Visualisation: The Customer's Perception

Probably the most frustrating circumstance which might occur to an architect is to find out that his client is going to live for years in a house that is not like he expected it to be. Everybody has experienced to look at a picture of a place and after some time to go there and find out that the place is not according to his idea. This is due to the effectiveness of the media in representing the real space. During our experience we have tried to find out the way this effectiveness interferes in the relation between client and architect and how computer images can be effective in communicating the idea of architectural space. The problem of communication between designer and client rises when you notice that traditional graphic techniques (plans, sections, facades) are not enough understandable to make laypeople feel the real architectural space. And the unique answer to this problem has always been faced simply by leaving the architect understand the wishes of his client. During these last years though, computer techniques and multimedia tools have changed the way architects communicate their ideas.