Virtual Environments as Medium for Laypeople’s Communication and Collaboration in Urban Design A thesis submitted to the Wellington School of Architecture, Victoria University of Wellington by Shuva Chowdhury M. Arch (Mackintosh, GL, UK), M. Arch (BCN, Spain), B.Arch (DHK, BD) August 2020 PhD Candidate Shuva Chowdhury Wellington School of Architecture Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand
[email protected] Architectural Tutor (Lecturer) Southern Institute of Technology Invercargill, New Zealand
[email protected] Primary Supervisor Prof Marc Aurel Schnabel Wellington School of Architecture Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand
[email protected] Secondary Supervisor Dr Rebecca Kiddle Wellington School of Architecture Victoria University of Wellington Wellington, New Zealand
[email protected] Abstract The distance between urban design processes and outcomes and their communication to stakeholders and citizens are often significant. Urban designers use a variety of tools to bridge this gap. Each tool often places high demands on the audience, and each through inherent characteristics and affordances, introduces possible failures to understand the design ideas, thus imposing a divergence between the ideas, their communication and the understandings. Urban design is a hugely complex activity influenced by numerous factors. The design exploration process may follow established design traditions. In all instances, the medium in which the exploration takes place affects the understanding by laypeople. Design tools are chosen, in part, to facilitate the design process. Most urban design community engagement does not use Virtual Environments (VE) as a means of communication and participation in the early stage of the design generation.