The Diverse Revolutions brought about by Designing Architecture in Virtual Reality

Abstract

Architecture is facing a singularity; the focal point of the singularity is virtual reality, virtual twins of architecture, and virtual public space, a central principle is the (so far inaccessible) authentic diachronic perception of architecture and its instantaneous creation from spaces within space. Architecture should embrace the singularity and undergo a reinvention of the discipline and the profession to rid itself of accumulated problems that often escape attention and whose essence is hidden. The prospect is to transform the paradigm of architectural design and built environment development planning, understanding architectural designs and communication with them, about them, and between interested professionals and the public. The benefits are to be numerous qualitative and quantitative increases in the performance of the profession and widespread and diverse improvements in the conditions and societal and sustainability profile of the built environment and architecture as a discipline. Based on a review of the state of the art of the field of software for architectural and building design, the paper reports on the research and development of a new software tool and virtual reality environment - Wearrecho - which fulfills the intended transformation and becomes its platform that links the virtual reality environment and parametric BIM software. The prevailing positive results of the experimental validation of their performance are presented, followed by a plan for continued research and development.