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TRADITION v. THE
VIRTUAL BUILDING
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TRADITION v. THE VIRTUAL BUILDING
Our primary concerns have been
those aspects of a design programer which most
profoundly influence the ‘form-making’ process
in the prosecution of a building design.
But having established a ‘form’ which meets
the major design objectives and is capable of
development, this process represents in time but
a fraction of the entire protracted design
period.
Nevertheless, it represents by far
the most crucial (and arguably, the most
problematic) activity for the designer; flawed
decisions in form-making cannot be retrieved by
subsequent assiduous attention to detail but
only appropriate formal responses at
this stage can form the basis of meaningful
architecture. Moreover, they can be developed to enhance the clarity of that initial
concept.
- Design by drawing
Nevertheless, it is axiomatic that a facility for drawing most emphatically assists the design process; ‘design by drawing’, then, represents by far the most accessible and efficient method for early exploration in design.
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Design by drawing
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Moreover, overlays of tracing paper, because
of their transparency, allow swift
modification of an initial ‘form’ again and again
without having to repeat the whole process from
scratch; the results of this process can then be
assessed by means of a physical model. Even at
this stage, colored pencils can be used,
‘coding’ drawings to distinguish spatial hierarchies.
Such clarity will help not only the
ongoing assessment of the emerging design’s validity,
but will also assist in maintaining the
clarity of the diagram as the design develops.
Designs cannot be ‘tested’ until
they are drawn to scale. Only in this way
can the designer ‘feel’ the size of
building elements in relation to each other and in
relation to the site and its physical context.
The virtual building
Although it is now unthinkable that fledgling architects could enter their profession without sophisticated levels of computer literacy, nevertheless, there is still a perception amongst many that hand drawing and physical models offer a more direct and flexible design tool than computer-generated techniques.
But if the central role of the
architect is to create spaces for human habitation, then
it seems axiomatic that the virtual
building, which provides an accurate
three-dimensional representation of the designer’s concept, will
allow him to understand the project more
comprehensively.
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| the virtual building |
Essentially, the virtual building
is an accurately described digital representation of
an architectural design modeled
three-dimensionally. As the project develops, the
virtual building allows the architect to
accurately ‘test’ the three-dimensional
outcomes of design decisions that affect the
nature of external form, internal space, and junctions
of components.
Moreover, because it is represented by one model, then the need to
co-ordinate several drawings is removed, and
the margin 108 Architecture:
Design Notebook for error, inherent in traditional
methods, is therefore substantially reduced.
Two-dimensional plans, sections and elevations may also be extracted for evaluation
early in the design process, with any
modifications subsequently being fed back into the single
virtual building model.
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