1.
City and Spectacle:
A Vision of Pre-
Earthquake Lisbon
15th International Conference on Virtual
Systems and Multimedia
VSMM 2009
Vienna, Austria
http://www.vsmm2009.org/

2.
City and Spectacle: a vision of
pre-earthquake Lisbon
(Second Life recreation of the Lisbon city centre
destroyed by the 1755 earthquake)
This film shows the current stage of the
project, which consists on the recreation of
the royal palace ensemble – Palace, Gardens,
Opera House, Clock Tower, inward patios and
the Patriarchal Piazza. The first draft of this
recreation was presented at the VAST 2008 —
9th International Symposium on Virtual Reality,
Archaeology and Cultural Heritage – Workshop
Serious Games on Cultural Heritage, Braga,
December 2 to 6, 2008.

3.
The 1755 earthquake
Lisbon before and during the 1755 earthquake - 18th century.
Engraving. Museu da Cidade (City Museum), Lisbon.

4.
The 1755 earthquake
“On Saturday the 1st instant, about half an hour past 9 o’
clock, I was retired to my room after breakfast, when I
perceived the house begin to shake … as I saw the neighbours
about me all running down stairs, I also made the best of my
way… It was darker than the darkest night I ever saw …
occasioned by the clouds of dust from the falling of houses on
all sides. After it cleared up, I ran into a large square adjoining
[the Terreiro do Paço], the palace to the west, the street I lived
in to the north, the river to the south, and the custom house
and warehouses to the east …but being alarmed with a cry
that the sea was coming in, all people crowded forward to run
to the hills, I among the rest, with Mr. Wood and family. We
went near two miles through the streets, climbing over ruins
of churches, houses, &c., stepping over hundreds of dead and
dying people, killed by the falling of buildings; carriages, chaises
and mules, lying all crushed to pieces …” (Letter of a British
Merchant to his Brother - The Gentleman’s Magazine, vol. 25,
December 1755).

5.
The 1755 earthquake
A major earthquake shook Lisbon in the
morning of the 1st November 1755.
Three different shocks reduced most of the
city to ruins.
A great number of people were gathered in
Lisbon’s numerous churches celebrating All
Saints’ Day. The vast number of candles burning
at the time in churches and house chapels
were the main cause of the raging fire that
followed the earthquake.

6.
Rescue of a little girl from Lisbon’s ruins – 18th century (2nd half).
Ex-voto to N.S. da Estrela (Our Lady of Estrela). Oil on canvas.
Museu da Cidade (Lisbon City Museum).

7.
Lisbon burnt for a whole week. In Lisbon alone
approximately 40,000 people died. Roughly
10% of the buildings were ruined and two
thirds suffered such destruction that they were
unsafe for habitation.
An important number of the city historical
records, libraries, art and science collections
disappeared under the wreckage and were
burnt by the fire.
The earthquake was also felt in other areas of
Portugal and Spain, particularly in the South,
and in the North of Africa.

8.
Lisbon – 17th century (1st half). Arrival of Philip III of Spain in Lisbon
the 26 June 1619. Engraving by Hans Schorken from the drawing by
Domingos Vieira Serrão in Lavanha, João Baptista – Viaje de la
Catholica (…) D. Filipe III, Madrid, 1622. Museu da Cidade (Lisbon City
Museum).

9.
The Terreiro do Paço (Palace Courtyard) was
completely destroyed vanishing in the flames of
the Royal Palace and all of the other important
adjacent buildings: the New Cathedral
(Patriarcal), the Opera House, the Custom
House, the City Hall and the Tribunal.
The Quay (Cais das Pedras) near the Royal
Palace was engulfed by the tidal waves, killing
approximately a hundred people who were
seeking refuge from the fire.

10.
The Ruins of the New Patriarchal - 18th century (2nd half). A Flemish
version of the illustrations by Paris and Pedegache, engraved by
Jacques Philippe Le Bas. Museu da Cidade (Lisbon City Museum).

11.
The destruction of the Portuguese capital city
made the European press headlines at the
time, not only for its financial repercussions,
but also for the magnitude of the catastrophe.
This occurrence inspired several texts
throughout Europe, namely Voltaire’s Candide,
ou l’Optimisme (1759), having a significant
impact on European thought.

12.
The Lost City

13.
The Lost City
Lisbon — Early 18th century. English Engraving.

14.
The Lost City
“It is almost impossible to conceive any thing more
magnificent than the appearance this stately city
made at a distance; owing, as we have said before, as
well to its situation on the declivity of several hills, as
to the many grand edifices with which it abounded.
The interior part, however, did by no means
correspond with its external magnificence. The
houses of Lisbon were mostly four, few of them five
stories high, and built of stone. The narrowness,
declivity, and irregularity of some of its streets, and
the dirtiness of others, made it a very disagreeable
place of abode to strangers”. (A Scottish account of
Lisbon in 1745; published in the Scots Magazine,
November 1755).

15.
The Lost City
Lisbon developed as an amphitheatre erected
along the river Tagus (Tejo), establishing itself on
several hills. From the Castle hill, the city
expanded to the east, but principally to the
west.
During the second half of the fifteenth
century, when the expeditions overseas began
to be the main enterprise of the Portuguese
Crown, this union between the river/sea and
the city was reinforced.

16.
Lisbon - 16th century (2nd half). From the engraving by
Georgius Braunius “Civitates Orbis Terrarum” (1572).
Museu da Cidade (Lisbon City Museum).

17.
After the success of the sea expedition to India
in 1498, the Portuguese king, D. Manuel I (1495
– 1521, born 1469) decided to build a new
palace near the river.
The vast field just opposite the royal palace
was also rearranged in order to receive a
number of public buildings: the Shambles; the
Crops warehouse, a number of shops and the
Customs House. From this period up to 1755,
Lisbon’s city centre developed between two
main squares, the Terreiro do Paço and the
Rossio, to the North.

18.
Lisbon (Rossio square) - 16th century (1st half). Miniature
in Holanda, António and Bening, Simão - A Genealogia do
Infante D. Fernando de Portugal, f. VIII (detail). London,
British Library.

19.
Lisbon became a major attraction to the
countryside population as well as to foreign
merchants.
From the 16th century, several foreign
tradesmen established themselves in the city,
the British forming the most numerous colony.
Lisbon expanded very quickly. At the beginning
of the 17th century, the Portuguese capital city
was in the group of the most populated
European cities, with more than 100,000
inhabitants.

20.
Terreiro do Paço (Palace Courtyard) – 17th century
(2nd half). Dirk Stoop. 1662. Oil on canvas. Museu da
Cidade (Lisbon City Museum).

21.
At the eve of the great earthquake of the 1st
November 1755, Lisbon was thus a
cosmopolitan city, a major European
commercial centre and the political heart of an
empire extending from India to Brazil.
Pictured by foreign residents as a mixture of
abject misery, extreme religious devotion and
baroque opulence and extravagance, the old
Lisbon became a mythical city for 18th century
Europeans and for the Portuguese up until
today.

22.
Terreiro do Paço (Palace Courtyard) - Lisbon c. 1754.
Francisco Zuzarte (attribution). China ink and watercolour
on paper. Museu da Cidade (Lisbon City Museum).

23.
History has argued that the old medieval city
was being modernized by the Crown (King D.
João V – 1707-1750; b. 1689) and the City
Council within an ancient-regime context, with
the providential help of Brazil’s gold and
diamonds.
Quays were built, streets opened and
enlarged, an aqueduct was built bringing water
to the city, and a number of royal palaces and
churches were erected according to the roman
baroque taste. The royal palace suffered
important refurbishment works and in April
1755, King D. José (1750 – 1777, b. 1714), gave
an Opera House to the city.

24.
Plan for the rebuilding of Lisbon (1756). Architect: Eugénio dos Santos e Carvalho.
Plan amended by Eugénio dos Santos and Carlos Mardel (later version). Instituto
Geográfico Português (Portuguese Geographic Institute), Lisbon.

25.
Title Text
After the earthquake, the minister of King D.
José, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo
(1699-1782), future Marquis of Pombal, built an
enlightened regular city with the fundamental
assistance of the Portuguese military
engineers. The old city centre with its
particular physical and social character
disappeared.

26.
The project

27.
Royal Palace – Terreiro do Paço (Palace Courtyard) – c. 1755

28.
The Project
This project aims to recreate virtually the
Lisbon ruined by the 1755 earthquake using
as tools a comprehensive study of urban
phenomena from a historical and
sociological perspective and Second Life
Technology;
Both the architectural scenario and the
sounds of the urban daily life will be
recreated;
Some of the opera music performed in the
old Opera House will be also included;

29.
Short texts will provide the required
historical context;
This is an interactive project, which will
allow the virtual immersion in the recreated
city;
As a work in progress, it can be visited at
http://lisbon-pre-1755-earthquake.org/
This platform will also allow to host and link
other similar projects on Lisbon, optimizing
scientific research on this field and giving to
it a widespread visibility;

30.
Conceptually, this is a project that combines
interpretation, in its historical sense, with
"state of the art" technology in order to
allow a visualization of a memory.
Materially, it can represent a significant
scientific, educational and recreational
instrument;
The team brings together researchers in the
area of Art History, specializing in the
history of the city, urbanism, architecture
and the landscape; specialists in the creation
of virtual realities and experts in the
application of IT resources to research and
the dissemination of history.

31.
The Technology

32.
“Virtual archeology”
“[...] the use of 3D computer models of ancient
buildings and artefacts” (Reilly, P. (1990).
Towards a virtual archaeology.)
“Especially interesting are the design of
interactive systems, where users can become
immersed into a virtual world.” (Barceló, Forte
& Sanders. (2000). The Diversity of
Archaeological Virtual Worlds.)
Second Life is being currently used for
several large-scale virtual archeology
projects due to its widespread use and
employment by universities and the relative
low cost of modelling and 3D content
hosting (ex. Theatron 3 Project by KVL)

33.
Second Life® - Technology
3D virtual world available to the public;
currently with 16 million registered users
Tens of thousands users can be online
simultaneously (each with their own avatar)
Free access (though 3D content hosting has
a cost)
Persistent content (client-server
architecture)
Collaborative environment
Free open source 3D viewer includes
modelling tools (textures have to be
uploaded)

34.
Modelling in Second Life
No external tools required (except for
textures) — 3D models and programming is
done using the free Second Life viewer
Interactive — changes happen immediately,
in real time, and all users see them at the
same time
Collaborative — several users can build
models together simultaneously

35.
The Modelling Interface
The following series of images show some of
the potentialities of the Second Life modelling
interface.
The actual images are from an earlier stage of
the project.

36.
Building tool showing texture selection

37.
Users build together interacting with avatars

38.
Building tool showing grid alignments, naming

39.
Individual items can be linked (grouped) together

40.
Building tool showing precise measurements

41.
Colour and face properties are being set

42.
Texture upload and selection

43.
Why Second Life?
Most research projects requiring immersion in
a 3D environment tend to prefer relatively
obscure, specialised 3D tools/engines, some of
which have a long tradition of use in academic
institutions
These require the intended audience to
become familiar with them — a special
download, and additional training, just for the
purpose of accessing one specific project
Thus, mainstream use of those immersive
environments is often never reached
Since few people actually use them, these tools
tend to quickly become obsolete for lack of
interest

44.
Other tools also require expert use of them
to be allowed to contribute content and/or
programming
They might require special hardware to run
Simultaneous, collaborative use is possible
only inside the rigourous conditions of the
lab; mainstream Internet usage is never (or
rarely) foreseen, and, if at all, it is limited
In short, these tools are useful for providing
proofs-of-concept or prototypes for experts,
but rarely, if ever, good enough for a real
audience of mainstream users

45.
By contrast, Second Life is a mainstream
product, accessible to users of all ages (from
18 to over 80!), with normal computers
Navigation is moderately simple; but users
can very easily collaborate in the virtual
environment without requiring neither
much knowledge, nor training
Content creation and even programming
are accessible to non-professionals with
reasonable results, without external tools
Videos can be extracted from Second Life
(machinima) without requiring long
rendering sessions but just editing with
popular home applications (e.g. iMovie)

46.
Second Life and OpenSimulator
Second Life is a commercial product run by
Linden Lab; hosting 3D content has a
monthly cost
For a long-term project that requires
several years of development, if the area to
be recreated is very vast, there is a running
cost which can be quite high during the
development stage
Without adequate long-term funding, the
best option is to do the development using
OpenSimulator (which is free, open source,
and fully compatible with Second Life) and
copy the content over at the end

47.
Phases

48.
Progress
Given the project’s dimension, it is being
carried out in several phases. The first
modelled building was the Opera House. The
second stage included the west side of the
Royal Courthouse, the Royal Palace and its
gardens, and Rua da Capela.
The current stage has introduced the Patriarcal
and its plaza, corrected most of the buildings in
Rua da Capela as well as the Opera House’s
façade, redesigned the palace gardens, and
remodelled the Clock Tower.

49.
The Royal Palace
A brief chronology:
Built at the beginning of the 16th century, by
King D. Manuel I;
Suffered major works at the beginning of
the 17th century, after the union between
the Crowns of Spain and Portugal (1580).
King Phillip II of Spain (I of Portugal), b. 1527
– d. 1598, replaced the old fortification, by
an imposing tower (1584), and refurbished
the Queen’s apartments and the Royal
Chapel.

50.
The Royal Tower (known as Terzi Tower,
from the Italian architect Filippo Terzi;
although its plan was probably the work of
the Spanish architect Juan Herrera)
represented, thereafter, a symbol of the
royal palace in Terreiro do Paço. From the
old palace, survived the north end of the
ensemble.
Some refurbishment works by king D. João
IV (b. 1604 – d. 1656);

51.
The Joanine project (King D. João V –
1707-1750):
Refurbishment of the Queen’s apartments
and the building of the New Clock Tower, by
the Italian architect Antonio Canevari
(1681-1751). Works between 1707 and
1728;

52.
Renovation and extension of the Royal
Chapel, which became the new Patriarchal,
by Johann Friedrich Ludwig (1670 - 1752).
Works between 1716 and 1746;
The building of the Patriarchal Piazza. Works
between 1740-1746;
Refurbishment of the Princesses’
apartments (the King’s grand-daughters),
completed in 1749, probably by Johann
Friedrich Ludwig.

53.
The Opera House
Located near Lisbon's main square, the
Terreiro do Paço (Palace Courtyard), the
Opera House, designed by the Italian
architect Giovanni Carlo Bibiena
(1717-1760), opened to the public in April
1755 only to be destroyed by the
earthquake 7 months later
For its architectural character and short
lived existence, somehow epitomises the
baroque transformation of Lisbon's city
centre

54.
Unfortunately, there are few sources of
information for the study of this building.
Only part of the plans and one of the
elevations survived.
Therefore, it was used as working material
Bibiena’s plans for other European opera
houses.
The stage designs are the actual ones made
by Bibiena for the Lisbon Opera House.

55.
The Ruins of Opera House (18th century). An English version
of the illustrations by Paris and Pedegache, engraved by
Jacques Philippe Le Bas.

56.
Opera House Foyer
The foyer had impressive elements, with two
entries, one towards the river (facing the
south), and one to the north, where today runs
the Arsenal Street.

57.
Foyer

58.
Foyer

59.
Foyer with stairway to the main room

60.
Opera House Main Room
The main room was not very large, although it
was quite high. Descriptions at the time tell us
that the decoration — marbles, giltwork, and
exotic woods — were so luxurious that the
audience, during the performance, was often
distracted by them.

61.
Main room — view of the stage

62.
Main room — view of the boxes

63.
View of the ceiling

64.
View from above

65.
Opera House Stage
The stage, of huge proportions, was larger
than the main room, allowing exuberant
productions that even included cavalry
companies
We present the scenario designed by G.
Bibiena for the première of the opera
Allessandro nell’India by David Perez

66.
View of the stage

67.
Detail of the stage

68.
Opera House Exteriors
Our proposal is an adaptation (since the
buildings are so different) of the designs by
Bibiena for the theatres of Nancy and Vienna,
namely with regard to the north and main
entrances.

69.
The Opera House, north façade

70.
The Opera House, north façade detail

71.
The Opera House, south façade

72.
The Opera House, portico on south façade

73.
Video from Second Life
We present a small, amateur-
quality video showing the feeling
to be immersed in the Lisbon of
1755

74.
Credits
Scientific coordination
Alexandra Gago da Câmara
António Filipe Pimentel
Helena Murteira
Paulo Rodrigues
Technical coordination & production
Beta Technologies
Consultant (audio sources)
Octávio dos Santos

75.
Credits
Sponsor
CHAIA (Centro de História de Arte e
Investigação Artística – Artistic Research and
History of Art Centre) – University of Évora
Partner
King’s Visualisation Lab – Kings College
Music
Música para D. João VI e D. Carlota
Mário Marques Trilha & Isabel Alcobia
Numérica Produções
Allesandro Nell’Indie
Carlos Perez
Courtesy of Antena 2/RTP