Learning from the (In)Visible City

This paper focuses on results and findings of an educational project, in which the participating students had to develop a design strategy for an urban plan by using and combining endoscopic and computational design visualisation techniques. This educational experiment attempted to create a link between the Media research programme titled'Dynamic Perspective'and an educational exercise in design composition. It was conceived as a pilot study, aimed at the investigation of emerging applications and possible combinations of different imaging techniques which might be of benefit in architectural and urban design education and potentially for the (future) design practice. The aim of this study was also to explore the relationship between spatial perception and design simulation. The point of departure for the student exercise was an urban masterplan which the Dynamic Perspective research team prepared for the workshop'the (in)visible city'as part of the 1995 European Architectural Endoscopy Association Conference in Vienna, Austria. The students taking part in the exercise were asked to develop, discuss and evaluate proposals for a given part of this masterplan by creating images through different model configurations using optical and computer aided visualisation techniques besides more traditional design media.The results of this project indicate that an active and combined use of visualisation media at a design level, may facilitate communication and lead to a greater understanding of design choices, thus creating insights and contributing to design decision-making both for the designers and for the other participants in the design process