Tableaux of Autonomous City III
Photo Series of Models and Renderings
Preparation for Exhibition in Farrell Teaching & Learning Center Exhibition Space, School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, March, 2021
This tableaux is a prototype for a 1:8 scale model in an interdisciplinary endeavor between researchers in computer science and architecture. The autonomous driving platform will be used as (1)to speculate on how architecture and the urban environment can change relative to the wide use of autonomous vehicles and (2) to improve the performance of autonomous vehicles through adversarial testing with a miniature autonomous vehicle. The model studies include photogrammetry fragments of facades on Washington University in St. Louis’ campus as well as fragments of other real and speculative cities and street entourage.
The model city is an immersive environment in which building-form, public space, material characteristics, and atmospheres are controlled and staged, not unlike a film set. Material translations between full and miniature scale represent and attempt to achieve parallel conditions across real-world and modeled environments that address the sensing technologies of autonomous vehicles. As such, Vale’s team employs digital fabrication techniques, including 3D printing and CNC routing, as well as modeling software that uses photogrammetry to create rich point cloud and mesh models that replicate the physical environment. As such, the team employs technologies similar to those used in autonomous vehicles, accounting for machine vision throughout the process of design.