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I really wanted to do this course Building Science 303 Computers and Applications,presented by Michael Donn, lecturer and course organiser, it was my top choice for 2003 studying at Victoria University.
Its cutting edge stuff using state of the art computers and associated software to do something as old as architecture itself, to create an image of an imagined shelter, to visualise a building and emphasising its architectural merits in the interplay of light and form.
Using the latest in computer technology in one of the computer labs at Victoria University School of Architecture, gives us the ability and great benefit of creating building designs with ease of design flexibilty, also allowing a stunning realism of lighting, form and materiality. Its an enhanced 'crystal ball' like vision into the future of a particular design, which communicates to all a tangible image of what potentially can be created in reality. Almost all aspects of a buildings physicality and geometry can be simulated in the virtual space of a computer using different applications or software, we in this course are focusing on getting a sense of the play of light in and around the spaces of our simulated building of an art gallery of our choosing.
We are working primarily as individuals on this course, though we are also required to work in pairs, to colloborate in the virtual building on our assigned parts of our choosen building.
My project colleague
is Ian
Gilbert 
a
skilled and meticulous modeller with Autocad 2002, and
our building of choice is The
National Gallery of Canada1983- 1988,
architect Moshe Safdie
. Ian has visited Ottawa Ontario Canada, and was impressed
by the architecture
of this building, the extensive
ingenious use of natural lighting in a large volumetric building the
design allowing natural daylight to be transferred into its deepest
interiors as you will hopefully see
in our final rendered images.
Our first task in the course was to go through some preliminary Exercises to become familiar with the processes and software applications involved.
Our second task Assignment 1A, was to investigate, focus and render initial the lighting concepts in our choosen areas in our modelled building, focusing on an angle of graphic analysis that conveys the advantages of modelling with a computer.
I have choosen Autodesk Revit 5.0 to model my areas of our project building, Ian has used Autodesk Autocad 2002. Though they are different Autodesk software programs, we have discovered in our project that there is a lot of compatibity between the two.
I am a qualified builder and therefore, Revit to me, because the software is object based and orientated, it seems to me a more "natural" way to model buildings with a computer. This became quite apparent to me when going through the Revit 2003 Tutorial, BBSC 303. Equally impressive was the relative ease of use and the short of amount of time reguired to produce detailed building models and working drawings and a schedule of quantities. I like the aspect of the parametric, the abitily of any changes being made in the design to ripple through all associations with that change automatically, entirely.
Finally I have recorded for prosterity, its a course requirement as well, all of our fundamental organisational office procedures and examples of the progression of the model in a workLog diary and some Site Photos of The National Gallery of Canada.