Text: Leonard
Photo: Tomomi Takano

立本寺室内から建具越しに庭園を望む。右側に見える橋は本堂への渡り廊下。View of Ryuhonji-temple’s garden from the room through the window. The bridge on the right is a passageway to the main hall.

This collaborative research is a collaboration between KYOTO Design Lab and the Institute of Landscape Architecture ETH Zürich led by Professor Christophe Girot. The research is about collecting and analyzing data from the recorder and 3D scanner, and then, unifying them using some specific software to create a short animation that can represent the real atmosphere of a landscape. This workshop marks the 3rd year of collaboration between KYOTO Design Lab and ETHZ.

Listening attentively to the Environment Before Recording the Gardens

The site that had been chosen for this year’s research is Ryuhon-ji Temple, located in Kyoto City. It is a good example of a temple that was not made for tourists. Ryuhon-ji is also famous for its Zen garden, one of the great historical gardens. Fortunately, we were allowed to use the garden for three consecutive days to collect the data that will be used for research. We recorded under the guidance of Nadine Schütz, Matthias Vollmer and Ludwig Berger, the researchers at ETHZ.

右からナディーン・シュッツ氏、ルードヴィヒ・ベルガー氏From right to left, Nadine Schütz and Ludwig Berger

On the first day of this workshop, we did the blind-walking exercise by covering our eyes while walking with no clear sense of direction, only depending on the sense of hearing. With this exercise, the sensibility of hearing became sharper and we could feel and dive deep into the surrounding atmosphere. Using this sensitivity of our ears, we recorded the detailed sounds that happen near us such as sounds of footsteps, wind, and birds.

ペアを組み、1人が先導するかたちでお寺の周辺を目隠しして歩いた。We paired up and walked around the temple while one person guides the other whose eyes are covered.

同様に庭園内も歩く。石を踏む音が立体的に聞こえてきた。We also walked in the garden. The sound of footsteps on the stone was heard three-dimensionally.

We also started collective recording, in which we placed tripods in some specifics areas in the garden and began recording at the same time. We conducted collective recording twice a day, in the morning and in the evening, in order to observe the changes that happen to the garden and the surrounding areas during those times.

音を計測する様子。Collective Recordingは、異なる位置の同じ時刻における環境音を記録することで、実際には体験できない環境の状況をデータとして正確に再現することが可能になる。By recording environmental sounds at the same time in different positions, Collective Recording makes it possible to accurately reproduce the situation of the environment which can not actually be experienced as data.

事前にどのような音をどこで計測するかをメモしてレコーディングをおこなった。We took a note in advance on where and how to measure.

Scan the Landscape as Digital Data

Meanwhile, Matthias Vollmer brought out a 3D scanner and placed it on appointed-area in the garden and started to scan the physical shape of the garden. 3D scanner has to be fixed in more than one location to be able to obtain the whole image of a garden.

Moreover, we also conducted individual recording that later will be used in our animation and also the photogrammetry, a technique of mapping measurements utilizing a series of overlapping or superimposed photographs.

3Dスキャナーを指差して説明するマティアス・ヴォルマー氏。3Dスキャナーは360度回転しながら周囲の情報を計測する。Matthias Vollmer explained how 3D scanner works. It measures surrounding information while rotating 360 degrees.

From Measurement To Creation

We went through these process in the first three days and the data that had been collected were later used to create a 2-minute-animation. The raw data recorded on the 3D scanner from numerous spots had to be merged together in order to compose the whole 3D animation of the garden. Combining each raw data from the 3D scanner and editing the recording sounds were done during the next four consecutive days.

それぞれ担当を振り分けて編集作業をおこなう。Editing work. photo: Naoko Minami

By merging each image piece by piece using point cloud technology that can capture million points of data per second, we can see almost all the details that had been taken through the lens of 3D scanners. Through this extremely advanced and precise tools and methods, we could explore the new boundaries of knowledge and illustration of the landscape, as well as the relationship between the garden and the temple. It is also possible to create ghostly, uncanny digital replicas of real-world environments, using millions of small dots that are precise to within a millimeter.

Furthermore, 3D scanning can also be an effective way to examine and archive physical spaces that are unnoticeable and inaccessible, such as a scratch on the wood or even a hollow space within a tree.

Design Topology in the Digital Age

D-lab held the public lecture “Design Topology in the Digital Age” by Professor Christophe Girot. At the beginning of the talk, he explained the definition of Topology. According to him, topology is an abstract term for a continuity of a surface. It is understood as a property that is retained even if the form of an object changes, as long as the surface of the space or shape is continuous. He also emphasized that, while architecture tends to seem as if it focuses on tangible objects such as structure, topology focuses on the spirit of the landscape, for it speaks to the logic and intelligence of a landscape. Furthermore, Design topology represents a new approach to the terrain, a new way to enhance a deeper sense of the physical world.

クリストフ・ジロー教授Professor Christophe Girot

After finishing the introduction about topology, he showed us the animation that had been created in previous workshop and gave a brief explanation about the method and the process in which it was made. The previous workshop took place in several gardens in Kyoto. While showing us the short-animation that was made by the students from the previous workshop, he explained about the basic concept of 3D scanning system.

He stated that the 3D scanner has the ability to capture millions of dots and plot them with a very precise calculation, even more accurate than Google Earth images. The resulting “point cloud” data consists of millions or more of geo-referenced points over which a 360-degree photo of the site can be enclosed. This means that limitless detail about a site can be captured using the 3D scanning system. However, an object that does not have information in terms of color or location, such as sky and water, can only be shown as black dots.

He also added that it is possible to generate cross-section and longitudinal sections of a terrain and build from the point cloud data. For example, horizontal section view, which he implied as Tatami view, of traditional Japanese house can be extracted from the point cloud data, producing a clear image of the building that can help us to observe and analyze more easily, with precision down to plus or minus a millimeter.

He also showed us the point cloud model of the hydroelectric power station on the border of Jordan, Palestine and Israel, which until that time the site had never been documented. The animation is the example of combination between point cloud data and the cross-section data that had been previously made using CAD. The combination of CAD and point cloud that was extracted from the 3D scanner can produce such a precise yet more solid visualization.

参加者が作成した立本寺の点群モデルも早速披露された。A point cloud model of Ryuhon-ji Temple created by the participants was also shown.

Nowadays, 3D scanning is rapidly replacing the two-dimensional scanning because it is more precise, faster, and consists large amount of information and details about the site. Moreover, 3D scanning has become not too expensive and easy to navigate, and therefore architects and engineers use it to help them plot the image of existing object or building when designing additions or renovation of a building that has historical values.

Author: Leonard
Kyoto Institute of Technology, Design and Architecture, Masahiro Kinoshita Laboratory B3

Edited, caption text by Kouhei Haruguchi