Academic from The British University in Dubai Organises Major Conference in Egypt
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: New technology conceptualised in Dubai could change the way architects give shape and form to society's aspirations, culture and experiences, declared a leading expert.
Dr. Ahmad Okeil of The British University in Dubai convened over 80 experts from 25 countries in a three day conference hosted by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt to discuss the most recent trends in Virtual Architecture.
Virtual Architecture brings together architecture, new media and computational technologies, to assist with the planning and development of a wide range of construction projects.
"The integration of IT and architecture results in many changing and expanding forms of interaction between the physical world and the virtual world," said Dr. Ahmad Okeil, Senior Lecturer in Architecture, The British University in Dubai.
"The potential benefits of Virtual Architecture's power and versatility make for exciting construction projects and new techniques for imagining the world around us", added Okeil.
Conference delegates estimated that in recent years new technologies outpaced many architectural design issues. The architectural profession now accepts digital design tools and technologies as something to be integrated in both the design process and into everyday life.
In his opening speech Dr. Okeil introduced two metaphors to be discussed during the conference. The first metaphor addressed aspects of virtual environments that resemble our physical world; In other words, the computer model as physical model and the digital world as material world.
The second metaphor looked into the means and modes of interaction between human bodies and such virtual environment, exploring modes of user interaction with virtual worlds by using the screen cursor as the hand, digital avatar as the body, or virtual camera as the eye.
Presentations covered a wide range of topics within the subject area, from integrating Computer Aided Architectural Design in education, research and practice, to different techniques of urban city modeling, creative visualization and information visualization. Participants also discussed the potentials of new design trends, such as mass customization, performance simulation, virtual prototyping, virtual design and virtual construction, on the final product in the construction industry and how this affects user satisfaction.
Several approaches to collaborative design, intelligent design, case reasoning, design methods, synthetic methods, web-based design, revolutionary architecture and generative form were presented during the conference. Research papers indicated that different modes of interaction with the virtual world can enrich human understanding of interaction in the material world and might include insights into the way we understand and interact with space.
The event was sponsored by several bodies including the British Council and the German Academic Exchange Service. Presented papers will be included in the Cumulative Index of Publications about Computer Aided Architectural Design (CUMINCAD) which is an international database of research used by scholars in the subject area.
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Note to Editors:
"Embodying Virtual Architecture", the 3rd International ASCAAD Conference took place in Alexandria, Egypt. Statistically, 57 international reviewers were involved in selecting 60 papers for presentation out of 140 submissions received. Participants came from countries as diverse as Brazil, USA, Japan and New Zealand. See http://www.ascaad.org/conference/2007/ for further details.
About the British University in Dubai
The British University in Dubai (BUiD) is the Middle East's first research-based, postgraduate university. The University was established to facilitate access to world-class education, training and research in the Middle East. BUiD aspires to the highest, internationally recognized British standards as reflected in its partnership with the University of Edinburgh, the University of Birmingham, the University of Manchester, Cardiff University and the Cass Business School at City University, London. Each has a five or five-star rating in the UK national Research Assessment Exercise that signifies research of international standard.
The not-for-profit university offers full and part-time Masters Degree programmes and Continuing Professional Development courses in Information Technology, Project Management, Human Resources Management, Sustainable Design of the Built Environment, Finance and Banking, Education, and IT Management.
All BUiD's current Masters Programmes have received Initial Accreditation Eligibility Status from the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research's Commission for Academic Accreditation.
The founders of the University are the Al Maktoum Foundation, the Dubai Development and Investment Authority, Rolls-Royce, the British Business Group and the National Bank of Dubai. The University is governed by a Council under the chairmanship of Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum.
The Emirates Group, DUCAB, Atkins, Dubai Duty Free, Hyder Consulting, the Emirates Foundation and DUGAS are supporters of the university through financial contributions or the provision of scholarships.
For further enquiries call BUiD on +971 4 391 3633.
© Press Release 2007
