Lead Dušan 2011 - PhDr. Jana Tichá (Golden Ratio), chairwoman

Challenges of the Information Age

As we walked through the studios, I couldn't shake the persistent impression that these projects were somehow too similar to each other. The number of interchangeable gray-white-brick facades set on green grass (with a stone wall, if it was necessary to overcome a terrain irregularity) was really striking. I kept wondering what was causing this, and then it hit me: probably everyone is using the same program to create their visualizations and that's it. They take what the program offers, a certain range of surfaces and colors, and "model." Flat, on the screen. I was asking myself, how does such a project come about? Is there a concept at the beginning, a holistic image? Or do they piece together fragments in hope that something will come out of it?

The ability to convincingly present a design should be part of the basic professional equipment of an architect. How many unrealized projects have been recorded in history just because of a strong concept and its original representation! It seems to me that digital technologies are starting to provide a disservice: programs are treated like ready-made and the resulting work often gives the impression that it was conceived more by a machine than by a human. The pseudo-literalness of prefabricated "realistic" representation is truly overwhelming: it reliably suffocates the idea right at its inception, so even a relatively good project appears miserable at first glance, and only upon closer inspection and reading the plans does one discover that it's actually not as bad as it looks. But: what does the declining culture of representation do to the culture of design in the long term? I cannot shake the dark suspicion that it won't be anything pleasant. The good news is that you can change it!