In the Space and in the Time. Representing Architectural Ideas by Digital Animation

Since the late Nineties, digital architectural animation emerged as one of the main methods for representing design ideas. The ‘spectacle of architecture’ created by digital representation of space and time, arose as one of the most effective media for the prefiguration of architectural design. The great complexity of architectural video’s production quickly led to the birth of new professionals and creative companies specialized in modelling, rendering, animation, graphics, montage, editing and post production. The author investigates on the methods, techniques and languages of the fourth-dimensional representation of architecture, almost unexplored area of research thus far, by relating them with the architects’ personal poetics. To support observations, discoveries and theses, this paper provides analysis and critics of several case studies and traces an ideal interpretative path, considering both to the changing technologies and the emerging specific languages.