Don’t miss this! It is TONIGHT, Monday March 30th between 5pm and 8pm SLT. This project is sure to become a bar-raising effort for demonstrating the benefits of using virtual worlds in architectural education. I’m aware of at least 14 architecture schools from around the world that have actively engaged in virtual worlds, some top secret, some semi-public (usually only made public quietly, and only after the students are gone). So, what I find especially refreshing about the approach this group is taking is that not only are they designing out in the open, but they are actively seeking participation from the general public to participate and engage in their work.
Further still, I think it is brilliant to invite students to explore architectural and urban strategies with the existing and vibrant Non-Profit Commons archipelago in Second Life, leaving the effectiveness of their ‘urban intervention’ to be immediately evident as the end-users of these buildings will begin actively using these spaces when the project is finished. Here’s the notice, from Professor Judy Cockeram:
If on Monday March 30th between 5pm and 8pm SLT you are in-world it would be great to have you come and see what we are up to – the students from the University of Auckland in New Zealand are building in their living sketchbook. They will be in a building prototype frenzy and looking to have people play and talk about their ideas.
As an Architect in SL you have a unique perspective on the role of the crit in our education. In SL a traditional crit makes very little sense so we are trailing a different way of engaging in the process of exchanging and debating the ideas and fit of propals and projects. The students are working on a project for the Non Profit Commons, a group who host a large number of RL Charities – the issues are most like those of a small town needing an urban intervention. But importantly becasue this is SL the students are still in a building phase so they can hear and take on ideas to improve their project before they have to walk their peers though. We hope the students of Tab Scott and the students of the Living Sketchbook will meetup for an inworld (and i dont know what to call it) debate/crit/party/presentation/ but a sharing of architectual ideas and ideals a couple of days latter. we need your help to invent a format that stands the test of the Architect’s and Academic’s stare. As someone who has helped set those standards we want you to come and talk and push ideas and continue the climb to a an even more extraordinary world and second life
Please come and run jump and fly through the thoughts of the first group of 9 students to venture into the Metaverse from the Architecture and Planning School. Because they are the first this event will be on the big screen with nine others computers infront of the whole school over the three hours- we would love to have the metaverse wave back to the physical world.
