The Web's explosive popularity allows people from around the globe to be increasingly connected, allowing for new types of social, professional and recreational relationships. Partnering with trusted colleagues half a world away or directly consulting the most remote expert has become much easier. A home office connected to headquarters allows more time spent with family as well as transforming territorial office planning.
Extending the reach of the phone and facsimile, computer based telecommunications provide additional paths for communication such as live video-conferencing, shared application workspace as well as asynchronous (non-live) transfer of images, sound, video, 3D information. Those unable to use these tools will need to rely on intermediaries as the world splits between technology have and have-nots.
While those of working with machines realize that the awkward constraints and demands can counterbalance the promised advantages, we have the assurance that at least we are peeking at the possibilities of the new alternatives. Neither the printing press, the typewriter nor the personal computer killed pen and and paper, and something about the manual interface of the pencil exactly matches the needs of certain situations. Investigation of new tools is part of our quest is for the right tool at the right time*.
The excitement of this search comes from seeing that we can understand our work in new ways and that perhaps the work itself might become better as it changes. Software developers provide us with the raw methods; it is up to each discipline to find how these methods are best utilized for specific purposes. Designers are lucky to be in a world where the demand for visual sophistication is increasing. Architectural designers bring the particular three-dimensional understanding which will further increase in importance as spatial interfaces become more sophisticated.
For those pursuing more traditional professional archectural careers, being able to assimilate new technologies for architectural practice is critically important. Computer technology makes it (almost) feasible to manage and coordinate the huge amount of information involved in the process of design and construction. In addition to visualization and document production tools, database and project management software provide a way to plan, monitor and correct resource and personnel allocations. After completion of the immense amount of information becomes a valuable commodity for facilities management. Since all of these processes involve working in teams, with specialization and joint ventures becoming increasingly common, clear communication is crucial. Whether within organzitions, as in the case of intranets or between locations, network groupware tools can facilitate collaborating on these complex documents.
Subsequently, an annual series of student projects has been conducted using the latest avail.able technology to bridge the distance of space and time. These projects have allowed sharing of design methods, technical expertise and cultural differences.
Increasingly, we have been structuring the project to increase the amount and quality of exchange. In 93 and 94, each school had a design team which worked in parallel with the others. For 95, we arranged shotgun marriages across the distance, but due to scheduling problems, separate partis were already established. In 96, teams were arranged early, including both architectural students and some computer science grads so that roles would be more clear. In addition, the location of the project in Hong Kong split the designers into remote and local, with additional younger students acting as client penpals. A similar tactic was used in the fall of 1996 in a U of O sketch problem with UBC, where individually designed components were collaboratively used to synthesize new designs.
E-mail and Web browsing gives immediate contact with the Internet community and an almost infinite learning resource.
Web authoring: Creating documents for the Web can be as simple as word processing or as elaborate as your imagination will allow. Start with simple text and a digitized photo of something you care about. Plan how the information will be organized into nodes (nuggets of information) and links (individual connections between specific nuggets). Learning how to manipulate the text and photo and control their graphic appearance comes next.
For architects, becoming facile at drawing 2D lines and modeling 3D forms in CAD programs are very important. Analyzing and presenting the forms and spaces via rendering, animation and interactive 3D formats.
The interfaces for designing can only improve, so that laborious input will decrease. Optimization of sketching tools which allow automatic links to previous ideas are already being in working prototypes. Qualities such as the tactility of modeling clay and the flexibility of spring steel will be incorporated into modeling tools. While currently expensive virtual reality equipment allow the simulation of visual, aural and tactile feedback, eventually whole rooms will be able to repond to our gestures.
If the current acceleration of technology holds, then even as these tools become more powerful and easier to use, they will also proliferate at a great pace. So, as we do today, we'll still have to find the right tool for a task, learn the specific aspect which we need and then move on. We'll naturally have to develop expertise at the tools which are most useful for our particular needs, but adeptness at finding the essential possibilities of a new tool will be the most the most valuable skill.
edited Jan 7, 1996 by nywcheng