virtual environments – I

fall 1999

ashwan wadhwa

As an architect, I view virtual reality as new medium for me to create and explore. My tools and material for construction are being transformed from steel and glass to zeroes and ones. Such a medium gives me the opportunity and the freedom to design spaces, which are fluid and constantly changing their function as we move through them.

Functions of the house are becoming more complex, activities relegated earlier to the outside sphere are being forced inside. We are increasingly becoming part of the "global" village but are ironically becoming more confined within our own domain. We are spending countless hours within the web and our new modes of communication. We are losing and restricting our view of the outside world, and nature.

The future home (page) on the web is conceived as a transparent and translucent space. Here the inside and outside would eventually lose significance and merge into one. Images of landscapes are placed all along the translucent walls as devices and signifiers for all those who surf through to realize the space and world outside.

1. "Human Skills in Interface Design" Interacting with virtual environments.

Buxton, William A.S.

2. "The Practice Of Everyday Life"

DeCerteau, Michel.

3. "City Of Bits"

Mitchell, William.

4. "Simulations"