REALITYVIRTUALINDESIGNINGFORGUIDEBOOKmetaGUIDe
metaGUID e 3 StepIndex0: VR architecture - concept Step 1: awareness and characteristic of the space Step 2: Space appropriation Step 3: Gridlines identification Step 4: OverwritingLevel1:SurfacesLevel2:RoomsLevel1:House Step 5: materialization MPIEROGRADUATIONVIDONI(ARCH)AVB A.Y. 2020 - 2022
4 VR DependingCreatingarchitectureyourownworldonwhoandwhenyou
In both cases, we can see that the act of creating ar chitecture doesn’t stop to the scale of the reality, or the scale of a building. In fact, the creative power of design can be even reinforced by the freedom of shaping space for pure sake of design itself.
ask it, Architecture can mean different things. For Le Corbusier architecture “is the masterly, correct and magnificent play of masses brought together in light”. Louis Kahn defines it “the ponderous creation of spaces”.
VR architecture on this optics is not the mimicking or fak ing of existing shapes and typologies, but can represent the key for the freedom from the Vetruvian firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis.
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If you consider all the senses and not just an artificial view, the experience would be much greater.
Digital architecture has to go through the same percep tions as the conventional architecture. Our senses are the gate thought which we experience content around us.
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Experiencing the world thought your body
VR architecture - Tools
What distinguish the real world from a digital one? The human body uses its senses to create its image of a reali ty. Distorting the body senses can alter the world in which you live, creating an alternative experience equally true.
When you consider to design with VR, use the same tools that you are used to. Play with the perceptions of your body and the elements that your location can give. Soft ness and hardness, warm and coldness, white noises or specific sound.
metaGUID e 7 Touch My perception Reality Taste Sight Smell Hearing Emotions
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In our present time, we live an existence spread between physical and digital environments. We live many house a day as digital avatar that navigate the infrastructure of the Internet. This experience is not really manifested and does not generate any time or space.
Human condition
As humans, we are used to relating to our senses. View and hearing, together with the others, recreate an image of the world in our bran. This is true if you consider the phenomenal essence of the reality.
Virtual reality and augmented reality can finally break this barrier and allow us to give a proper dimension to our digital life. With the use of technology, we can alter or create from scratch a new world based on the new inter action that the homo technologicus is forming.
Different state in the digital environment
9 Digital avarar Virtual Augmentedrealityreality
10 Materials:Volume: VR ConceptualarchitecturediagramsofVRspace generation:
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Barriers could be flat / vertical / horizontal / diago nal. They could also be parametric and responds to the surrounding. This would affect the personal space of the user, which could shrink and expand depending on the people’s movement in the area.
The space therefore can be divided, connected, distort ed as the function required. Furthermore, filter can be added in order to create an atmosphere totally detached from the reality.
VR architecture - Toolbox
There are a number of ways how VR/AR can digitally ma nipulate physical visibility and how physical environment adapt to the dynamic function.
What you can do within an existing space
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Visibility can be narrowed by creating digital barriers. It can be expanded in different ways by creating an illusion of a real transparency, overlying places and/or objects with additional information, expanding visibility though senses other than sight.
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VR architecture - Toolbox
That’s your brain playing with perception of the reality.
Did you ever wake up with the sensation of falling?
You can activate the same mechanism in virtual reality. Hard floors can start to appear slippery, fragile, or even Thisyielding.can make your augmented experience way more interesting, altering your heart beat and augmenting your adrenaline.
Faking your senses
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16 Step 1: Awareness and characteristic of the space
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Understating the space and your habits
Every space is different and has it own characteris tic. Furthermore, every person is different and use the space in its own way.
A good analysis of your setting is the beginning of the design.
Start analyzing the program of the house and how you experience those functions, your habits and your shortcuts. Analyze the daily routing, your most common movements and how the space react to you.
Step Behaviors1 in space
During the day also your space change. Some surface gain warm or become cold, some smells are more com mon at certain times.
Understating the space that you are in and the way you normally use it is the first step for overwriting your house.
metaGUID e 19 Sleeping ? SHOWER BeautyCreemBOOKS RealityDigitalRealityDigital
20 People SteacksGarbageSmokeFried Drag queens MusicCars BikesSuitcases Behaviors in space Analysis of the house condition though different senses
metaGUID e 21 DucksBoats BirdsCars
AccordingTemperaturetotheorientation of the house, you can experience temperature differences through your house. Not exposed rooms may amplify this phenomenon. is all around us, but its quality (depending on the frequency of exchange) may impact spaces in different way. Proximity to windows or having an air purifiers can alter your breathing experi in space
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Air quality Air
ence.Behaviors
Analysis of the house condition though different senses
During the cold season artificial heating system ( such as radiators on walls, floor heating, etc…) generate temperature difference in the house and radiation comfort that may vary from space to space.
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The exposition of the house related to the South side impact massively the heat and the daylight in your house. It is important to evaluate this phenomenon at different time during the same
Sun heating
heating
Artificialday.
Analysis of the house condition thoght different sences
The house has different function. Some spaces are characterized by a higher level of social inter action and propensity for speaking activities.
World spoken
Behaviors in space
OurSmellshouses are not neutral. They smell specifically according to our habits and the material that we chose. Additionally, depending on where you live, you may be surrounded by other smells.
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SomeStepsrouts are more common than others, also in its own house. Analyzing the way you ambulate thought the space is important to understand your habits.
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TheSoftness’\hardnessspaceinwhichyoulive is not always the same. You are constantly surrounded by materials that have specific characteristic, like in this case the softness and hardness.
26 Behaviors in space Analysis of the properties of the materials Fabric - wardrobe softsoftFabricsandy-wardrobe-enveloping Metal - livingroob hard - cold - smooth Fabric - bedroom soft - enveloping - warm Wood - floor hart - with reliefs - slightly cold Fabric - bedroom soft - grainy soft - delicate
metaGUID e 27 Fabric - bedroom softsoftFabricdelicate-bedroom-delicate Platic - kitchen hard - smooth - cold Fabric - toilet soft - grainy Textile - wardrobe soft - delicate Fabric - sofa medium soft - slightly rough
28 TableKitchen Cabinets WCBehaviorsBed in space Analysis of spacial characteristic of the furniture
metaGUID e 29 Lunch chair StairsDesk
30 Step 2: Space appropriation
Step Space2 appropriation Creating your own plot
If you chose to not have any boundaries, the starting point needs to be the actual floorplan of your space (house). Therefore, the design and the current environment need to match as much as possible.
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Contrary to the reality, in the digital world you can claim all the space that you want. Drawing your boundaries is the first action that every use of VR needs to do.
This act of land appropriation define the relationship that you have with the context. You can decide to exclude disturbing elements such as chairs and plans or to incorpo rate those in your experience.
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You can experience them as a digital membrane that is around the walls. This membrane can act like a curtain, revealing or hiding what it has beyond.
Digital boundaries are walls that delimit the area that you indicated has part of your digital experience.
Step WhereBoundaries2realityanddigital meet
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Furthermore, boundaries can also not be just vertical elements against walls of object. You can consider using them just at a certain high level, making you go through a multidimensional experience while waking.
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Installing specific relationships
Every object is characterized by certain features such as: hardness, smoothness, warm, smell etc. You can use those properties if you overwrite that object/surface to make your experience even better.
Another way is to change the function of the object: A table can be seen as a podium, or a big step, for example.
Many spaces and the majority of the houses have ob jects. You need to chose which of them you want to take with you in the VR journey.
On the contrary, you can remove those objects not includ ing that footprint in your design.
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Step Dealing2 with the context
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First sensation of a digital house
Now you can see the house as a white canvas in which you can play with the elements, filling the space with more cubes, dividing spaces, breaking the walls and re propose the furniture such as couches and bed.
When you decide to not have boundaries and make your house as the base for your VR experience, it is a good practice to draw your house as a grid element.
Spending some hours in the digital translate of your house gives you an immediate feedback on how to move, the speed of your steps and elements that can be too disturbing for your experience.
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Step 2 A step in the digital world
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40 Step 3: Gridline identification
In this way, you are diving the house according to specific situations/habits/actions.
From there, you can identify the area with more move ment flow. Those areas are normally corners or 90* degree turn in your paths, where you normally slow down or Thestop.next step is to cut the floorplans using all the lines available. In this way, you create micro-rooms. Analyzing the program that each micro-room has, you can start combining them according to similar programs (like the area that lead to the table and the table itself)
You can start this process by simplifying your house as a composition of elements that all needs to work together.
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Step Conceptualizing3 the space
Four walls and a roof
The next process is to create a modulo or a system of principles that will help you overwrite your space.
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Flow of Representationmovmentofthespatialmovement
thought the house
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A modular representation of the areas of the house
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Space division
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Choices between the approach of distorting and the one of
Therecreatingare
Step Playing3 inside-out
two major approaches in dealing with a space. The first one is to alter the space by the means of dividing the continuity, filling it with elements and alter the proper ties of it. In this case, you are working on a singular floor plan, using its properties to create new meaning.
A second approach instead is to expand the space, adding external elements. Those elements can simply be the same room but moved a bit outside. In this case, you can jump and shift between the two rooms. In this approach, you can generate a multitude of different situation, bounded togeth er by the act of subtracting or merging volumes.
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52 Step 4: House overwriting Level 1: the surface Level 2: the room Level 3: the house
Intervening over the homogenous surfaces allows you to reveal new elements. Those elements are outside the house itself, and they don’t interact directly with your livable space.
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In this case you can create a parametric object that is able to response to certain hand action, live squeezing, cutting, folding or roughly breaking it.
The first approach consist of the creation and/or distortion of the boundaries to the house. Imagining that the guidelines of your VR experience are just a patina over your walls, this can stimulate new ways of interaction be tween the envelope of your house and whatever you want to place outside.
Step AR4 - the surface Interaction with the phisical boundaries
metaGUID e 55 squeezebreak foldcut
By this mean, the house can be a fragmentation of different settings with different experiences.
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Step AR4 - the surface
We saw how Augmented Reality can open up your house to an experience that is not directly based on the ambient in which you live.
Elements from the outside
In this case, the outside becomes the major point of in terest. Finding suitable programs for the outside of each space can be the good formula. You can incorporate different senses like hearing and seeing, and also emo tional one, by installing a physical connection with people that we love.
Hearing Connecting Seeing
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Step Room4 overwriting Level 2 - morphology
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In the process of overwriting a room, the start point is the characteristic of the space, its location in relation to heating sources, the materials and its function.
As in the left examole, you can take the morphology of the rooms itself, incorporating in the design cabinets and couches. An important element is the choice of material. Carpets and fabric generate an environment in which you can also lay down. Artificial heating close to the play area provide an additional comfort feeling in winter.
In the case study is presented a playroom, a space dedicated to physical work in a digital environment, like draw ing or managing digital tools.
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Example 2 - segregation
Recreating a “prison cell” was an act of drastic separation and introvert in one of the most share place for a Thecouple.material in this case are translucent brick, that allow a feeling of the exterior without exposing the inhabitant to a major voyeurism.
Step Room4 overwriting
Another possibility is the creation of a smaller room withing your space. In this example, it was important to create a net separation within the bed.
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In the process of overwriting your entire house, the start ing point is freeing up the floorplan from chose elements.
The program withing the frame should follow the mor phology and the characteristic of the room itself, while programs outside the frames can not be used by the means of freely walking in your own house.
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After that, you can identify specific functions or thematic programs with the use of a frame. A frame can indicate a proper attachment to a specific characteristic of the room itself, that, if experienced not inside that space, will not bring the same result.
Just after a complete idea of the concept of the space, you can bring back everyday objects that also work on your digital space.
Framing a particular setting
Step House1 overwriting
From real to digital use ProgramEnvironmentSurfaceVolume
Metahouse - Strategy
70 HouseHouseNegativeReality-Positive-DigitalStep4House overwriting YouMorphologycanunderstand the morphology of your house by creating a positive and a negative volume. Furthermore, you need to chose, or exclude, the areas of the house with which you want to install a connection.
If you live in a small house, there is no way to increase the inner space. Differently, in virtual reality, you can copy your house as many times as you want. Every time you add a new level to your house, you can change its pro gram, making the experience all the time unique.
Arranging the different levels in a flexible manner makes sure that the final experience is richer. Views are rela tions are created in a spontaneous way.
You can do that multiplying the house vertically, but you can also play with the arrangement. In fact, you can ro tate the floorplan, or even translate it upside down.
The big advantage of creating a replica of your house in the virtual world is that you are not limited by the plot.
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Multimplying, rotating and reversing
Step House4 overwriting
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The ground floor is based on how we use internet. The house is designed around the 3 main spots where I nor mally use internet (couch, bed and toilet). The floorplan is open for interaction with the exterior and, with the cur rent settings, amplifies the wind as a tunnel. .
74 NAVIGATING THE WEB BestSmells:Sounds:Wind:Settings:openonontiming: all day
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A different use of Internet is manifested in the living room, where sitting on the couch you can watch the metaverse around you or take a boat and start your navigation.
Meeting in the digital world is becoming of extremely importance in our daily life. Work meeting, vocal notes, messages are all tools that are part of our daily routine.
78 BestSmells:Sounds:Wind:Settings:Meetoffoffofftiming: evening
In the center, a digital lobby is placed with the actual sil houettes of the closest friend, always welcome there.
Strangely enough, they can also represent a constant invasion. For this reason, the room on the right offer an old system inspired by an old element of the house itself. In fact there is a mirror outside the window that allow you to see how is coming at the front door
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Replicating this effect in the room scale, you will be able to be in contact with people without the sensation of being invaded.
82 BestSmells:Sounds:Wind:Settings:RELATEonoffofftiming: afternoon
In the circumstance in which you live with someone else in the house, you need to consider how your interactions would translate. This part of the house offers specific cells in which the process of overwriting is reversed. In fact, entering one of those cells means deactivating the VR experience.
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The act of entering into the reality from the digital en vironment equals turning off the phone and pay total attention to the person in from of you. In this way, you and your friend/partner can share an intimate moment in the Anotherreality.aspect of this floor is that the bedroom was designed by the person living with me. Asking what would be the best improvement on the program of the house in the metaverse, the answer was simple: a balcony.
On the left, a meta-beach is recreated. In order to recre ate the effect of sand and a dune, this space is located in the bedroom.
86 TheBestSmells:Sounds:Wind:Settings:PASSIONSononontiming:daytime-summerconjunctionwiththeprevious
house is a section dedi cated to leisure and hobbies.
There, carpets are grainy, and you can arrange the pil lows of the bed on top of each other, creating a soft and welcoming “sand” dune where you can lay.
On the right, a garden is in place. When you access this area, your scale shrink, and you can experience the space though teleportation. In this artificial garden, you can find pleasure in walking around or entering one of the rocks present there. Each of them represent a space connect ed to my passion.
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Step House4 overwriting
In this labyrinth, every path is leading you to a different app or software. The space is imitating the experience that you have scrolling your phone between the different apps. In this case the experience is physical, and you can walk many ways searching and entering the app that you
Example 3
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Aswant.aconsequence
of combining many paths in the scale 1:1, the room is big. Therefore, a downsized of the human scale is needed when using this room.
Another example of a framed space connected with the house is the labyrinth of the apps. In this case, a complex space is achieved by the assemblage of different path present in the house.
metaGUID e 91 - Paths indentification - Paths analysis - Paths composition
The experience can continue between the links, or you can go back to the surface, the web engine.
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How do we move surfing the web?
Concept of movment
A fascinating element of the internet is its distribution network. If you imagine the web as a physical space, studying the way people navigate it is really beneficial for understanding what make a digital experience.
Surfing the web mean staying at the surface of an im mersive mass of content. When you decide to dive into something, you enter a content bobble.
Each content bobble is detached by its next one. Never theless, all of them are connected via links. Links are not always thematic, and they can install connection between very different content.
metaGUID e 95 FromSearching:bigto small AWebsites:boxwith sub-boxes CoordinatedLinks: jumps between elements
Hyperlinks can also be use between framed rooms, in the case that those rooms are on different levels. In doing that, you can reach different variations of your house. In the project, those spots are represented by red circles on the floor.
Most of the time this means that can not walk, and you have to jump between different spaces or use some con trollers to move forward.
Step Hyperlinks4Movinginnotcontinues spaces
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Mimicking the movement that you experience on the web, the house itself uses hyperlinks. In the case that your room is not framed, so it does not have a physical con nection with the surrounding space, you need to be able to move without impacting with other objects.
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Stairs can also be used as an element of digital public space. In fact, informal seats can appear in the design.
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In the project, the entrance stairs are used on their original location. From the street, the experience of your digital house can immediately start. I used a circular hy perlink to create the sensation of a rotation in space, so I can continue climbing the straight stair pretending that are in a U shape.
you need to reach your house climbing some ramps of stairs. Stairs are inspiring design tools and can be used in many ways.
Step House4 overwriting SometimesClimbing
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100 Step 5: Materialization
Step Material5 choice Between fake and original
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A new vocabulary of materials is starting to be explored.
As we saw earlier, digital architecture does not have to answer the practical need of sheltering someone. There fore, detailing and materials acquire a purely esthetical Ifreason.youwant to use a real material in the digital environ ment, the process that you need to use is applying a flat bi-dimensional image, called texture. All the properties of the referenced material, such as harness, coldness etc. are Digitalgone.materials are characterized by values, such as re flection, glossiness and material relief. You can use those settings to alter or create new texture.
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