A soft architecture
Date
1999
Authors
Zhang, Kun
Major Professor
Advisor
Segrest, Robert T.
Committee Member
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Abstract
This project is a visitor information center for Iowa State University and the City of Ames. The design sought to explore the possibility of integrating computer and information technology into each phase of the design process, to create a new type of architecture for the media age. Both the design process and the final design are the emphasis of this project. It's an exciting experimental design that utilizes various advanced computer hardware and software technologies. The start point of the entire design was the animation and special f/x software Maya, which is evidence that the architecture would never exist without the presence of computer. And the design process, from sketch to production, is entirely completed in the virtual environment of computers, make this project a computer generated design rather than a computer aided design. The architecture here is a bridge between the physical and virtual world. It's the media itself rather than a place to hold it. Human interaction is another great feature that allows the architecture to be customized and ever changing. Therefore, by constantly redefines itself, it also continuously redefines the definition of space, material, and other traditional architectural elements.
Technology is ever advancing; hardware and software are continuously upgrading. Certain technology utilized in this project might be outdated in merely a few months. Yet the architecture will always be on the cutting edge - it upgrades too! The reason to choose the CD-ROM as the thesis format can be simple: the information that traditional acid-free paper can carry is too limited for a project based on hypermedia. Actually, the integration of the architecture project into a CD-ROM is very important in this thesis. Because of the similarity of the nature of a visitor information center, a CD-ROM and the World Wide Web, the design seeks a way to merge the three into one another, to create an information system for both the physical and virtual world. Thus the interface of the CD-ROM could be an architectural element in the building, and parts of the building are generated directly from the World Wide Web. And through the CD-ROM you can have easy access to any of the three in just one click. (This feature is disabled due to the requirements of thesis, but is explored and can be easily realized with the help of hyperlinks.) The boundary of virtual and physical world is thus become non-exist. Architecture becomes the interface where people and virtual world interact with each other. In contrast to the traditional static backdrop-like role, this architecture plays an ever-changing part in the media age.
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thesis