Hintergrund 33

Description

The excursion series “Sundays” was to be expanded in terms of content to include the conceptually broad subject area of “virtual architecture”. The aim of the series of events is to analyze the influence of new media in the field of architecture and its border areas and to prepare it in the form of excursions, lectures, discussions, presentations and publications, as well as to position it as a fixed component in the mediation of architecture. Of interest are the intersections between architecture and communication, virtual space versus built space, the simulation of spaces, the expansion of visual impressions in space, and the probing of the boundaries of technological developments.

In March 2003, the opportunity arose for the initial event “Architecture for Data” for the newly planned track. At the Institute for Computer-based Methods at the Vienna University of Technology, lectures were given by the head of the institute, Professor Georg Franck-Oberaspach, and his university assistants on research projects in the field of information architecture – a methodology for representing databases spatially. Subsequent events addressed advanced possibilities for architectural representation, such as animation, which has long since established itself as a common form of presentation in the field of exhibitions and competitions.

Visits to relevant studios, such as ZOOM VP and Virtual DynamiX, provided access to the production facilities of virtual worlds. The podium of the Architekturzentrum Wien offered a wide variety of presentations ranging from combination techniques in model making, interactive activities in the “Cave” to possible applications of facade technologies. The construction of the Uniqa Tower on Vienna’s Danube Canal and its extravagant façade illumination as well as the LED façade of the Q19 building in Vienna’s Döbling district also provided an actual excursion on the topic of media façades in Vienna.