Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design

404 EAAE no 35 Teaching and Experimenting with Architectural Design: Advances in Technology and Changes in Pedagogy

Introduction

The paper examines interdisciplinary design in proposed architectural coursework at
the University of Cyprus. It is presented in a scalar exposition of various efforts from
the regional scale to the urban and community development scale and finally to the
scale of building construction design. Scale is not only thought of as the relative
unit measurement of the intervention, but suggests rather the interaction between
its parts, its proportion and an appropriate level of interdisciplinary involvement
in proposing schemes that are sensitive to multi-faceted concerns in developing a
building site. Furthermore, the aim of the authors is to consider the formations as
part of proposed studio coursework of integrated design consulting teams – with the
contribution of external collaborators and research scientists – to guide students
through technical and scalar questions they need to address as part of comprehensive
studio project evolution and development.

At the Regional and City Scale...

Today students of architecture are obligated to produce CAD drawings for certain
of their projects. They use CAD and 3D modelling software as well as a multiplicity
of other programs. Three-dimensional sketching using the computer is by now both
meaningful and desirable for Architects and Town Planners alike. The universities are
progressively accepting the use of software, which make possible and/or facilitate
easy and direct designing in 3D space. Therefore the logical next step for the use of
computer drafting in architectural and urban design would be sketching directly in
three-dimensional environment, i.e. the use of virtual reality (VR) systems.

The “Nicosia Project” – An introduction

The “Nicosia Project” is a virtual model of the walled part of the city of Nicosia
(Figure 1). It is a dynamically developing network of hyper linked databases on the
architecture, the culture and the history of the city. It is an information system based
on Internet technology, which uses the World Wide Web as a communication platform
because of its open standards, commonly available software and easy use. Vast quan-
tities of information lie fallow because they are not accessible, not connected with
each other and not usable because of incompatibilities and proprietary formats. The
same work is sometimes done over and over again because of lack of communication
and coordination. The concept is an information warehouse, a network of databases
that holds data in various formats and points to external sources where data can be
accessed directly.

Description of the “Nicosia project”

A significant element of the project is the creation of knowledge concerning the devel-
opment of new methods in the production, management and promotion of multiple and
multiform databases (Figure 2). These databases could include text, multimedia data,
(various graphic formats, animation, video data and sounds), 3D models, VR models,
QTVR, CAD and GIS data, etc. All relevant information will be collected and processed