What we do
From Points to Project
New land surveying techniques and it‘s impact on topological landscape design and visualization
About the Methodology
In collaborations between local Swiss authorities and the LVML of the ETH, several projects have recently been developed using a combination of geo-referenced point cloud data and photographic site records. The strategically chosen sites are each in a state of transition, whether through design intervention, engineered necessity, or unforeseen site transformation.
The possibilities of this technique have enabled simultaneously engineering decisions, succinct communication of complex site issues, and informed design decisions to be made. This also affords the designer the ability to record and reference subjective atmospheric impressions of landscape site with objective, and quantifiable site data.
In each site, point-cloud scans are taken to inform various aspects of topological detailing, insuring better coherence and connectivity to the outlying terrain. The challenge is often to reintegrate each project into surroundings with sensitive cultural, engineered or natural characteristics.
Advanced modeling and visualizing techniques are used at every stage of the design process, and combined with on-site preparatory tests, and recordings of the environmental impact of local seasonal variations. The adaptation of an artificial topology within its surroundings is where the extreme precision generated by point cloud scans becomes essential.
The density of technical and visual information inside the point clouds allows for highly informed design decisions. Alternatively, the development of filters to deal with overly saturated datasets maintains an efficient workflow, and allows for efficient processes of data acquisition and design-use.
Through these processes, the material and physical reality of large-scale projects are rendered comprehensible and operable from within the design studio itself. During the design and decision-making process, a multitude of possible physical, visual and natural aspects of the project can be scrutinized. The geo-referenced point cloud base also allows the assemblage of landscape photographs, enabling a form of site viewing that relates back to the art of site panning, and form a visual history of the transformation of the site. >> more