Charles Sparkman
Charles Sparkman: Cathedral Presentation (pdf)
Mentors: Caroline Bruzelius, Holton Thompson, and Rachael Brady
Description:
The objective of this project—“The Cathedral Project”—was to design and model an authentic, French gothic cathedral for Duke’s DiVE tank. The Cathedral Project marries the fields of Art History, Visual Arts, and Architecture, and delivers an immersive and dynamic experience.
How fully are concepts conveyed in each medium?
Predictably, the final product in the DiVE provides a dynamic, immersive, first-person experience. However, we cannot discount renderings of the digital model (rendered and presented in Maya). Maya’s ability to achieve higher resolutions, render complex lighting, and cast shadows provides a more dramatic glimpse into a cathedral. Renders also offer a cohesiveness that the DiVE cannot achieve. In my presentation, I include renders of the cathedral’s plan and section. I consider these images cohesive: they demonstrate the cathedral’s structural and organizational intricacies. The DiVE cannot convey the same meaning, as its first-person display hinders any kind of detached analysis.
What design considerations are expressed or hindered in each medium?
The restraints on my design process increased as I progressed through the different stages/software systems required (AutoCAD, then Maya, then Virtools) to get my model into the DiVE. The initial plan and nave elevation that I drew in AutoCAD were guidelines—they simply provided the geometry for the structure. Compatibility between AutoCAD and Maya made design-revisions simple, and often found myself working with AutoCAD and Maya simultaneously. In Maya, my project became dynamic, but the prospect of converting the final model (to VirTools) placed many constraints on my process: from poly-count to texture-size. From this point on, artistic license and realism became secondary. My conscious effort to make the model DiVE-compatible was the foremost goal.
What are the consequences of using a particular medium to communicate for marketing, contracting, or scholarly work?
My most interesting realization during the Cathedral Project was the DiVE’s potential in professional contracting (especially in the field of architectural presentation). For me, the project confirmed the DiVE’s importance as a medium able to communicate complex architectural conditions. The ability to present a virtual and immersive rendering of an architectural commission to clients—who are often uneducated in architectural practice—will be invaluable in the future, making this kind of technology a necessity in the professional world.