Virtual Aesthetics in Architecture
Designing in Mixed Realities

Virtual Aesthetics in Architecture: Designing in Mixed Realities presents a curated selection of projects and texts contributed by leading international architects and designers who are using virtual reality technologies in their design process. It triggers discussion and debate on exploring the aesthetic potential and establishing its language as an expressive medium in architectural design. Although virtual reality is not new and the technology has evolved rapidly, the aesthetic potential of the medium is still emerging and there is a great deal more to explore.

The book provides a comprehensive overview of the current use of virtual reality technologies in the architectural design process. Contributions are presented in six parts, fully illustrated with over 150 images.

Recent projects presented are distributed in five themes: introduction to mixed realities; space and form; context and ambiguity; materiality and movement; body and social. Each theme includes richly illustrated essays by leading academics and practitioners, including those from Zaha Hadid Architects and MVRDV, detailing their design process using data-driven methodologies.

Virtual Aesthetics in Architecture expands the use of technology per se and focuses on how architecture can benefit from its aesthetic potential during the design process. A must-read for practitioners, academics, and students interested in cutting-edge digital design.

PREFACESara Eloy, Anette Kreutzberg, and Ioanna Symeonidou ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PART 1 – INTRODUCTION: THE VISUAL AESTHETICS OF ARCHITECTURE 1: A Concise History of VR/AR in Architecture Henri Achten2: Models and Fictions: The Archi-tectonic of Virtual Reality Federico Ruberto3: Cybernetic Aesthetics Helmut Kinzler, Daria Zolotareva, and Risa Tadauchi4: Wish You Were Here: Virtual Reality and Architecture Sean Pickersgill5: How Architects Are Using Immersive Technology Today, and Projections for the Future Dustin Schipper and Brittney Holmes PART 2 – SPACE AND FORM6: Reconceptualising Zoos through Mille-oeille: A Posthuman Techno-Architecture to Sustain a Human/Non-Human/Culture ContinuumElena Pérez Guembe and Rosana Rubio Hernández7: An Augmented Reality-Based Mobile Environment for the Early Architectural Design Stage Mehmet Emin Bayraktar and Gülen Çağdaş 8: Nordic Daylight in 360° Anette Kreutzberg9: Cyber-Physical Experiences: Architecture as Interface Turan Akman and Ming TangPART 3 – CONTEXT AND AMBIGUITY 10: A Quasi-Real Virtual Reality Experience: Point Cloud Navigation Joana Gomes, Sara Eloy, Nuno Pereira da Silva, Ricardo Resende, and Luís Dias11: VR as a Tool for Preserving Architectural Heritage in Conflict Zones: The Case of PalestineRamzi Hassan12: Ephemeral Monuments Spyridoula DedemadiandSpiros I. Papadimitriou PART 4 – MATERIALITY AND MOVEMENT13: Action Over Form: Combining Off-Loom Weaving and Augmented Reality in a Non-Specification Model of Design James Forren, Makenzie Ramadan, and Sebastien Sarrazin14: Blending Realities: From Digital to Physical and Back to Digital Ioanna Symeonidou15: The Robotic Dance: A Fictional Narrative of a Construction Built by Drones Sara Eloy and Nuno Pereira da SilvaPART 5 – BODY AND SOCIAL16: Designing the Bodily Metaverse of LisbonMarketa Gebrian, Miloš Florián, and Sara Eloy17: Inceptive Reality Carla Leitão18: Virtual Reality in Landscape Design: Findings From Experimental Participatory Setups Ana Moural and Ramzi HassanPART 6 – PROJECTSPart 6.1: Creating Space19: ZHVR BigWorld Helmut Kinzler, Risa Tadauchi, and Daria Zolotareva20: The Aesthetics of Hybrid Space Ruth Ron, and Renate Weissenböck21: VoxelCO—Playing with Collaborative Objects Alexander GrasserPart 6.2: Experiencing Space22: MVRDV Virtual Space Maria López Calleja23: The Digital Archive Eva Castro24: Sirus Gardens—the Building Sean Pickersgill, Jason Semanic, and Chris Traianos25: Form Axioms: ‘The Politics of Mapping the Invisible’ Eva Castro26: Oh Ambient Demons: Ringlets of Kronos + Coronis 2020, Decoded Marcos NovakPart 6.3: Enhancing Space27: Sky Gazing Tower Kyriaki Goti and Christopher Morse28: Identity Rudolf Romero29: Perspectiva Virtualis Julien Rippinger and Arthur Lachard30: Holo-Sensory Materiality Marcus Farr and Andrea Macruz31: Porifera Suspended Topologies Pablo Baquero, Effimia Giannopoulou, Ioanna Symeonidou, and Nuno Pereira da SilvaAUTHOR BIOGRAPHIESINDEX

Sara Eloy is PhD in Architecture and Assistant Professor. Eloy’s main areas of research include digital technologies applied to architecture, shape grammars, virtual and augmented reality, space perception, and housing rehabilitation. She is the director of the Information Sciences, Technologies, and Architecture Research Centre (ISTAR) at Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), where she is also a fellow researcher. She has curated “CLOSE to cities and CLOSER to people” for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2013 and “Artificial Realities: Virtual as an Aesthetic Medium for Architectural Ideation” for the Lisbon Architecture Triennale 2019. She has participated in national and international research projects and published her work in several journals.

Anette Kreutzberg is Teaching Associate Professor at the Institute of Architecture and Design at the Royal Danish Academy, and a member of the Architectural Representation research and teaching unit. Kreutzberg’s activities focus on the digital representation of architectural concepts, with a special interest in the Nordic daylight phenomena. Her research involves the use of immersive VR, 360° panorama photography and renderings, as well as animation and interactive media as tools to experience and evaluate daylight quality in architectural spaces.

Ioanna Symeonidou is Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture at the University of Thessaly, specializing in digital media for design and manufacturing. She graduated from the Architecture Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and completed her postgraduate studies at the Architectural Association in London. Her PhD focuses on digital design and construction methods. Symeonidou has previously taught at the Department of Architecture at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the Graz University of Technology in Austria. She is the author of more than 40 papers published in scientific journals, books, and conference p