Hard work does pay off. The above image is the competition boards submitted by a team of my third year students for the D3Space.org Housing Tomorrow Competition. This entry by Mark Lo, Tyler Laskowski, Sheena McNeice, Dane Knudson and Nick Belkowski recieved a special mention in the Alternate Typology category. As far as I can tell from the competition’s website, that category didn’t exist, so it seems that the jury created it specifically to recognize the team’s work. In addition, this was an open international competition for both professionals and students, so it is quite an honor to be one of eleven submittals to be recognized.

This team struggled at first to arrive at a consensus and had a dismal review with their first idea, but they pulled together and came up with this idea the following class and I knew right then that they were on to something. Here is their description of the project:

.consume material goods

Within contemporary society, infatuation with material possessions has lead to a lifestyle controlled by the impulsive pursuit of novelty and excitement through the consumption of material goods.  In a consumer culture dependent on media and advertising, these material goods have become a measurement of our subjective well-being as well as a replacement for many experiential aspects of our lives.  This cycle of consumption continues to progressively dominate our lives to such an extreme point that buying the ‘latest and greatest’ no longer adds satisfaction to our lives and we begin to question the purpose of our existence.

.consume experience

Because the act of consuming is an inherent human trait, we turn to the consumption of experience to reclaim the experiential aspect of our lives lost in our previous obsession with the material.  Instead of continuing the endless cycle of material consumption, experience is now the object to be consumed, opening us up to a lifestyle of adventure that is no longer defined by the “stuff” we buy.

.camp URBAN

The proposed Camp Urban is driven by existential experience, embracing the various levels of adventure associated with the tradition of camping; from the RV tourist to the mountaineer extremist.  In its form and materiality, Camp Urban celebrates the city as the natural human habitat in recognition that the vast majority of our planet’s population is, and is projected to be increasingly so, living in urbanity.  Camp urban Chicago would be the first in a global network of these metropolitan destinations, offering a weekend excursion to the 40 hour/week worker or a temporary residence to the urban nomad.

One thing I’d like to point out about the boards is that the image of the building is not a 3D rendering It is a photograph of one of the best models I’ve seen created in school. The model was huge, with its base it was about 6′ tall. Here are some poor images from my cell phone of it (click for larger):

The entire third year studio was the hardest working group of students I have had the pleasure to teach.

Link to the official competition site:  http://d3space.org/competitions/

Came across the site of Alex Roman for his short film “The Third & Seventh.” He describes the project as:

“Architecture through the cinematographic lens. The visual fusion between the third and the seventh arts.”

The entire film including the above image is a fully 3D animated work. He has modeled already built architecture and filmed it through computer renderings. I find it interesting the exploration of the real through the virtual. He could have made the film with real cameras inside the real buildings, but consciously chose to virtualize the architecture and virtualize the camera. It brings to mind Baudrillard’s “Simulacra and Simulation”.

After so many hours producing CG images myself, it is obvious that it is done in CG, but at a level that I couldn’t imagine the time and effort it took to accomplish. The attention to detail is astounding in places like the textures of the camera sequence.  What is even more impressive is his ability to create a mood in the image that makes it compelling.  That is even more rare in today’s realm of architectural CG. My only gripe is the over-use of certain effects like the “shake.” If it is bothersome in a 2 minute clip, I would hate to imagine what it would be like for the whole thing. It is a minor criticism though.

I look forward to seeing it when it is complete.

http://www.thirdseventh.com/

This looks like a very cool exhibition concerning the future possibilities of ubiquitous integration of technology into the city.  Although it focuses on the city I can see application for the IDeX Studio at WSU which is exploring the creation of the smartFARM.

Toward the Sentient City » September 17 – November 7, 2009.

Nicolai brings us up to speed on the Woods latest adventures in keeping it real… nytimes