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THE FIGURATIVE DIMENSION OF LANDSCAPE How landscape is represented in the contemporary project The definition of the new space concept as a demonstration of the geometries that regulate it and the definition of the physical entity of landscape are a few of the key points contained within this publication. They are directly connected to the study of the various contemporary representation techniques used for landscape. Addressing the themes related to information technology, images, the validity of the graphical representations and the problems connected to the reproducibility and multiplication of original works is carried out by comparing the projects and designs of different authors, who are then classified according to their nation, cultural relations and lines of research. In order to understand the current experiments that are being carried out, we must make reference to the painting of a landscape - one of the most important artistic creations of the 20th century - because, without it, understanding the foreign experiences based on the artistic or compositional relationships that exist between the different forming components presented within the same work group becomes too difficult. Those who are not involved with the landscape think that the complexity and beauty of the landscape - likewise for painting - are usually connected to each other by an inseparable bond. However, this is not the case. Often, it is easier to find ourselves in front of badly managed experiments. Every art is mostly symbolic and the ease with which we accept and understand such symbols as a demonstration of reality depends on our ability to understand it or whether we have been confronted with similar cases. The contemporary experiments are based on a revalidation of the artistic symbolism. The primitive symbols of medieval art defined the way the natural elements are and whose transpositions almost no longer had anything to do with their real aspect. Today, a great number of elaborations relating to the communication of a landscape project are strongly characterized by this type of approach: an image is pure symbolism; its complexity makes it impossible to read. It is always more difficult to find the strings of geometry within the construction of drawings. The medieval spirit's ability to see symbols in the spiritual reality cannot be replicated today. Three centuries of science have gone by since and we now find it hard to consider the natural elements as symbols of spiritual truth. Contemporary art has induced and stimulated research on the representation of the landscape and - especially - on the figurative dimension. This dimension led to research towards the use of different tools and combined applications full of pictorial and artistic valences; the international panorama undoubtedly creates the pace for the Italian one, as it sets the guidelines and trends. The most interesting expressions can be encountered in France and The Netherlands where the project, representation and communication perfectly blend together while respecting the "physical" characteristics of the project and the more "theoretical" ones in terms of vision and communication.

The goal of this work is to define a methodology for analysis, representation and communication of architecture and city; it is based on extraction of metric data directly from a video image sequence. Video sequence is a fast and complete capture way of reality, so we can quickly obtain metric data, using techniques developed in other application fields, as Cinematography and Visual Effects fields. We are talking about Video-tracking and Matchmoving techniques whose results are an oriented and textured point cloud and a multimedia product for the representation and communication of heritage. We also focus our attention on reviving and touching the vastness of multimedia material we have: the amount of movies about Rome as a movie set that shows architectural and urban situation of 40’s - 60’s years. So, we will be able to reconstruct urban contest or disappeared buildings, compare two or more urban situations studying and analysing the evolutionary phases of an architecture. We can immerse ourselves in the space of that set movie in which we put an unreal architecture and so interact with it and all we have around.

This research attempts to test and compare the different stereoscopic techniques of representation by applying them into the field of architecture and the way it communicates, while defining which the most appropriate one is. The investigation is done by identifying the existing state of the art technologies used in cinematography and the gaming industry, trying to apply their techniques in architectural visualisation. Different stereoscopic methods will be compared to each other in order to explore the benefits and the limitations that each method can offer. This research aims to create an interactive virtual environment, wich makes it possible for end users to freely explore architectural space. In order to achieve this goal, advanced Game Engine software will be used, capable of generating real-time stereoscopic contenent with very high quality graphics and without any relevant impact on general software’s performance. At the same time, head-tracking technology is proposed to serve as a non-conventional Human Interface Device for a more natural data input and communication between the computer and its operator. Una tecnologia in continua evoluzione permette oggi di creare, senza grandi difficoltà, immagini e video digitali visualizzabili in tre dimensioni, attraverso un procedimento semplice che sfrutta i principi di funzionamento della visione umana. Questa ricerca si propone di confrontare tra di loro diverse tecniche di rappresentazione stereoscopica realizzando sperimentazioni concrete applicate all’ambito della visualizzazione e comunicazione dell’architettura, col fine di trovare quella giudicata più idonea. La prima fase della ricerca consiste in un approfondito studio dello stato dell’arte e della tecnica a livello nazionale e soprattutto internazionale. Le ultime tecnologie sviluppate, oggi vengono utilizzate per lo più nel mondo della cinematografia, dell’intrattenimento, e recentemente anche in quello dei videogiochi, aumentandone il grado di immersività. Ciò che si propone di fare in questo lavoro è cercare di trasferire quel grado di immersività alla comunicazione visiva architettonica, attraverso la definizione di una metodologia con la quale applicare il concetto teorico di “how to” del mondo cinematografico e del mondo gaming a quello dell’architettura. Una volta che il quadro delle conoscenze è stato meglio definito, si affronta lo studio e la catalogazione delle singole tecniche stereoscopiche, evidenziando i pregi e i limiti di ognuna. Segue un’ultima fase di sperimentazione che vede: 1) la creazione di immagini statiche e video sequenze in ambiente 3D; 2) la creazione di ambienti architettonici virtuali interattivi e stereoscopici. Il primo punto ha come finalità la creazione di immagini statiche (render) e video sequenze visualizzabili in tre dimensioni partendo dai più diffusi programmi di modellazione e computer grafica usati oggi nel campo dell’architettura. Particolare interesse presenta la possibilità di usufruire, dove possibile, di programmi Open Source del settore. Fondamentale è stata la consultazione dell’ambiente web, dove il confronto con vari CG Artists ha messo in risalto e nello stesso tempo risolto problematiche incontrate ed affrontate durante questo lavoro. Il secondo punto si concentra su un argomento molto importante ai fini della ricerca: la creazione di modelli virtuali real-time che permettono all’utente una navigazione libera e priva di vincoli, affiancata dalla visualizzazione stereoscopica. L’esperienza d’esplorazione e comunicazione dell’architettura si svolge in tempo reale sfruttando i motori grafici utilizzati nella realizzazione di videogiochi per garantire un senso di maggiore immersività e realismo. La fase finale della ricerca è dedicata alla sperimentazione e all’applicazione delle tecniche sopracitate su un caso di studio architettonico. Il tema scelto: “Monumento al Milite Ignoto - Baghdad” dell’architetto udinese Marcello D’Olivo,è stato selezionato prendendo in considerazione caratteristiche e linguaggi architettonici di autori significativi del panorama italiano della seconda metà del XX secolo.