Pantheon of Wonder

Essay

Abstraction of Colorful Light

Can Interactive 3D Modeling Change the Way You Design?

by Maria Lorena Lehman

Digital Media

Architecture Drawing

Imagine combining the power of physical modeling with the power of virtual 3D modeling while working on your architectural design. With a physical model, you pick up its pieces and parts. You study them and “play” with their proportions, geometric forms, and location within your model. With a virtual model you can see materiality and complex assemblies fairly quickly. But what happens when you combine the power of both ways of modeling into one?

Well, you wind up with a system like the one created by Infinite Z — called zSpace. You see, this system provides for virtual 3D holographs that are actually interactive. With the help of special eyeglasses and a stylus, you as a designer can grab parts of your model, move your head around them in 3D space to view parts from different angles, and you can drop them back into place as you see fit. (1)

Before I go on, have a look at this special preview to see for yourself how the zSpace system works.

Custom HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT

Being able to interact with your virtual model in a more intuitive way by picking up its pieces and parts, floating them to the side, and dropping them into the model — designers can combine the best of what physical models and virtual models tell them while designing. Thus, if you like to design in model form (going beyond drawing on paper) then such a tool could be for you.

Suddenly, the virtual model is becoming more adaptable — as it adjusts itself to the way you work within your design process. Such a zSpace system may allow designers to “feel” their virtual models in a whole new way. Really, the possibilities are endless with what can be done with such a system.

Referenece:

(1) Kight, Will. A Display That Makes Interactive 3-D Seem Mind-Bogglingly Real. MIT Technology Review. December 18, 2012.

Image Credit: © madeline.gannon | Flickr

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Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through an architectural design lens.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


I would love for you to join me for this exciting adventure.


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Let’s enjoy the beauty, inspiration, and hope that music brings.


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Warmly,

Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER® | Orchestral Notes

Your invitation:


Dear reader,


I believe life is a continual process of awakening. As the journey of my own life continues, I always find myself connecting my experiences, studies, and ideas to new creative projects that bring beauty, inspiration, and hope for our world. For over 30 years, since starting at age 17, I have immersed myself in architectural design; and early on, I earned a Master of Design with Distinction from Harvard University, setting the foundation for decades of deep immersion in the field. Yet even before this, I held music close to my heart. At the age of 5, I began my first piano lessons; and since then, I began to see the world through a musical lens — even while designing architecture.


Over the decades, I grew closer and closer to music with a deep love for the design of instruments, their unique timbres, and for all the immersive ways their sounds could be interwoven into beautiful orchestrated compositions. I even began to develop a musical composition methodology, Spatial Symphonics, as I found my architectural design work becoming more and more emotive, soul-stirring, and yes: musical.


In recent years, I finally turned my focus to music composition. I hold a Graduate Diploma from the Film Scoring Academy of Europe where my works have been recorded by the acclaimed European Recording Orchestra (ERO), and I am founder of MLL ATELIER® — an award-winning studio now dedicated to my work as an orchestral composer, recording artist, and spatial symphonist — where I advance architectural design through music, and innovate music through an architectural design lens.


It is my hope that I can share my ongoing musical-design journey with you, directly from my studio through my video-newsletter entitled 'Orchestral Notes'. Expect video updates filled with first-access studio news announcing: album/book releases, concert premiers, sheet music publications, creative process sneak-peeks, and my own compositional philosophies as they develop to fuel my ongoing body of musical and architectural authorial works.


I would love for you to join me for this exciting adventure.


Simply click the button below to join my Orchestral Notes video-newsletter delivered every two weeks directly to your email inbox. Plus, get access to the full publication archives.

JOIN ORCHESTRAL NOTES

Limited availability each month.


Warmly,

Maria Lorena Lehman


Founder of MLL ATELIER

Author of PANTHEON OF WONDER

Maria Lorena Lehman has received the following awards and has been seen in the following publications: