Dr Nick Webb BA(Hons) MArch PhD ARB FHEA
Senior Lecturer Architecture
- +44 (0)151 794 2483
- Work email Nicholas.Webb@liverpool.ac.uk
- Personal Websitehttps://www.tracingthepast.org.uk
- ORCID0000-0002-5998-1961
Research
Research Overview
My research explores how digital tools and techniques can be used as methods to enhance and critique our understanding of historic works of architecture, whether they be buildings that still exist, were built then damaged or destroyed, or were not built at all. I focus on methods that enable new information to be provided that would not have been possible in a pre-digital context, such digital scanning, modelling and analysis, as well as immersive virtual reality techniques.
I co-lead ‘Tracing the Past’ with Dr Alex Buchanan, a project investigating the design and construction of English medieval vaults aided by digital methods, including significant sites such as Westminster Abbey and the adjacent Palace of Westminster, as well as the cathedrals of Chester, Ely, Exeter, Gloucester, Lincoln, Norwich and Wells. You can read more by visiting our project website. Tracing the Past
I am part of the LSA’s heritage research group.
Digital Heritage
- Digital analysis of historic works of architecture
- Digital scanning (laser scanning, structured light scanning, photogrammetry, total station)
- Digitally aided dissemination methods (3D printing, VR, online models)
Medieval Vaults
- English tierceron and lierne vaults
- Digital analysis methods in medieval vaulting (design and construction, geometry, generative design, transparency of methodology)
- History of architecture
Memory and Architecture
- Unbuilt architecture
- Digital and physical reconstructions
- Counterfactual architecture
Research Grants
Tracing the past: analysing the design and construction of English medieval vaults using digital techniques
ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL
September 2018 - September 2021
Modelling Medieval Vaults
SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF LONDON (UK)
June 2016 - December 2016
Modelling Medieval Vaults: A digital analysis of Wells Cathedral Aisles
PAUL MELLON CENTRE FOR STUDIES IN BRITISH ART (UK)
April 2015 - June 2016
Research Collaborations
Dr Alexandrina Buchanan
Project: Tracing the Past
Internal
A collaboration between a small team of researchers at the University of Liverpool investigating the design and construction of medieval vaults in the British Isles, aided by digital techniques.
Dr Zoe Alker
Project: Building Bentham's Panopticon
Internal
A collaborative project at the University of Liverpool investigating the use of digital modelling and immersive virtual reality to enhance understanding of Jeremy and Samuel Bentham's Panopticon Prison.