Learning Space Incorporating spatial simulations in design history coursework
Art and architectural history education has long relied on photographic imagery. The geography of architectural history often demands an analog representation for the built form and photographic recordings have long been the widely adopted standard. In many cases, specific buildings have been taught for generations based on a handful of historical exposures. The impact of this precedent is an imperfect and highly privileged conception of architectural forms. Students learn only of a particular viewpoint of any given building, rather than understanding the building as a whole. Augmenting the tradition of select and static imagery in the classroom with new technologies can create a more comprehensive understanding of architectural precedents. This paper discusses an experiment conducted in Spring 2017 in presenting an architectural case study to a history class using a Virtual Reality 3D experience in comparison to a set of canonical photographs.
