Digital Media Exhibit

Projects

THE PREMISE:

A wonderful idea poorly developed or presented is a missed opportunity. A great presentation of a weak project is a mirage. Content and presentation are intertwined design issues. One without the other is problematic. The web-based projects in the ACADIA 2000 Digital Media Exhibit (DME) display a range of approaches to the issue of content and presentation in design.

The initial impact of digital media on architectural design has been the ability to render the look of a final project or to create shapes that reflect the facility of the tool. The purpose of the DME is to examine the potential of digital media and web design to link the notion of content and presentation. Obviously, it defeats the purpose if technological difficulties prevent the access of content. However, the effective delivery of content also involves conveying the idea behind the design of the work of architecture or art, as well as ease of use.

Digital media facilitates the expression of content as the meaning of a visual form. Interweaving digital technology with the creative process enables decisions to be quickly visualized and revised through the design development. Percept, rather than precept, is the driving force of the investigation. The issues are how the creative process affects the use of technology and the reciprocal concern of how technology can be harnessed to generate design.

Publications on digital media and web design are filled with discussions about the importance of content management. In this context, content refers to the components used in a document, such as text, graphics, logos and links to other documents. Management deals with the ability to capture, manage and distribute the components via different applications and output. The emphasis is on the technology of presentation. The result concerns the presentation of meaning.

The ACADIA DME is a web-based presentation that deals with the design implication of digital media. Content operates at two levels - as an idea and as a component. As idea, content is the meaning of something. As component, content refers to the elements contained in something.

Presentation is the link between the two.

THE REVIEW:

The intention of the DME is to start an exhibit tradition for the ACADIA conferences that is comparable to the paper presentations / proceedings. In addition to showing the projects at the conference, work accepted for the DME is also published in the Conference Proceedings - same as the paper presentations. Thus the review process is an important part of the Digital Exhibit.

One of the reasons for the web-based exhibit and on-line review is to be in keeping with the spirit of the net - i.e. to be platform independent. The web-based exhibit is a multi-platform presentation. Each entry is limited to a 10 MB web site for the review and web-based exhibit : text (html), images (jpeg - plates & gif - icons) and animations (multi-platform Quicktime Movies/VR) via a web browser (Netscape / Explorer). The size limitation helps ensure that the sites can be realistically viewed on-line.

The only thing needed to view the projects is access to a web-browser and the internet. The blind review of the web-sites took place on-line in July. The review web site and projects were located on the Texas A&M server. The on-line registration and review process was a joint effort of Mark Clayton (Conference Technical Co-Chair & Assistant Professor) and Hoonsik Seo (Graduate Student) of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M, in conjunction with Darlene Brady (Exhibit Chair) of Archi-Textures.

Fourteen Projects were chosen by the reviewers for the exhibit based on the following criteria:

• The quality of the design project as a work of architecture or art.
• The impact of digital media in generating, developing & presenting the design.
• The role of the web presentation to understanding the project.

The time, effort & interest of the reviewers are a vital part of the success of the exhibit. In keeping with the scope of the ACADIA DME, the reviewers represent a range of viewpoints and interests concerning digital media and design:

ANNE-LOUISE MARQUIS
Research Associate: Modern & Contemporary Art, Architecture & Design
Project Manager: Museum Web Site Redesign
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Inst., Washington DC

G. MARTIN MOELLER, JR.
Executive Vice President
National Building Museum, Washington, DC

B.J. NOVITSKI
Managing Editor, ArchitectureWeek
http:/www.architectureweek.com
Author: Rendering Real and Imagined Buildings

BEVERLY WILLIS, FAIA
Director: Architecture Research Institute, Inc., NYC
Author: Invisible Images - The Silent Language of Architecture.

THE PROJECTS:

The DME is international in scope with work from North America, South America & Europe. The exhibit presents a range of work that explores the innovative use of digital media in Architecture & Related Disciplines. It includes individual and group projects by students and professionals (faculty & practitioners) done in CAAD, photography, painting, animation, and video:

ACADEMIC

Original projects by students done under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Includes digital work and design projects done in a media class, design studio, elective, workshop, etc.

STUDENT PROJECT

Student is the lead author; faculty member is listed as the advisor.

DIGITAL STUDIO

Faculty member is the lead author; students are listed as participants. Includes several student projects.

PROFESSIONAL

Original projects by faculty & practitioner. Includes built & unbuilt work done as research, office and community outreach projects. Each project is registered as one entry as an individual or team submission.

PROFESSIONAL - INDIVIDUAL

PROFFESSIONAL  TEAM

The Proceedings include an Image Plate and Explanatory Text for each of selected Projects. ACADIA is pleased to present the Finalists in the first Digital Media Exhibit.

Projects