Mediating Mediums: The Digital 3D

“Technology is on track to produce a new medium: The Digital 3d. As it escapes the screen, the digital enters into the realm of architecture and ceases to function merely as representation. This concept expands on “augmented reality” to encompass conditions which function spatially and engage a site-specific context. The ideal condition is an architecture which is designed simultaneously with the digital. Projects which consider both material and digital realities from conception to finish and allow architects continued effect and commission throughout the lifespan of a building. With this new agency, architects are able to update and maintain the digital and can reauthenticate digital spatial paradigms as the audience changes. The digital 3d has the potential to alter perception and action, but it is fundamentally unable to replicate material effects like shelter, texture, touch and heightened privacy. The new medium It is not meant to supersede material architecture and would be unable to if it tried… The tools simply provide new potentials for architects and create a site-specific condition which can empower and give agency to the profession at large.” –Alpha-ville