How can an architect help tell the story of a small, passionate non-profit organization? How can they leverage an existing BIM to create a physical experience that initiates a positive memory of a space in the minds of a community before the building is built?  Youth & Opportunity United, a 45-year-old non-profit youth development and advocacy organization, hired Studio Talo Architecture to design their new 12,000 sq.ft. office headquarters and youth program center.  Early in the design development phase, the organization’s fundraising committee asked us to produce renderings of the building and youth program spaces to aid in their community outreach and fundraising campaign; I returned a more engaging idea. I understood that the mission of the organization, not the building, needed to be the focus of the campaign. Having previously created positive owner experiences with 360 virtual reality panoramas of other projects, I pitched the idea of incorporating avatar video of the youth the organization serves into dynamic 360-degree virtual reality video renderings.  The young people would act as tour guides through the building, explaining how the organization and the new building would impact their lives. A panoramic video rendering, delivered through Google Cardboard virtual reality headsets would give users the experience of standing in the future building with the young tour guides as they plead their case for the new building. The fundraising committee was intrigued, loved the idea of including the youth, and wondered if the experience could be ready for the community fundraising kick-off event less than a month away.  By leveraging the existing Autodesk Revit BIM and Autodesk 360 cloud rendering to create background panoramas, I felt the deadline would be achievable.

Software: Autodesk Revit, Autodesk 3Ds Max, Autodesk 360 Render, Adobe Photoshop, Fusion 8, Adobe Premiere

Additional Credit: Jason Beaumont Products, videography

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