PRINCETON, NJ.- The Princeton University Art Museum announces the debut of its first mobile web application, Princeton and the Gothic Revival, a multimedia exploration of Princeton’s Gothic Revival architecture—the campus’s defining visual language—through text, audio, and images. The mobile app is accessible from any iPhone, iPod touch, or Android device and is available here. The Princeton and the Gothic Revival mobile app was developed in conjunction with the exhibition Princeton and the Gothic Revival: 1870–1930, on view at the Princeton University Art Museum through June 24.

Princeton and the Gothic Revival takes visitors on a tour of nine existing and historic sites on the Princeton campus: Chancellor Green Library, East Pyne Library, the Class of 1877 Biological Lab (demolished in 1946), University Chapel, Marquand Chapel (destroyed in 1920), the Museum of Historic Art (demolished in 1964), Alexander Hall, Blair Hall, and Holder Hall. It includes images from the recently digitized Historical Photograph Collection in the University Archives, as well as images of works in the exhibition and audio featuring experts from across campus. An interactive map allows visitors to situate themselves relative to the sites and to navigate the campus using their device’s GPS capabilities. “The mobile app technology allows us to go outside the Museum’s walls and make the experience of great art and architecture available to every campus visitor with a smart device,” said James Steward, director of the Princeton University Art Museum. “Even after the exhibition closes, the app will provide visitors to Princeton with the opportunity to learn more about the campus and the place of the Gothic Revival style in the idea and reality of Princeton University.” Princeton and the Gothic Revival tells the stories behind some of Princeton University’s most beloved buildings. For University Chapel, a masterpiece of the Collegiate Gothic movement in America, the visitor can listen to exhibition curator Johanna Seasonwein tell the story of the building’s north transept, envisioned as a memorial to the campus’s lost Marquand Chapel, destroyed by fire; hear Alison Boden, Dean of Religious Life, describe her favorite parts of the building; or see images of original watercolor designs for the chapel, currently on view in the exhibition.

Princeton and the Gothic Revival uses the Sencha Touch mobile application framework, built on HTML5 and JavaScript, to deliver a cross-platform experience. A responsive design also enables visitors to experience the app’s rich offerings from a tablet or desktop device. The app can be accessed through an internet browser without the need for any download or installation, using 3G/4G or Wi-Fi connections.

Princeton and the Gothic Revival: 1870–1930 explores America’s changing attitudes toward the art and architecture of the Middle Ages around the turn of the 20th century and the central role played by these designs in the evolution of the University. Organized by Johanna G. Seasonwein, the Museum’s Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow for Academic Programs, Princeton and the Gothic Revival: 1870–1930 investigates the adoption of the Gothic Revival as a style appropriate for American universities through the lens of Princeton University’s campus and collections.

The exhibition covers the years between the dedication of the first High Victorian Gothic building on the Princeton campus, Chancellor Green Library, and the completion of the extraordinary University Chapel. The exhibition draws from the Art Museum’s collections and the resources of Princeton’s Firestone Library and the University Archives, along with those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and other institutions, to highlight Princeton University’s role as a major patron of Gothic Revival art and architecture and to demonstrate how this style—of England’s “ancient universities”—helped shape the identity of modern-day Princeton.