The Conceptual Model Mediated by IVR and 3DP as a First Architectural Idea Generator

Abstract

The first ideas generation of the architectural project has traditionally been carried out through sketches. Even though in recent decades models have also gained importance, their use is still restricted due to the time required to make them and their difficulty of realization when it comes to complex forms. This research argues that the use of concept models mediated by two disruptive technologies such as Immersive Virtual Reality and 3D Printing can foster the cognitive process of the ideation and configuration of the first architectural ideas. To demonstrate the hypothesis, a pilot study was conducted with 32 architecture students; 17 students created models manually and 15 used IVR and 3DP. Two observation sheets were used to collect information. The results show that in the process of generating ideas, the group that used the two technologies developed three of the four characteristics of the cognitive process better, being an undecided and slow process, then fast and continuous, and finally perceptual for reinterpretation. Also, both technologies complemented each other and favored the development of an intense, tactile, and phenomenological experience. Finally, regarding the model as a product, a better result was found in 3D-printed models in terms of two of the three characteristics, three-dimensionality complexity and materiality. It is concluded that these two technologies ideally complement each other as mediating tools for three-dimensional architectural thinking, making it possible to use the conceptual models as the first generators of the architectural idea.