The sculptural group - Apotheosis of Knowledge crowns the facade of the Main Building of the Warsaw University of Technology. Originally, it depicted the Genius of Knowledge and women sitting at his feet – personifications of Physics and Chemistry, and a standing boy in the middle, symbolizing the studying youth. After the post-war reconstruction, which took place in 1965, the figure of Chemistry was replaced with a more comprehensible allegory of Architecture.

As part of her engineering thesis, Julia Domachowska worked on developing a three-dimensional model of the sculpture.

– The idea to write a thesis on such a topic was born at the beginning of 2023, during photogrammetry classes – says Julia Domachowska. – Since I'm interested in 3D modeling, I thought it would be an interesting experience and would provide new information about the Apotheosis of Knowledge.

The thesis was supervised by Prof. Dorota Zawieska, who shared her experiences in close-range photogrammetry and provided many valuable insights and tips.

Due to the sculpture's location at the top of the Main Building, appropriate photographs were crucial for the accurate development of the model. Konrad Kotowski, who runs the Instagram profile podniebny_kot, took the necessary photos using a drone.

The final result of the work are two three-dimensional models of the sculpture developed in two variants: one without and one with the use of photo masking technique in Agisoft software.

3D Model of the Apotheosis of Knowledge Sculpture (Front View)

– Thanks to the development of the 3D model of the Apotheosis of Knowledge, it was possible to determine the dimensions of the sculpture, and the use of a drone helped to acquire additional photos of the lion heads decorating the stone torches at the top of the building's façade – emphasizes Julia Domachowska. – Perhaps they will be used for another thesis in the future – she adds. The width of the sculpture is 6.95 m, and its height is 6.45 m.

The engineering thesis "Development of a 3D model of the Apotheosis of Knowledge sculpture of the Main Building of the Warsaw University of Technology" was defended in February with a grade – very good.