Introduction

Ken Sakamura

Leonardo da Vinci and many other architects were and are faced with architecture that could not be created with various information while the plan was being decided upon - in other words illusional architecture. What are the differences between buildings that end up only as a sketch, and buildings that are actually built?

There are many differences. There are also designs that are physically impossible to achieve: these belong to pure fantasy. There are also designs which though physically possible to achieve, do not overcome legal problems. Conversely, there may also be designs which although physically achievable have little charm as architecture, and there may be designs which despite having sufficient charm and ability to be built, were not built because funds could not be obtained. Some designs may have not been in favor with the powers that be at the time, while some may have been avoided for religious reasons.

A deeper understanding of architecture may be obtained by looking at the architecture of this world and the next that was not actually built, rather than looking at architecture that was actually built.

With this in mind, the Virtual Architecture Exhibition was planned.

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However, in the course of time this exhibition develops towards an exhibition plan that gives a general view of the relationship between architects and computers.

Computers make the impossible aspects of architecture possible. The most direct example is improving the capacity of computers in construction calculations. It is no exaggeration to say that computers have played a part in all recent breakthroughs brought about by new construction materials and new construction methods.

A more indirect example is the impact of computers as a tool for the conceptions of architects. Using computers, it has become possible to handle drawings freely not as incomplete two-dimensional images, but in their complete three-dimensional form. This has allowed architectural ideas to start to be made public which have complex multiple dimensional curved planes and which could not be brought together on paper. Thoughts and conceptions are often restricted by tools. In other words, the computer has changed the architectユs framework of thought itself.

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Now the boundary between conceptions and realization is beginning to be broken down by computers. In the field of architecture, virtual reality technology is currently being used to walk through and review the interiors of buildings before they are constructed.

However, technology which allows multiple users to participate and mutually use virtual spaces using networks are no longer the realms of science fiction, but are now becoming reality. That being the case, people will soon be able to gather to carry out business, education and relaxation in virtual space. When this happens, the design of such spaces in which people gather and mutually use and help achieve the objectives may well enter the scope of architecture.

In such a virtual world such as that found within computers, it is also possible to achieve buildings that are physically impossible. Mutually connective architecture that bulges that escape the constraints of gravity and overcomes the constraints of Euclidean geometry.

In this freedom which may also be described as complete, there are likely to be differences between virtual buildings that end as conceptions, and virtual buildings that are actually achieved and account for space on the network.

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The original planned keyword "difference between the possible and the impossible," is definitely one perspective for the understanding of architecture. However, this "difference" is changing thanks to the advent of the computer. That being the case, making "the difference between the possible and the impossible" a keyword, entails targeting the relationship between architecture and computers.

Buildings are now created first on the computer. All buildings, including those actually achieved, are now "virtual architecture."

Architecture that could not have been achieved without computers. Architecture whose concept itself may be described as being made possible by the computer, and which would not have even been considered in the past. We will display such architecture using a variety of display methods, including displays using computers, while at the same time displaying the computer technology utilized in such displays. By staging such a three-dimensional exhibition with the keyword "the differences between the possible and the impossible" in architecture, we will attempt to depict what architecture is, the impact developments in computer technology have had on architecture, and what the future holds for architecture.

Therefore, the decision was made to exhibit the Virtual Architecture Exhibition in a two-part structure. The theme of the first part is "Virtual Architecture as Illusional Architecture," and the theme of the second part is the more general "Virtual Architecture as Architecture which has a Strong Connection with Computers."

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Fortunately, the theme of the relationship between architecture and computers seems to be a theme of great concern to architects, and our calls were able to secure the support of architects at the forefront of their field in both Japan and overseas. Thanks to these architects this special exhibition was an extremely interesting exhibition which brought together the most dynamic aspects in the world of architecture today. We are sincerely thankful for this support.