Virtual Environments: Is one life enough?

The project is to explore SL to find an interesting building. By ‘interesting’ we mean:

1. the design (interior or exterior);
2. the purpose (what use the building has been designed for);
3. the actual use of the building (it may be that it ends up having a different use than the original purpose);
4. the type of people who visit, own or use the building; etc etc.

For the project each pair of students will visit at least five possible buildings before selecting one to work with. The building must be open to the public (or, in the case of a private dwelling, permission should be sought from the owner) and freely accessible. The rationale for selection is to be developed and a presentation made to support your choice. The presentation should describe the building drawing attention to the key aspects that make it interesting. It should also describe the building in context:

1. how it fits into the immediate environment;
2. its fitness for purpose;
3. the use to which it is being put;
4. the origin of the building;
5. how and why it was built;
6. whether or not it is considered a success by its owner, builder, users, neighbours etc.

The presentation should also give the audience a flavour of the building.

The presentation can be made in or near the building or in any other appropriate venue selected by the group/pair. It should last between 5 and 10 minutes. Presentation date is normal class time on Thursday 10th December.

Each participant should also describe the progress of the project in a weekly blog post. Discuss the details of the project and also the issues that arise in working collaboratively online. How easy is it meet up virtually and plan the project? What difficulties arise in development? How easy or difficult is communication? What particular problems arise and how do you deal with them?

See page 6 Module assessment for assessment criteria applying to this project.

Important note: If you use images or sound be mindful of copyright, particularly as presentations will be posted to the module blog.

Central station, Amsterdam

Mocha cathedral

Falling Water