Title: Modeling Haywood Street & the Civic Center/ Basilica Plaza

Location: Asheville Design Center

Description: Jim Fox and Jeff Hicks will present their recent work in 3D computer modeling to help visualize urban design alternatives for downtown Asheville. As a work in progress, RENCI at UNC Asheville is refining a model of Haywood Street in front of the Saint Lawrence Basilica and the Civic Center. This model is to be used as a tool for studying the visual relationships of design alternatives for this cherished part of downtown Asheville. The framework for urban computer modeling can begin with aerial GIS and Google Earth type data, and with photographic drive-by images. Ultimately, visual modeling to produce photo-realism at street level requires a higher level of hand work and detail. The lecture will present the modeling techniques recently employed by RENCI in a 3D model for downtown Asheville.

RENCI has been a national leader in the computer visualization of flooding impacts due to climate change and impervious development. The Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI), a multi-institutional organization, brings together multidisciplinary experts and advanced technological capabilities to address pressing research issues and to find solutions to complex problems that affect the quality of life in North Carolina, our nation and the world. Founded in 2004 as a major collaborative venture of Duke University, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the state of North Carolina, RENCI is a statewide virtual organization. RENCI at UNC Asheville was awarded the first engagement site outside of the Research Triangle in 2005.

Time: 6-7:30pm
Date: 2010-03-17