A Response to “ Model Behavior: Anticipating Great Design” by Josephine Minutillo, “Let the (Indirect) Sun Shine In” by Joann Gonchar, and “Computer V

The articles within Architectural Record and Architecture Week describe the validation of both digital and lighting analysis in order to interpret the integrity of exterior and interior built environments. In Architecture Week, Maddalina provides a case study of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House as an example to explore the relationship of space and volume within his original design. The article expresses that significant critical analysis of Wright’s work may have misinterpreted the spatial qualities of the Martin House along with the interdependent qualities of structures within the first, second, and basement levels (Maddalina 1999). The “transparency” represented in the structural quality of the Martin House as described through the Ullmann analysis has since been re-evaluated in the removal of certain vertical layers through CAD software. The technology of computer aided design and graphic programs now provides a lens in which to examine the structural qualities of architecture that has previously been examined by conferring only the visible layers of a structure. In fact Maddalina argues based on the CAD study that the structural state of the Martin House is not as it has been previously stated by design scholars such as Sigfried Giedion in Space, Time and Architecture (Maddalina 1999).
Additionally, digital modeling and stimulation provide a valuable tool for re-evaluating the initial exterior design as it relates to the effects of natural elements and proposed site conditions (Minutillo 2008). Within the article, In Model Behavior: Anticipating Great Design, architects utilize software such as Autodesk’s Ecotect and eQUEST to pre-determine the energy consumption of large buildings. This technology then further creates an avenue for architects and engineers to design solutions and strategies for innovative conservation techniques (Minutillo 2008). Essentially, designers are able to create optimal designs that combine cultural and conservation attributes into urban design (Minutillo 2008). As designers are availed new technologies to address the exterior adjustments of a proposed building, virtual stimulation also avails the techniques to address the interior lighting qualities and proposed natural lighting within newly constructed and existing environments (Gonchar 2008). Although some museums have previously incorporated natural light into the building design, digital technology now allows for a more innovative utilization of lighting design and manipulation. Therefore, daytime lighting can now be regularly integrated into museum design whereas before it was often viewed as a threat to the proposed design of a museum interior (Gonchar 2008).
The relevance in interior architecture as it relates to re-examining architecture creates a tremendous impact on the education of design students and how they are taught to evaluate the work of previous architects and designers. The premise for this component within academia provides design students with an additional method in which they can study and understand the structural components of architecture (Maddalina 1999). Additionally, the digital technologies provide a greater means of proactive design application and research towards sustainable design choices in urban planning and strategies (Minutillo 2008).
I suspect that the utilization of CAD programs and other digital technologies will further change how we examine architecture and teach architectural history on the university level. Since digital technologies can be utilized to study architectural components it is also relevant that it becomes a standard tool in creating the bone structure of buildings (Maddalina 1999 & Minutillo 2008). Especially on geographical sites the structural components of a building and how they will respond to environmental qualities can be virtually studied in a manner that is unachievable with traditional site models (Minutillo 2008). This exploration of digital media to assess lighting and structural qualities may further lend itself to in-depth collaborations amongst multiple disciplines while the ease of file sharing capabilities of digital media could pose a threat to the argument for traditional site and study models (Maddalina, Minutillo, and Gonchar). In addition to the further visualization of light quality, interior elements within a proposed design may be digital assessed in regards to their sustainable contributions within a building structure. Further advancements in lighting analysis will allow designers to accurately incorporate the optimal inclusion of natural lighting within a structure (Gonchar 2008).
-Kimberlie Wade


Articles:
“Computer Visualization as a Tool for Critical Analysis” by Mark Maddalina.
http://www.architectureweek.com/2000/0705/tools_1-1.html

“Let the (Indirect) Sun Shine In” by Joann Gonchar
Architectural Record – May 2008

“ Model Behavior: Anticipating Great Design” by Josephine Minutillo
Architectural Record - December 2008