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TU Darmstadt:
share.world is exploring the opportunities of three dimensional representation in the web. Using the free standard VRML2.0 it is creating information environments instead of using the recent desktop metaphor. Architecture turns to hypertecture. content vs. interface
The project developed out of a series of hypertecture projects, starting with the Skylink Frankfurt Project in 1995 (Bernhard Franken at the INM Frankfurt) and followed by the Orbit Project (Students of "CAD in der Architektur" TUD) in 1998. The first projects focused on developing form and strategies for a non-Euclidean disparate discontinuous Information Space. They operated on a rather artistic and abstract level. After all it is content that makes up the web and not an abstraction. So the subject of megacities, maybe the most difficult question for architecture and urbanism of the next century, was chosen for the share.world project. The students had the task to analyze a field of their interest referring to megacities and find a suitable representation for it in the information space. This representation could be a visualization of invisible processes, a simulation of some of their mechanism, or even a small practical tool for a solution of one of their problems. The Information Space of the Internet served as a reference level for the physical world. from shareware to share.world
One aim of the project was to create practical pieces of source code for others interested in the field to down load and utilize for their own purposes. Eventually this might contribute to the idea of shareware, free software for everybody, adding the concept of sharing three dimensional information. participation
The share.world project is open to participation on many levels. First the interface includes a online chat so people can visit the project in groups. Experiencing the multiuser 3D worlds we came to the solution, that for the present state of network bandwidth and machine power it is more important to be able to communicate online while visiting the same world then seeing each other. Additionally there is a clipboard, where you can leave messages for others not being online at the same time. Finally anybody interested can join with own worlds if he meets a certain standard and follows a given set of rules. The department
"CAD in der Architektur"(Prof. M. Koob) of the Architecture School of
the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. |
