Published by Byron Press Multimedia, distributed by Microsoft. This software is a rather loving exploration of the work of an American architect. 1994. CD-ROM for Windows 3.1
|
|
his craft which can be explored, plus an environment where users
can manipulate creations based on Wright's philosophy of design,
and a look at Wrights's life which places his work in a particular
social and historical context.
One of the modules is called the "Library" and it contains a
searchable index of terms, people, places, and other relevant
things of interest. A separate bibliography (which is not
accessible from the main application) is included on the CD-ROM.
The citations within the material and the bibliographic references
are useful for promoting further inquiry, but it would have been
better for the bibliography to have been included within the main
application.
The software both lays out the areas for exploration clearly and
provides the user with enough choice to discover his or her own
purpose for the product. [Top of Page]
interface is gorgeously designed, and quite visually engaging
without being terribly distracting. The interface draws on
elements from Wright's own style and therefore illustrates by
example much of his approach to design. Navigation methods are
obvious and intuitive. There are always ways of returning to
previous sections, but if tangential material is followed to a
different module it becomes difficult to navigate back to the
branching point.
The online help is easily accessed and very clearly written. Aside
from a readme.wri file which explains installation strategies,
there are no extraneous manuals or booklets which accompany this
product. The installation was tricky and might not be possible
without the readme file. [Top of Page]
System Requirements
Multimedia PC with at least a 486/33 CPU or higher. The box says
that it requires at least 4 MB of RAM but I think it requires at
least 8 MB to run the modeling module. 500K of disk space is
necessary, plus at least a double speed CD-ROM drive, a mouse, and
soundcard with speakers, and MS Windows 3.1 or higher.
[Top of Page]
Recommendation
This is a very successful work that fulfills its purpose more than
adequately. The combination of images, text and video, along with
the interactive possibilities of near-immersive walking tours and
direct manipulation of design elements, make this product far more
powerful than what could be realized using traditional media.
In its scope this work reminds me of a museum exhibit on Wright's work and life that I attended several years ago in Marin (at the civic center designed by Wright), where they had painstakingly recreated one of his Usonian homes to allow people to tour it, and displayed much of his work and original writings. It took me several hours to go through the entire exhibit, which must have cost a great deal to assemble. In many respects, I got much of the same kind of feeling from this portable disc... and I can go back o the disc anytime and revisit the material, which is something the museum exhibit can not provide. I doubt that any other kind of media could provide such a range of experiences.
Reviewed by Aviva Rosenstein