VISUALIZATION 1

VISUALIZATION

Visualization I is the introductory course of the Visualization sequence. It is the first in a series of courses that impart the concepts and skills of visual thinking and communication necessary to explore how methods and tools for seeing, representing, and visualizing can inform architectural thinking and design methods. The class explores how free-hand drawings, orthographic projections, composite and hybrid drawing techniques, and modes of two and three-dimensional translation applied to making and diagramming are used not only to represent but also as important components in the generative design process.

The course aims at exposing the students to the understanding of architecture as a discipline and practice through a variety of input, including lectures and readings to support the students’ critical process of understanding architecture and its expanded field. Students learn how to transfer ‘what we see’ and ‘what we think’ into different visualization formats, and more importantly, how to record our thoughts and inform design processes through iterative explorations. Students begin with free-hand sketching, observational, and projected drawings to then be introduced to concepts of transferability between analog and digital platforms.

The use of digital applications in Visualization 1 is introduced to support primarily the process of translating ideas into visual formats that foster the transition from the mind-hand to the computer and vice-versa and to develop a critical approach to this creative and generative process. This course has been designed to include CAD (Computer-Aided Design) technologies to support the design studio sequence. Students are introduced to computer software and plug-ins, which allow them to support their 2D and 3D development of the work.

FACULTY coordinator *

Sergio Elizondo *

Carrie Bobo

Bradley Engelsmann

John Doria

Gabrielle Redding

Marc Schaut

John Bermudez *

Maria Alejandra Rojas Jaramillo

Efrat Nizan

Fadhil Salah

Nicholas Soniprasaed

Visualization 2

In Visualization II, students apply the course’s digital knowledge and tools in their design studio projects to foster cross-integration of processes, skills, and critical thinking between the two courses, while exploring means of rendering their work with a focus on light and materiality.

The course provides new tools to enhance further the ability to explore and improve visual communication skills, as well as generative approaches to design and critical thinking. As part of the new visualization curriculum sequence, the course builds upon the skills learned in the first part of the visualization course, while laying the ground for new tools and techniques. The course aims to develop generative modeling abilities and explore strategies to imagine spatial and stereotomic conditions digitally. The investigations are nurtured by issues and tasks related to the application and use of computational tools and information technologies to foster experimentation, iterative processes, and generative design thinking.

Visualization III is designed to develop the ability to model spatial, tectonic, and performative conditions digitally. The first part of the course is dedicated to support and expand students’ proficiency and skills with previous software used in Visualization 1 & 2. The course continues with the exploration of tools that aid in 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional representation, graphic styles, and hybrid methods.