Assessing the impact of computer use on landscape architecture professional practice: efficiency, effectiveness, and design creativity

Landscape architects claim that computers are efficient and effective presentation tools. However, to date, no one has evaluated the impact of computer use on the nature and quality of design in a practice setting. To further explore this issue, a trial was conducted with landscape architecture students in which they worked in conventional, mixed and digital media. Results indicated that although computer use was efficient in some tasks, the nature of the design process did not yield itself effectively yet to complete computerization. In addition, to assess the impact of computer use more broadly on office practice today, a survey was conducted of over 100 Chapter Executive Members of the American Society of Landscape Architects in the United States of America.Survey results indicated that computer use has permeated all areas of landscape architecture practice, and that it has genuinely improved drawing quality and capability. However, it has not significantly impacted the artistic or creative aspects. Few respondents believed the computer can improve these facets of the profession or that traditional practice methods will be totally replaced by the computer.The results suggest that academic and professional sectors of landscape architecture must help educate existing professionals to fully grasp the benefits of current and emerging computer technologies and to prepare the future professionals for an increasingly digital practice

Visualizing Archaeology - with Virtual Reality tools

This thesis is concerning how archaeologists can use virtual reality for the 3D visualization of archaeological data. By studying different case studies concerning virtual reality and archaeology, I will try to define how the use of this technology is employed today to transfer knowledge in the sector of Cultural Heritage. During this work I will develop a virtual reality system about Bishops cellar (Biskopskällaren), an archaeological site located in Scania, Sweden. This work will allow me to design and analyze a workflow data construction for the creation of visualization system, the results of this work will be analyzed and discussed

Problems of Designing Geoportal Interfaces

The manuscript is devoted to analysis of the problem of designing graphical geoportal interfaces. The support points for the problem solutions are formulated and rationale of each of them is given. The emphasis was placed on the following orientations: to a flexible process of interface development, the need to introduce adaptability, progressive development, the motivated abandonment of geospatial content management systems and the use of third-party libraries where necessary, problem-solving and achieving goals. The lists of basic functional and qualitative requirements for graphical geoportal interfaces are given. In the last segment, the authors share their experience in the development of geoportal solutions

Discrete Automation - Eyes of the City

Observing people’s presence in physical space and deciphering their behaviors have always been critical actions to designers, planners and anyone else who has an interest in exploring how cities work. It was 1961 when Jane Jacobs, in her seminal book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”, coined a famous expression to convey this idea. According to Jacobs, “the natural proprietors” of a certain part of the metropolis – the people who live, work or spend a substantial amount of time there – become the “eyes on the street.” Their collective, distributed, decentralized gaze becomes the prerequisite to establishing “a marvelous order for maintaining the safety of the streets and the freedom of the city.” Almost half a century later, we find ourselves at the inception of a new chapter in the relationship between the city and digital technologies, which calls for a reexamination of the old “eyes on the street” idea. In the next few years, thanks to the most recent advances in Artificial Intelligence, deep learning and imaging, we are about to reach an unprecedented scenario, the most radical development in the evolution of the Internet-of-Things: architectural space is acquiring the full ability to “see.” Imagine that any room, street or shop in our city can recognize you, and autonomously respond to your presence. With Jacobs’s “eyes on the street,” it was people who looked at other people or the city and interpreted its mechanisms. In this new scenario, buildings and streets similarly acquire the ability to observe and react as urban life unfolds in front of them. After the “eyes on the street,” we are now entering the era of the “Eyes of the City.” What happens, then, to people and the urban landscape when the sensor-imbued city is able to gaze back? What we are currently facing is an “utopia or oblivion” crossroads, to say it with the words of one of the most notable thinkers of the past century, Richard Buckminster Fuller. We believe that one of the fundamental duties of architects and designers today is to grapple with this momentous shift, and engage people in the process. “Eyes of the City” aims to experiment with these emerging scenarios to better comprehend them, deconstructing the potential uses of new technologies in order to make them accessible to everyone and inspire people to form an opinion. Using critical design as a tool, the exhibition seeks to create experiences that will encourage people to get involved in defining the ways in which new technologies will shape their cities in years to come. For this reason, it recognizes in Shenzhen’s Futian high-speed railway station its natural home – a place where to reach a broad, diverse audience of intentional visitors and accidental passersby, and a space where, just like in most other liminal transportation hubs, the impact of an “Eyes of the City” scenario is likely going to be felt the most

Scenography and new media technologies: history, educational applications and visualization techniques

The endemic presence of digital technology is responsible for numerous changes in contemporary Western societies. This study examines the role of multimedia within the field of theatre studies, with particular focus on the theory and practice of theatre design and education. In the cross-disciplinary literature review, I investigate such primary elements of contemporary media as interactivity, immersion, integration and hyper-textuality, and explore their characteristics in the performing arts before and during the digital epoch. I also discuss various IT applications that transformed the way we experience, learn and co-create our cultural heritage. In order to illustrate how computer-generated environments could change the way we perceive and deliver cultural values, I explore a suite of rapidly-developing communication and computer-visualization techniques, which enable reciprocal exchange between viewers, theatre performances and artefacts. I analyze novel technology-mediated teaching techniques that attempt to provide a new media platform for visually-enhanced information transfer. My findings indicate that the recent changes towards the personalization of knowledge delivery and also towards student-centered study and e-learning necessitated the transformation of the learners from passive consumers of digital products to active and creative participants in the learning experience. The analysis of questionnaires and two case studies (the THEATRON and the VA projects) demonstrate the need for further development of digital-visualization techniques, especially for studying and researching scenographic artefacts. As a practical component of this thesis, I have designed and developed the Set-SPECTRUM educational project, which aims to strengthen the visual skills of the students, ultimately enabling them to use imagery as a creative tool, and as a means to analyze theatrical performances and artefacts. The 3D reconstruction of Norman Bel Geddes' set for The Divine Comedy, first of all, enables academic research of the artefact, exposing some hitherto unknown design-limitations in the original set-model, and revealing some construction inconsistencies; secondly, it contributes to educational and creative practices, offering an innovative way to learn about scenography. And, thirdly, it fills a gap in the history of the Western theatre design. This study attempts to show that when translated into digital language, scenographic artefacts become easily retrievable and highly accessible for learning and research purposes. Therefore, the development of such digital products should be encouraged, but care should also be taken to provide the necessary training for users, in order to realize the applications' full potential