and nature of

the interpretations introduced.

Technical authenticity

and phenomenological experience

The geometric precision of the Kijow Cinema model, de

mon strated by its high degree of correspondence with the scan

data, supports its documentary value and meets the criteria

Fig. 4. Digital reconstruction of the vestibule of Kijow Cinema

(source: Studio OkO, 2023)

Il. 4. Cyfrowa rekonstrukcja westybulu kina „Kijów”

(źródło: Studio OkO, 2023)

Fig. 5. Original transparent-glass façade restored

in the digital reconstruction. The façade was originally designed so

that the ceramic decoration would be visible from the street in daylight

(source: Studio OkO, 2023)

Il. 5. Przywrócona w ramach rekonstrukcji cyfrowej oryginalna fasada

z przezroczystego szkła, którą zaprojektowano tak, aby ceramiczna

dekoracja była widoczna od strony ulicy w świetle dziennym

(źródło: Studio OkO, 2023)

76 Monika Bogdanowska, Miłosz Horodyski

of credibility. The phenomenological dimension of authen-

ticity, however – the subjective, multisensory experience of

a place and its “aura” (Benjamin 2004) – remains largely

unrealised. Restricting the virtual experience to sight and

sound, without tactile, olfactory, or kinaesthetic feed back,

substantially reduces immersion because an authentic expe-

rience of virtual heritage requires engaging multiple senses.

Between space and place

Recognition of the existence and value of intangible he-

ritage – understood as practices, representations, expres-

sions and skills recreated by communities and passed from

generation to generation – has enriched the formal appre-

ciation of architecture with social and ritual dimensions

( UNESCO 2003b). An anonymous space becomes a mean-

ingful place through experience and emotional investment

(Relph 1976). Kijow Cinema became such a place through

events that created strong social and emotional bonds. It

was Poland’s rst widescreen cinema capable of projecting

lms from 70 mm prints. Its prestige was built rst by the

Short Film Festival and later by the Film Confrontations

series, which gave Polish audiences access to productions

not normally available and created a bridge to Western pop-

ular culture. The record attendance of more than 800,000

viewers for Gone with the Wind conrms the cinema’s ex-

ceptional status. Its embeddedness in urban life was also

expressed through “unocial” practices, such as the activ-

ities of ticket touts known as koniki, which rounded out its

social landscape. These relationships and micro-histories

constitute the city’s emotional geography and create a map

of attachment, or topophilia (Tuan 1977). In this way, the

cinema became encoded in Krakow’s collective memory as

a lieu de mémoire: a physical location saturated with sym-

bolic meanings that preserve and reinterpret the communi-

ty’s history (Nora 1984).

The identity of Kijow Cinema was not static. The po-

litical transformation of the 1990s and the emergence of

multiplexes forced a redenition of the building’s function.

The revitalisation carried out between 2005 and 2008 trans-

formed the single-screen cinema into a multifunctional cul-

tural centre. Interpreted through the concept of placemak-

ing, these changes show that place is a process continually

produced through social relations and practices (Lefebvre

1991). Despite these transformations, Kijow Cinema re-

tained symbolic continuity. Its sense of place, understood

as a deep bond between people and space, was sustained

and layered over time. This complex interaction between

iconic architecture, collective memory and dynamic cultur-

al practices constitutes, in terms of conservation doctrine,

the dimension of authenticity that cannot be transferred to

virtual space.

From documentary reconstruction

to a platform-based environment

In the case examined here, the digital model of Kijow

Ci nema moves from a documentary-interpretative function

towards an exploratory and ludic one. This does not amount

to a simple break with the original, but to a gradual dis-

tancing of the representation from its sources as the model

becomes subject to performance requirements, game rules

and the logic of the user’s narrative. The stages can be char-

acterised as follows:

1. The rst level is documentary representation: because

the 3D model is based on laser scans and archival materials,

it retains a strong relationship with the material object.

2. The second level is interpretative reconstruction: the

optimisation of geometry, the selection of textures and hy-

pothetical additions introduce design decisions that must be

documented explicitly.

3. The third level emerges after implementation in Fort-

nite/UEFN: the model becomes part of a task-oriented ex-

perience, and its reception depends on the platform’s rules,

the game scenario and users’ actions.

A virtual historical reconstruction is therefore no longer

a neutral carrier of data, but an interpretative process in

which every optimisation decision, texture choice and in-

teractive addition aects the degree of credibility retained.

A further issue is the closed nature of the Fortnite plat-

form. The model’s digital existence depends on the infra-

structure of a private corporation and carries no guarantee

of long-term archiving, while the logic of gamication re-

quires compromises in representational delity. Heritage

consequently becomes vulnerable to commodication and

to the loss of control over the long-term accessibility of

data. The discussion of authenticity in virtual environments

thus returns to the concepts of “digitised authenticity” and

a “plurality of authenticities”: a methodologically rigorous

and transparent reconstruction can serve as a valuable vehi-

cle for selected dimensions of authenticity, but only if it is

accompanied by open standards, interoperability and dura-

ble data storage outside the commercial platform.

Degrees of divergence

between digital representations

and the material original

The case study shows that, despite phenomenological limi -

tations, a methodologically rigorous and transparent re-

con struction can function as a valuable instrument of do-

cu mentation and interpretation – not as a substitute for

ma terial fabric, but as a digital model that facilitates under-

standing of the original. The virtual reconstruction of Kijow

Cinema results from interpretative decisions concerning the

selection of sources, modelling methods and optimisation

for the Fortnite environment, all of which aect geometric,

material and contextual delity.

Table 1 presents the degrees of divergence between the

digital representation and the material original. All digital

levels are representational and interpretative, but they dier

in their relationship to source documentation, the degree of

methodological control and their susceptibility to increas-

ing narrative autonomy within the platform environment.

Kijow Cinema as a modernist matrix

and digital reinterpretation

The architecture of Kijow Cinema functions as a exible

matrix for reinterpretation in both physical and digital en-

Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction. The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow 77

not reproduce the embodied, multisensory relationship

with the object and its actual social context.

The model developed for Fortnite/UEFN should be un-

derstood not as a digital twin, but as a documentation-based

interpretative digital model. Its value depends on the trans-

parency of its sources and modelling methods, the extent

of hypothetical reconstruction and the way the relationship

between model and original is communicated to users. Un-

derstood in this way, such models can function as docu-

ments, interpretative tools and – as Waldemar Aelt (2011)

proposes – “catalysts for cognitive curiosity” that lead us-

ers towards engagement with material heritage.

The case study also reveals the risks associated with op-

erating a reconstruction in a closed platform environment:

limited control over data longevity, the subordination of ex-

perience to the logic of gameplay and the possible weaken-

ing of the connection to the material original. Standards for

documenting and archiving virtual reconstructions should

therefore be developed on the basis of transparency, open

data formats and a clear distinction between source-based,

interpretative and ludic elements.

The conclusions are case-specic and do not purport to

establish a general theory of authenticity in virtual envi-

ronments. They may nevertheless provide a starting point

for further comparative research on the relationship be-

tween 3D documentation, digital reconstruction and plat-

form-based forms of experiencing heritage.

vironments. The Fortnite experience Epic Troubles in Kyiv

Cinema, created by Veles Productions, incorporates an in -

terpretative digital model of Kijow Cinema within a game -

play setting (Veles Production). The historic building’s

phy sical form is placed within a game scenario in which

archi tecture is not merely a backdrop, but an active space

for the user’s actions. This reinterpretation demonstrates

considerable potential for popularisation, but it also requires

the boundary between documentation, reconstruction and

the ludic layer to be communicated clearly.

Transferring a modernist icon into Fortnite/UEFN there-

fore reveals both the potential to reach new audiences and

the risk of commodication and of weakening the educa-

tional context when entertainment begins to dominate do-

cu mentation. This perspective underscores the need for

open data formats, principles of transparency and archiving

mechanisms capable of protecting heritage against loss or

appropriation within closed platform ecosystems.

Summary and conclusions

The analysis of Kijow Cinema shows that virtual his-

torical reconstruction can convey selected dimensions of

an architectural monument’s authenticity, particularly those

connected with geometry, form, documentation and educa-

tional interpretation. It cannot, however, replace material

authenticity or the full experience of place, because it does

Dimension/attribute Level I – material object

Level II – documentary

and interpretative reconstruction

Level III – ludic, platform-based

environment

Status

of representation

original material object

digital model based on documentation

and interpretation

model functioning as part

of a game or platform environment

Relationship

to the original

direct continuity

of material fabric and context

indirect relationship controlled

through sources, metadata

and modelling decisions

relationship weakened by the logic

of interaction, narrative

and gameplay

Main function

heritage preservation, use, memory

of place

documentation, education

and interpretation

exploration, task completion,

participation and entertainment

Type of experience multisensory, embodied, in situ visual-spatial and partially immersive

interactive, task-oriented

and governed by platform rules

Scope of interpretation

constrained by the physical fabric

of the object

high, but explicitly declared

and documentable

dominant; the model may acquire

narrative autonomy

Risk

degradation or loss

of material fabric

reconstruction error

or insufficient transparency

decontextualisation, commodification

and loss of reference to the original

Example:

Kijow Cinema

the 1967 building

and its social memory

a 3D model based on scans

and archival materials

Epic Troubles in Kyiv Cinema

in Fortnite/UEFN

Table 1. Degrees of divergence between the digital representation and the material original (elaborated by M. Horodyski)

Tabela 1. Stopnie oddalenia reprezentacji cyfrowej od materialnego oryginału (oprac. M. Horodyski)

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Professor Grzegorz Biliński for providing the laser-

scanning data for Kijow Cinema and for his methodological guidance.

78 Monika Bogdanowska, Miłosz Horodyski

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Streszczenie

Autentyzm zabytku architektury w wirtualnej rekonstrukcji historycznej. Studium przypadku kina „Kijów” w Krakowie

W artykule przedstawiono analizę problemu autentyzmu zabytku architektury w kontekście wirtualnej rekonstrukcji historycznej. Punktem wyjścia

było pytanie, czy i w jakim zakresie cyfrowy model obiektu może przenosić wybrane walory autentyzmu materialnego, niematerialnego i kontekstualne-

go. Rozważania oparto na studium przypadku kina „Kijów” w Krakowie, którego pierwotny stan z 1967 r. został zrekonstruowany cyfrowo na podstawie

skanowania laserowego, kwerendy archiwalnej i modelowania 3D, a następnie zaimplementowany w środowisku Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Autorzy

artykułu połączyli analizę doktryn konserwatorskich z reeksją nad cyfrową reprezentacją, doświadczeniem miejsca i platformowym charakterem

środowiska gry. Wskazano różnicę między cyfrowym bliźniakiem a wirtualną rekonstrukcją historyczną oraz omówiono ryzyko wynikające z funkcjo-

nowania modelu w zamkniętym środowisku komercyjnym. Wnioski mają charakter studium przypadku i wskazują na potrzebę transparentności procesu

rekonstrukcji, dokumentowania decyzji interpretacyjnych oraz archiwizacji danych poza platformą gry.

Słowa kluczowe: autentyzm, architektura, wirtualna rekonstrukcja historyczna, kino Kijów, Fortnite/UEFN, reprezentacja cyfrowa

Authenticity of a monument in virtual historical reconstruction. The case of Kijow Cinema in Krakow

Monika Bogdanowska, Miłosz Horodyski

doi:10.37190/arc260307

Abstract