Reclaiming a virtual sense of place

Abstract

With the latest developments in digital technology, new design software has changed the way that designers are able to visualize the built environment effectively. Designers no longer have to practice the traditional drawing methods where it was difficult to actualize the design work. By using design technology, designers don't need to rely on technical or descriptive drawing skills because the illustration process is broadly placed at the fingertips of skilled digital artists. Today, designers have more tools to easily express their ideas and powerfully to transfer them to clients. This significant progress has shifted the design profession to a whole new horizon, where designers of the built environment are able to incorporate their ideas and concepts into a virtual representation and to display the projects' essence. However, this development in the design software still leaves a barrier between the designer and the client. Therefore, the approach is how designers are able to come up with new, effective representation methods where the client has more opportunities to interact during the design process and digital representation to understand the virtual/spatial sense of place. © Common Ground Research Networks, Mehran Madani, Jacob Williams, Ghida Kharfan, All Rights Reserved.