“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view—until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” – spoken by the character Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird
What a profound line from Atticus Finch in Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. What if the same could be said of buildings, specifically church facilities?
Today, technological advances are enabling church leaders, congregants and other potential donors, as well as design and building experts to virtually walk around in a worship facility before it's built. To capture the view looking out its windows, sitting in its seats for worship, standing in its courtyards, playgrounds and gathering spaces.
The May/June issue of WFM, soon to hit mailboxes, contains several features that delve into the possibilities and benefits that 3D technological advancements are allowing. On page 39 in the “Spotlight on Green Building Trends, Materials & Advancements” feature, for instance, David Nance of Atlanta’s Choate Construction talks about the advantages of design and construction teams, along with church building owners, being able to walk around in a design before it’s ever built using Building Information Modeling, or “BIM” design software, as it’s called.
Then on page 40, in “The Pastor's Guide to New Technologies,” experts talk about the benefits of 3D animation in helping to convey a church's story and vision leading into the building process. As Stan Robertson, president of Gone Virtual Studios, states in this story, 3D animation can both help a church raise money for new buildings and renovations and can be used online to help entire communities see the plans the church has to share its facilities beyond the scope of its current members.
WFM would like to hear from you and learn how you are—or aren’t—using technology, especially 3D visioning technology as mentioned above, alongside 3D animation experts or design and building professionals. What are your experiences with it if you’re using it? If you’re not, are you considering it, and why or why not? Feel free to share your comments under the “Letters from the Editor” blog—where this letter appears online—at www.worshipfacilities.com.
