Thick Description

Catalog description

With the advent of digital tools that construct hyper-real renderings, it is easy to mistake the photoreal for reality. As a tool for designers, representation is more than mimesis, but a means of analysis, process, and communication. This course will introduce workflows for depicting layered elements of complex sites, including not only physical form and visible phenomena, but also the often slow, invisible processes and human impacts that shape sites over time. As a laboratory in both analog and digital media, this course will explore representation through analog methods, ArcGIS Pro, Rhino, LiDAR scanning, and animations. At the heart of the semester’s inquiry will be a deep, engaged exploration of a single site, which each student will revisit throughout the course.