Kim Baumann Larsen of PLACEBO EFFECTS was part of a panel at the Imagina 2005 event in Monte Carlo, Monaco from February 2. - 5. that presented on emerging technologies in architectural visualization and design.

The panel was moderated by Jeff Mottle (CGArchitect.com) and included panelists Alex Morris (Hayes Davidson), Stéphane Donikian (IRISA) and Kim Baumann Larsen (PLACEBO EFFECTS).

The Integration of Real-Time Technology in the Architectural Design and Visualization Process

Recently the in-program visual quality and real-time performance of off-the-shelf 3D modeling and animation programs are offering architects and designers the ability to do decision making and design visualisation without resorting to stand-alone real-time software.

When higher visual fidelity is needed, game-inspired real-time technology is available. However, if real-time technology is to be truly integrated in the architectural design process, it's biggest challenge is to make the production of real-time models of sufficient quality and performance as transparent and simple as possible to the designer.

Baumann Larsen will go through a series of real-world projects where the architectural design process has benefitted from the use of real-time technology.

The examples include a detailed model of a pavillon for the Voksenaasen Culture and Conferencehotel in Oslo, a Norwegian national gift to Sweden, where real-time 3d sections and lighting studies where used for evaluation and communication through several design stages.

The use of game-inspired real-time technology for architecture visualisation purposes will be demonstrated with a case-study project for a media headquarter building where baked global illumination were used for material studies and the Ringerike Regional hospital where a radiosity based real-time model was used for visualization of the lighting and color schemes as well as for training purposes for the medical staff.

Download the presentation in PDF format (5 Mb Acrobat 7.0 file - real-time demo files are not included).

More information on the real-time 3d technologies demonstrated can be found at:
Octaga: www.octaga.com
WalkInSide: www.vrcontext.com
SketchUp: www.sketchup.com
3D PDF: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat

For more information see the previous article on IMAGINA and the IMAGINA architecture presentations page.