VIRTUAL New Schools of Thought

Abstract

Interior Design and Architecture by there very definition are disciplines of circumstance and situation. We are working within a host space, site or area and using its existing physical characteristics as an intrinsic part of the process. As practitioners we are bound by the problematic nature of the building process. It is rare that we can make a full scale ‘mock up’ of the creative proposal, instead we reply on an array of representations to communicate our intentions. As a university tutor, teaching these techniques makes up a large part of the design pedagogy. The advent of technology such as digital twin prototyping (DTP), AR, VR and Lidar scanning, amongst others, allows us many innovative ways to test out our various interventions before committing to a final proposal. We are teaching cohorts who are immersed within a Digital Anthropology based culture, often spending long periods ‘of their attention within digitised environments’1. This paper will examine three recent case studies that promote new ways of engaging students with space: A metaverse in common. A yearly, international experimental collaboration looking at how virtual spaces utilise emerging technology to test hypothetical solutions. This year the participants used Ai as a conceptual instigator, which were then modelled to become ‘real’, before being AR displayed in actual physical locations. Conversations about Climate Change’ exhibition where viewers were able to experience the work on display during a period that the gallery was closed. If a space was conceived as an Extended Reality experience at inception, how does that alter the potential for designing it? Digital Landscapes was an experiment to imagine what a degree show might look like if it was a VR experience. Freed of pesky restraints like gravity, how might we display student work and what would the visitor’s experience be.