Chiara Piccoli is Research Associate at the 4D Research Lab (Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam). She is an affiliated member of the UvA Data Science Centre. In her research, she investigates the historical relationship between people, their built environments, and their material culture with the aid of digital methods, in particular 3D modelling and GIS mapping.

From 2018 to 2022, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam in the NWO-funded project Virtual Interiors as Interfaces for Big Historical Data. By researching archival and building historical sources, she created 3D reconstructions of a selection of interiors from seventeenth-century Amsterdam houses aiming to investigate the use and experiences of domestic spaces. One of the results of her research is her monograph on the home library and books of Pieter de Graeff (1638-1707), Amsterdam patrician and VOC director (Brill, 2025) accompanied by the 3D Scholarly Edition of the library's reconstruction hypothesis.

Prior to joining the University of Amsterdam, she worked as research and teaching staff member in the Digital Archaeology group of Leiden University and was appointed researcher in the FP7 European project CEEDS - The Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems. The project's overarching goal was to develop innovative tools that would exploit implicit human responses to guide users in discovering patterns and meaning within large datasets.

She is the author of Visualizing cityscapes of Classical antiquity: from early modern reconstruction drawings to digital 3D models (Archaeopress, 2018) resulting from her PhD research. She co-edited Advanced research and design tools for architectural heritage. Unforeseen paths (Routledge, 2024) with Stefania Stellacci and Danilo Giglitto, and The three dimensions of archaeology (Archaeopress, 2016) with Hans Kamermans, Wieke de Neef, Axel G. Posluschny and Roberto Scopigno. 

Chiara holds an MA degree in Greek and Roman Archaeology (University of Siena, 2008) and an MA degree in Book and Digital Media Studies (Leiden University, 2010) for which she was awarded the Tiele-Stichting thesis prize in 2011 for the best thesis in the field of Book Studies in the Netherlands.

Project portfolio at https://visualpasts.eu/

AI-PastScapes: Artificial Intelligence assisted 3D reconstruction of historical cities (NWO XS 2025, role: Principal Investigator)
This project investigates how Artificial Intelligence can be effectively used to automate the 3D reconstruction of vanished buildings starting from historical images.

Dynamic3D (Open eScience call 2025-2027, role: co-applicant)
Dynamic3D seeks to transform how we interact with and understand 3D models in the humanities and social sciences. By enhancing the Smithsonian's Voyager platform, it will introduce tools for real-time simulations, exploring variables and hypotheses, and visualising uncertainties.

From convent to knowledge quarter (completed in 2024, role: team member)
In this project, 4D Research Lab researchers have created historical reconstructions of a selection of buildings in the Amsterdam University Quarter to show their transformation through time.

Virtual Interiors (NWO 2018-2023; role: postdoctoral researcher)
The Virtual Interiors project focused on the question of how we can develop and publish digital maps and virtual rooms using historical data to reliably represent cultural objects in seventeenth-century interiors, expressing what we know and do not know.

CEEDs – The Collective Experience of Empathic Data Systems (EU funded 2010-2015; role: researcher)
CEEDs aimed to develop innovative tools to exploit implicit human responses to guide users in discovering patterns and meaning within large datasets.

• Experiences and uses of domestic and urban spaces in the past
• Vernacular architecture and the cultural significance of historical houses
• Early modern private libraries and the transmission of knowledge
• Temporal 3D (4D) modelling for historical research, cultural heritage data management and digital scholarly communication
• Semi-automated and AI-assisted 3D modelling techniques for cultural heritage
• Visualization of uncertainty and ethical considerations in digital reconstructions

In the academic year 2025/2026, Chiara coordinates the courses "Digitization of the Past and Present" (MA in Archaeology), "Digital 3D Techniques and Methodologies for Conservation and Art Technological Research" (MA in Conservation and Restoration), "Digital Archaeology" (BA in Archaeology) and co-teaches "De Digitale Stad" (The digital city), part of the Master's in Architectural History. In 2024 she was awarded a grassroots grant to develop a prototype immersive Virtual Reality environment for teaching digital restoration practices.