STOÀ Journal n. 3, Year II, Issue 1/3, Winter 2022
[Renderings]

Rendering: in computer graphics, the conversion by means of special software of the profile of a two-dimensional image into an image with a realistic and perceptible three-dimensional appearance, thanks to the accurate calculation of the perspective and the addition of colours, lights and shadows.


A thorough examination of the effects of architectural renderings in the context of didactics and pedagogy for architectural design has not been systematically conducted so far. This is perhaps due to the short time since this tool has become commonplace in the academic setting. Although the critical scope of architectural renderings has not yet been fully grasped, the composition of images using digital graphics has been too quickly relegated – at least in the context of European teaching practices – as one of the causes of a particular degeneration of a certain know-how, and therefore of a loss of architectural knowledge. Renderings stand accused of being tools that are primarily aimed at the production of images that satisfy only at a superficial and retinal level. Therefore, we will question the potential of this tool through a survey of past and present pedagogical experiences, that will form a network of reflections and cultural positions that employ architectural renderings as functional tools for learning. Through the description of the urgencies and interests brought up by this topic for the project of architecture, we will conduct an analytical synthesis to understand how renderings can perform as signifiers.

The call seeks answers to three main questions within which the submitted proposals should position:

→ Renderings and the culture of image: how and in which pedagogical contexts do renderings represent the digital evolution of perspective drawings and collages to insert themselves as their complement or, conversely, replacing them tout court as indispensable pedagogical tools for the construction of design thinking?

→ Renderings and architectural knowledge: how do digital environments generate plausible imaginative scenarios capable of setting new cultural, physical, and informative contexts to distil critical positions, judgments on reality, and technical assumptions in architectural teaching?

→ Renderings and architectural representation: how can renderings become the primary tool for representing the evolution of the design process, the spatial features of the architectural object and its relationships with possible contexts? How can possible digital aesthetics contribute to the definition of a new cultural territory for the students’ education?

 




We are interested in contributions that specifically engage with the following:

→ recognizing common traits in contemporary international experiences;

→ understanding and describing approaches and cultural references, as well as inferences derived from other fields, such as history, art, philosophy, anthropology, literature, geography, sociology and economics;

→ exemplifying, through their conceptualization, specific didactic experiences, capable of becoming synthetic and effective expressions of a teaching knowhow;

→ intertwining narratives and research, theories and conjectures, verifying the starting conditions by comparing them with the results;

→ tracing a limit that can be shared by the scientific community, within which to critically and tendentiously “position” ideas and (didactic) projects, in order to build a a recognizable system by substantiating the reasons.

Abstracts in English or Italian (max. 2500 characters) should be submitted to: redazione@stoajournal.com

︎︎︎Download the call

︎︎︎Guidelines
︎︎︎Deadline: 15/09/2021

The call is open to PhD students, researchers, professors and all scholars academically involved in teaching architecture.
Accepted abstracts will be announced by 30/09/21. Contributions accepted for publication in the printed journal are expected in the form of a scientific essay, accompanied by notes, bibliography and images, for a maximum of 20,000 characters (spaces, notes and bibliography included) and 10 images/ pictures (of which you own the copyright of if they are free for use).

︎︎︎ITA