Digital Reflections of Palladian Spaces

Assistant Prof. Daniela Sirbu

Department of New Media, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Email: daniela.sirbu@uleth.ca

Description

This interactive art project (figure 1) investigates in experiential ways the generative power of Palladian architecture taking “La Rotonda” as the starting point of the digital journey. The purpose of the project is to expose the visitor to spaces generated through abstract rules starting from a known familiar pattern.

The interactive character of the digital space allows the visitor to experience La Rotonda both as pure geometrical abstraction starting from the plan, and section drawings, and as anthropomorphic digital architecture allowing human orientation in the virtual space based on behaviours acquired through interaction with real architecture. The visitor’s actions generate new patterns of possible Palladian architecture representing the digital reflections of the real Palladian spaces.

The movie explores interactions between the inner and outer spaces of the Palladian digitally generated forms of architecture. The investigation is meant to emphasize the idea of a new space conception related to the specifics of architectural space in an artificial changeable environment, developing along the historical line described by Siegfried Giedion. The new forms of digital architecture are explored from the perspective of their relation with thought, perception, and multiple dimensions of human existence in the information age.

The proposed interactive art project provides a basis for qualitative analysis synthesizing principles for virtual architecture design as a basis for the creation of spatialized information spaces. New directions of design and development for Internet portals are investigated based on the transfer of architectural composition and structures to the organization of the digital medium.

This interactive art project has been developed as a platform for qualitative analysis and research in the area of Internet portals and hybrid immersive environments for architectural research and design. These projects are funded through a University of Lethbridge Research Fund Grant, through a University of Lethbridge Teaching Development Grant, and through Alberta WestGrid Collaborative Visualization Program.

Figure 1. Digital Reflections of Palladian Spaces - Interactive art. Screen shot. Project developed by Daniela Sirbu, University of Lethbridge.

Imaginary Palladian Spaces

Assistant Prof. Daniela Sirbu,

Department of New Media, University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

Email: daniela.sirbu@uleth.ca

Description

This movie (figure 1) explores in experiential ways the idea of a fourth space conception [1] rooted in the specifics of the digital medium. Changed relationships between the interior and the exterior of the virtual architecture and their coexistence in simultaneous shots are investigated in order to experiment with differences and similarities in the perception of represented and real spaces.

Figure 1. Imaginary Palladian Spaces - Movie. Screen shot. Project developed by Daniela Sirbu, University of Lethbridge.

This movie investigates the interplay between the evolving character of the digital architecture and the development of new patterns of human behaviour in interaction with the changeable virtual environment. It explores a digital architectural space in development taking as a starting point Palladio’s villa “La Rotonda.” The architectural space is first exposed as pure geometry, then it is investigated as a growing abstract construction evolving from a nucleus pattern provided by “La Rotonda,” then it is explored through interactions between emerging inner and outer spaces, available for exploration on multiple planes.

Starting from architecture as abstract form, the movie attempts to link the beauty of pure geometry with human thought, perception, and the multiple dimensions of human existence. The movie begins with abstract representations of architecture, and then develops towards an exploration of evocative values of an active and changing digital architectural environment. The movie investigates the poetics of the evolving architectural forms and how these are related to the original starting pattern.

The movie development is characterized by the coexistence of a number of parallel universes. An accumulation of details is used as an operational device throughout the movie to provide references toward the coexisting different universes. The development in time of the visual composition is operated through manipulation of visual perception shifts from one meaningful element to another. Throughout the movie, shots staging emphasize the exposition of different artificial worlds. The viewer is floating between emerging universes that can never be seen concretized. Transitions in the movie are a very effective device, an counterexample of pictorial continuity in the sense it is performed in classical Hollywood style.

Acknowledgements

This movie, together with the interactive art project proposed for GA2003, has been developed as an experimentation platform for research in the area of Internet portals and hybrid immersive environments for architectural research and design. These projects are funded through a University of Lethbridge Research Grant, through a University of Lethbridge Teaching Development Grant, and through Alberta WestGrid Collaborative Visualization Program.