An advanced digital solution for representing continuity in urban architectural change: A virtual urban architectural evolution

Most available representational tools in the fields of Architecture and Urban Architectural History present inaccurate expressions of urban architectural evolution. Instead of representing urban architectural change as part of a universal flow, most of them present it as a series of distinct states that form a thread in time. This unauthentic representation often leads many architects and urban architectural historians toward false interpretations of the examined urban architectural form.;The following dissertation is an attempt to address this problem by developing an advanced virtual solution to represent the continuity and connectivity in urban architectural change. Using real-time animation (RTA) environments as the domain of investigation, the following dissertation investigates the possibility of reinventing 3D urban architectural evolution in cyberspace. As proof of concept, the investigation tested a model of the urban evolution of Baalbek from Early Antiquity to the Late Islamic period. Produced materials of the case study were integrated to form a prototype of an interactive 3D web-based educational environment for Architecture and Urban Architectural History. The solution was aimed to interactively and three-dimensionally express continuous urban architectural evolution, and to illustrate time and geographical relationships among different urban and architectural forms. Like other educational tools of Architecture and Urban Architectural History, the developed solution possessed some drawbacks; however, its comprehensive abilities make it worthy of further development.