Space Odyssey by Computer - Journeys through the Environment

The extraordinary characteristic of the city which thrills both its citizens and those who visit it, is the complex way in which multitudes of individual buildings, themselves each a complex of individual spaces, combine to form the weft and weave of the urban fabric. No two cities are alike but each and every one has its innate and endearing character: the grandeur of Vienna, the eternity of Rome, the simplicity of Tucson, the elegance of Edinburgh, the dynamic of Tokyo, the vibrancy of Hong Kong. This presentation illustrates how the emerging computer-based technologies can, in a manner hitherto impossible, explain to students of architecture and urban design (and to the public at large) how the design of individual buildings and their spatial relationship to each other, aggregate to create the environment which characterises the city, in a complementary way it demonstrates how the virtual urban voyager can not only identify and visit individual buildings, but enquire within - to observe, understand and even handle the contents.