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Architectural Laboratory II Description and Assessment
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Table of contents: 1. Introduction 4. Tools of Presentation |
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4. Tools of Presentation |
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Observing the design and presentation tools that the new generation of architecture students use is a very interesting experience. They rely heavily on digital technologies, primarily computer rendering programs and video clips. Very often, this reliance becomes an obsession, and the use of digital technologies becomes an end rather than a tool. Learning to use these tools frequently is at the expense of more traditional tools. Freehand sketching, therefore, almost is completely absent from the repertoire of tools that students now master. Interestingly enough, even though one of the students showed superb free-hand sketching abilities, these abilities barely were used as a tool in the analysis and design processes for the project. Fortunately, the instructors did encourage the students to at least build physical three-dimensional cardboard models, and a number of the students did produce them. However, they used such models as a presentation tool rather than a design development tool. Although digital technologies provide wonderful opportunities for exploring the architectural design process, and allow for experimentation that often is not possible using more traditional media such as sketching and physical model building, there is a concern that such technologies have come to take over basic design skills. Today, it is common to come across students who can produce flashy presentations for a project, but are not able to put together a working plan or even a project in which the plan and elevation fit together. In fact, one of the goals of the first Architectural Laboratory studio, carried out in the summer of 2003, was to encourage students to work directly through drawings and physical model building, rather than rely exclusively on computer-generated images. |
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