CAD & Visualisation

Course code : ENVT1023
Course co-ordinator : David Watson

Introduction

This course is in two halves. The first half (weeks 1 to 6) is about landscape design. The second half (weeks 7 to 12) is about landscape planning. The first half of the course consists of a single digital design project and will be undertaken in groups. This project is intended to be experimental and involve the innovative use of software. The second half consists of two projects, which are undertaken on an individual basis and focus on the professional techniques involved in visual impact assessment.

Stop Press! - Photomontage Tutorials (5th Jan 2010)

Course Diary

The course diary gives an overview of the timetable, weekly topics and submission dates for this course. There may be occasional changes, so check back frequently.

2009-10 Session
Date	Room	Title
2nd October 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - Introduction to course and project
9th October 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - AutoCAD, solid modelling
16th October 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - AutoCAD, materials & rendering
23rd October 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - AutoCAD, animation
30th October 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - PowerPoint and video editing
6th November 2009	Lab A	Tiananmen Square - Final Presentation
13th November 2009	Lab A	ZVI Techniques - DTM principles & software *
20th November 2009	Lab A	ZVI Techniques - ZVI principles & software
27th November 2009	Lab A	ZVI Techniques - Visibility study exercise
4th December 2009	Lab A	Photomontage - Field techniques †
11th December 2009	Lab A	Photomontage - Combining CAD models and photographs
18th December 2009	Lab A	Photomontage - Presentation techniques
Christmas Break
22nd January 2009	Online	Photomontage hand-in

* Teams to hand-in Tiananmen Square project CD/DVD
† Hand-in ZVI project by file upload
Art & Context students on field trip: 24th to 29th October

All sessions are 3 hours long and take place on Friday mornings; beginning at 10.00am. Sessions will be taught in Tower Lab A unless otherwise indicated.
Attendance is not required for "Online" events.

Aims and Outcomes

To develop CAD teamwork techniques
To demonstrate how 3D CAD models can be used as iterative design tools
To demonstrate simple animated walkthroughs and narrative presentations
To introduce students to paperless presentation methods
To introduce Digital Terrain Modelling (DTM) & Zones of Visual Influence (ZVI)
To demonstrate how to combine 3D CAD models and photographic images
To introduce skills in photomontage and to produce "before and after" images

Format

The course runs during Term 1 and consists of three main elements - workshops, group projects and individual projects.

Workshops

The Course Diary gives a general overview of the workshops and a suggested topic for each week. However, this is indicative and may change depending upon the requirements of students and project specifics. Tuition will be given on various aspects of digital design but as this is an advanced course, students will be expected to engage in some independent learning. The workshops are a weekly point of contact for students (many of whom are part-time) during the group project. They are also used for crit and feedback on project work. This is an advanced course and most work will need to be undertaken outside of the workshops.

See Assessed Elements for details of the projects.

Key Texts

Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (2nd Edition) by The Landscape Institute and the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment
Visual Representation of Windfarms: Good Practice Guidance published by Scottish Natural Heritage

Guidelines for Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment (2nd Edition)

The second edition of this book was published in 2002 and incorporates changes needed after changes in the statutory framework for Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Statements within the European Union. EU Council Directive 97/1/EC was implemented in England and Wales by the Town and Country Planning (England and Wales)(Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations in 1999 and in Scotland by the Environmental Impact Assessment (Scotland) Regulations, also in 1999.

The book is divided into nine parts. The first three focus on general principles of good practice, a background to the EIA process, the methodology of analysis and planning policy context. Parts four to nine fall into a logical sequence that clearly illustrates the practical application of the various processes and recommended methods. A number of these sections are illustrated with relevant case studies. The book is rounded off with an invaluable glossary and 10 appendices of which, Appendix 6 is worth special note. This appendix contains five examples of threshold criteria for visual impact as used by practitioners. This is an excellent source of information for those who have never before been involved with a visual impact survey and it gives an important insight into the methodology adopted by well respected practitioners.

The GLVIA is a well thought out, logically presented and superbly illustrated. This is essential reading for all consultants involved with landscape and visual impact assessment and should be required reading for all developers. The book is published by Spon and is also available from Amazon.co.uk. It is also available as an eBook through MyiLibrary, accessible via the Student Portal.

Avery Hill Library copies: 4

Visual Representation of Windfarms: Good Practice Guidance

This publication should be a standard text in any landscape office engaged in visual impact assessment. Although it is specifically written as advice for practitioners engaged in VIA projects involving windfarms, much of the content is also relevant to more general VIA projects. In some respects, this book plugs some of the gaps in the GLVIA. That book is rather short on technical detail. This book provides that in spades. An excerpt of the book is available as a PDF for download.

Visual Representation of Windfarms: Good Practice Guidance is available from Scottish Natural Heritage.

Avery Hill Library copies: 1 study loan

Online Resources

AutoCAD - The official website for the UK
CADTutor - Tutorials, articles and resources for AutoCAD
My CAD Site - Tutorials for AutoCAD
Zone of Visual Impact Analysis - Detailed description.
Verified Photomontage - Detailed description of the process

Course Documents

These documents contain all the information about the course, projects, briefs and tutorials. All documents are provided in PDF format. Some documents may also be provided in appropriate alternative formats. In order to view the PDF files, you will need the Adobe Reader.

There are currently 3 files in this section

File Listing
Filename	Size (KB)	Date Modified
Design Project Teams 2009-10.pdf	59.4	2nd Oct 2009
ENVT1023 Course Brief 09-10.pdf	59.7	1st Oct 2009
Tiananmen Project Mark Sheet.pdf	16.3	12th Nov 2009

Assessed Elements

This course includes 3 assessed elements; one group project and two individual projects. Details of these elements are given below. Each of the elements has a slightly different weighting and this is indicative of the degree of difficulty and/or the amount of work required. The weighting is as follows:

Group Project: 50%
ZVI Analysis Project: 25%
Verified Photomontage Project: 25%

Details of each project are given below.

Group Project: Tian'anmen Square Web 2.0 Competition

Project Aim

This project is designed to develop 3D CAD skills, to develop team-working techniques, to introduce the iterative design process, to introduce animated walkthroughs and to introduce paperless methods of narrative presentation. The software used will be varied but may include AutoCAD, SketchUp, Bryce, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and/or others.

Project Overview

The group will be split into design teams of 5 or 6 students. As far as possible, each team will be balanced in terms of digital design skills so that no one team has a particular advantage. Each team will follow the same brief.

Project Brief

China is the most populous country in the world and is expected to become the largest economy in the world.

Beijing has been China's capital since 1125. It has had several different names and has been re-built on several occasions.

Tian'anmen Square is the largest urban space in the city and also the largest urban square in the world.

We are not saying that it needs to be re-designed. We are putting the question:
"IF Tian'anmen Square is to be re-designed, what do you recommend?".

The question is also being put to a wider group of designers as part of a Web 2.0 Landscape Architecture Competition, with prizes. It is an international forum for design debate.

We see the competition as an opportunity to show the world that the landscape profession has expertise in the design of urban space and can present ideas in an attractive visual format which lets non-experts understand what is being proposed and form opinions on the proposals. The aim of the Tian'anmen Project is generate an idea and to represent the idea in three dimensions using computer aided design. The range of design approaches you might consider include:

At the time of its construction, by the Ming Dynasty in 1420, the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tian'anmen) was the point of entry from the people’s city to what is now called the Forbidden City. It was a very important place and more of its historic character should be restored, as is happening to many other historic features of Chinese cities (eg temples)
Tian'anmen Square as it exists today is the heart of China. It is of great historical importance as the place where the People’s Republic of China was proclaimed by Chairman Mao Zedong on 1.1.1949. It should be refurbished but its essential character should be conserved.
A tragedy took place in Tian'anmen Square on 4.6.1989 and this event should be commemorated in the design of the Square.
Beijing has a climate which is often too dusty, often too hot and often too cold. A very large empty space is not a good urban design response to these climatic conditions and the space should therefore be re-designed. At present the Square has nowhere to sit and nothing to do.
China is a fast-changing country but Tian'anmen Square has hardly changed at all. It should therefore be re-designed to set the world a brilliant example of how urban space can be re-designed to meet the needs and aspirations of today’s world.
Ma Yansong has suggested foresting Tiananmen Square. His proposal is in keeping with a landscape design tradition which began some 5,000 years ago – at the time agriculture was reaching the English Channel.

Please be adventurous in your thinking and inspiring with your graphic presentation work.

Tian'anmen Square Site Location

Google Maps: Tian'anmen Square, 东城区, Beijing, China

Air Photo at the BBC: Tian'anmen Square Map

Tian'anmen Square Useful Photos & Videos

Below is a small selection of videos that include views of Tian'anmen Square. You can find many more at YouTube. You can also find plenty of photos of the square at flickr.

Useful Information

Tiananmen Square photos and information

Assessment Details

Although this is a "design" project, you should consider the design only as a vehicle for the investigation and development of method and process. The quality of design will be considered but it has a lower weight than other criteria. There are 3 main criteria for assessment and they are:

Innovative use of software for design development and presentation
Quality of the presentation and design
The clarity with which the design narratives (method/process and pavillion) are told