48-461 Envisioning Johnstown in 5D
9 units, Carnegie Mellon University
How do we visualize cities and how do cities see themselves? What does it mean to see a place and how do we understand that place through visualizations? What kind of data and other information is needed to say that we understand a place, or really, anything? How do the inhabitants of a place - insiders - understand a place differently than outsiders and how can those insiders use their understanding to help to advance that place?s fortunes? How can these insiders identify and share information with outsiders to encourage desirable activities and discourage the opposite? For architects and urban designers, drawings and models are tools for understanding. The trouble with many drawings and models is that they are neutrally descriptive rather than having a point of view, forming the basis for a case or a proposal. Traditional drawing is static. Physical models are inflexible in terms of modification. Digital drawings and virtual models afford the makers of these tools the ability to change perspective and point of view, to move within them dynamically, and to alter the informational emphasis depending upon the audience or the function of the intended communication. Virtual models can be inhabited dynamically and can be enhanced with a variety of meta-information. If traditional drawing describes dimension and perspective (2D and 3D), then a virtual model of a place layers in the elements of time and movement (4D) and meta-information (5D). This semester we will be exploring the development of an informationally rich and dynamically viewable ?flythrough? model of Johnstown, PA.
Prerequisites: 48-205
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