Intent

Intent, as defined by the American Heritage® Dictionary is, "Something that is intended; an aim or purpose." This definition can be applied in several ways in relating to architecture. The architect's intent would be his design, aim, view and plan of their building. It includes the initial thought process in planning out a building, from its location, size, style and materials. All factors imply the intent of the design process.

In relation to our project, intent has played an integral part from the very beginning. Our group initially intended to do different buildings, after discussion we decided to pick the market rate housing because of its setting in Brooklyn which would be quite interesting to model. All being architectural students, our intent correlates with each others and we do not have too many problems, however in an architectural project, many problems could arise. In an architectural projects, many people come together and intents collide with another. The intent for the client is a affordable building to live in, however the architects is to design an outstanding building with positive impact on its surroundings and the engineers would be a feasible method of construction which is structurally safe. Although all their intents differ, they must collaborate to finish the building.

Intent plays a major role in the design of a building, in fact it is an important aspect overall. It occurs in all industries and must be addressed to accordingly, or it may result in certain unwanted outcomes. Intent is a monumental phase in the design process and plays an important role in architectural collaboration.



References
Definition: Intent

Knowledge

Knowledge according to the Oxford English Dictionary, can be defined as

"expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject."

This definition can then be integrated with our project of designing a map with UT3 editor. In order to design the map we need knowledge and information, such as, what are we designing? what programs are to be used and what jobs will people be allocated. To decide on this, peoples expertise must be known such as what programs they are familiar with.

Knowledge for the UT3 project comes under different topics:

• Designated Building (what building will be modelled?)
  
• Preferred program for design (UT editor, Revit, 3d studio max)
• Allocated jobs (design, modelling, textures, sound, etc)

After several group meetings our group narrowed down the options between two buildings.
Playa Blanca Wildlife Interpretive Centre found by Jennifer and a Market-rate housing in Brooklyn NY, found by Min. We then decided to model them up using different engines.

I started modelling Playa Blanca in Revit and Joel started modelling the Market-Rate housing in Brooklyn on the UT engine

[1] Playa Blanca by Anderson Mason DaleArchitects, P.C.
















[2]Playa Blanca modelled in Revit by Chris

After much thought and discussion we decided to go with the Marketrrate housing in Brooklyn which Joel was working on. We have been working mainly on the massing of the project and estimating the general shape of the building. We will be using the UT editor to create the building of the Market-rate housing.


Related Links
Wikipedia - Knowledge
AIA Colorado - Playa Blanca

MSN

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Virtual worlds

Taking a look into virtual worlds, they can be simply described as a computer generated environment for users to inhabit. Within these worlds, users can collaborate with others through use of text, images, gestures and sound.
Some examples of these virtual worlds include Second life, IMVU, Entropia Universe as well as many Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games (World of Warcraft, EverQuest, Guild Wars and Ragnarok Online just to name a few).

These virtual worlds such as second life are a great idea for collaboration, for example, in an architectural project with more than one client or architect, they can use this virtual world to collaborate on ideas and work in real time.

[1]

Virtual worlds can also advantageous in several ways such as

• low cost and maintenance
• accessed from any location in the world
• user-friendly environment
• multiple users can collaborate in real time

And of course, come the disadvantages such as

• training to use the program or interface
• internet access is required
• loss of facial expressions and gestures
  

Virtual Worlds are used by professional businesses to interact with the public and gather feedback. They are a great cost effective way to communicate with users all over the world on ideas and new technology.

A NASA research center set up a Space CoLab on the Second Life Grid that allows NASA scientists and engineers to collaborate with each other and work remotely with public, private, and international partners. [2]

The following video suggest alternatives to face to face confrontation in situations such as office meetings and lectures. The video demonstrates the flexibility of virtual worlds and the extents to which they can be used, even large companies such as IBM, Sony and Wall Street Journal
[3]

In our group I don't think it would be necessary to access a virtual world to communicate with each other, although it could be useful when trying to convey thoughts and ideas using 3D worlds to build something in real time.


Links
NASA - CoLab - accessed 01/04/08
Wikipedia - Virtual Worlds - accessed 01/04/08

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[1] Youtube - Architecture on the Double (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7bXu2ozXo0)
[2] NASA CoLab (http://colab.arc.nasa.gov/)
[3] Joe Sanchez - Exploring Virtual Worlds (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R1SrZua5ww)