virtual reality Just as all design work, whether theoretical or built, begins with an idea, all projects begin their lives as virtual projects. All architects spend an inordinate amount of time in the virtual realm and oscillate between different modes of representation to control the architectural product. Ideally, we ourselves would love all of our projects (conceptual and built) to undergo multiple stages of enactment (virtual and real), including construction. We think of building a project as another “test” of the success or failure of the ideas. For, despite the proliferation of the virtual, we (happily) still can be surprised on jobsites.
Our hope is to invigorate our built work through our theoretical explorations and to inform our conceptual reach with the challenges we confront in the built environment. For young practicing architects, relying exclusively on built work to create opportunities for radical design places an unrealistic expectation on clients’ interests and budgets. The obvious alternative is an academic career spent influencing the general architectural discourse through the publication of theoretical projects and lectures. Both options seem limited, but in different ways. On the one hand, pure building without space or time for reflection can result in the use of borrowed idioms or stylistic repetition. On the other hand, strong conceptual work petitions to be applied to another level of development. It seems obvious to us that both practices should coexist.
Zoë Prillinger and Luke Ogrydziak, AIA, are the principals of Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects in San Francisco.