Architectural Design V-IX: Immersive Studio - Istituto Svizzero Roma (F.Gramazio/M.Kohler)

Abstract

In the Immersive Studio we design in virtual space and assess the current project status regularly from a first-person perspective. We work with the CAD software Rhinoceros and create our designs directly in 3D. Consistent work on the model ensures that the immersive experience of the project using virtual reality glasses is possible at any time and without additional effort.

Objective

We are used to designing architecture from a supposedly objective perspective. With immersive technologies, we overcome this distance, expand our perception and immerse ourselves directly in the space to be designed. In doing so, we develop an altered understanding of space by digitally designing architecture and its construction while simultaneously moving within it. We will not produce orthogonal representations of the project. We will generate plans and sections using horizontal and vertical section planes on the 3D model. This allows us to efficiently and interactively present abstractions necessary for understanding the spatial relationships. The possibility to present the designs in the Immersive Design Lab using a room-filling projection and to immerse with VR goggles requires new forms of presentation, which we will explore together. - We learn how to develop and explore our projects with virtual reality - We learn to computationally design with the parametric tool grasshopper in rhino - We present our projects interactively in the Immersive Design Lab

Content

This semester we will design an extension to the Swiss Institute in Rome. This consists of Villa Maraini, located in the middle of an elevated park, and an outbuilding integrated into the perimeter wall of the property. This outbuilding, the so-called "Dipendenza", is to be extended in height and will consequently have its own presence in the park. The addition will house contemporary spaces for individual and collective work, workshops, and meeting places for interdisciplinary exchange among the Institute's guests.

Resources