Architecture as alchemy: changing documentation languages and their translation into built forms

The paper explores the research potential of a multimedia database called `Simulated Site Visits´ to record the translation processes which occur between architectural documentation drawings and their built form. This is a significant area for research, as computer visualisation is transforming design and documentation techniques. `Simulated Site Visits´ allows records of the construction process, which is normally concealed once building is completed to be linked to architectural documentation drawings and other records in a four dimensional framework. This non-linear reading of different media, facilitates the study of links and gaps between architectural drawings and their built form. It is a recent and radically different format for recording, retrieving and reviewing information developed. The research and teaching concepts were developed by the author and the computer interface strategy was developed by Jonathan Finkelstein, also from the University of Melbourne