It seems to be working. The past academic year's annual design competition sponsored by the American Institute of Architecture Students required that entries be submitted in computer format, rather than using traditional scale models and drawings. Mississippi State student Ron Allen of Columbus claimed one of two first-place awards. Classmates Manche Mitchell of Memphis and the team of Bradford Swinney of Booneville and Anthony Lawrence of Jackson took second-place awards. Students buy their own computers, but complaints about that have been non-existent, faculty say.
Concerns focus on which machine to purchase.
Starting next year, architecture graduates throughout the country will find that professional registration examinations are being issued on computers. The first classes in such a program could be offered in fall 1995. The program, to be directed by Professor Michael Fazio, would be closely coordinated with a Master of Fine Arts program in computer visualization approved earlier this year. The School of Architecture will become the only one in the world that incorporates virtual reality directly into the undergraduate curriculum. The public will have a chance to experience virtual reality in a sports context when the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame opens in Jackson next year.