Arquitectura en las comunidades virtuales: lo que va de ayer a hoy... y sigue para mañana...

Abstract

With the dawning of 2007, a new and important step has been gained regarding the presence of architecture in the virtual communities that are beginning to populate cyberspace. An attempt is made here to reflect the evolution of architectural designers -and of their products- on virtual environments, as regards the new breed of clients who are now requiring their services and emphasizing large enterprises - home-based on the physical medium - that are currently in the process of installing and operating subsidiaries in virtual communities in order to initiate service, commercial and research activities as regards the booming virtual media and its inhabitants… This evolution is reported through three development stages: past, present and speculative future of virtual architecture as an important resource to reinforce the developments of virtual communities. Also, changes are identified as regards the orientation experienced by virtual communities through time and, particularly, the “Second Life” community which is identified as the current archetype which seems to hail a new era as regards participation of human activity in the integral development of the virtual frontier. Other important point emphasized within the virtual architectural environment is the subject of providing facilities for teaching higher education at virtual communities and the interest that the subject has arisen in a great number of universities of the physical world. Finally, speculative thought on the subject covered by this article is promoted among Latin American architectural researchers and a number of activities and provisions are suggested to strengthen participation in the area of architecture and virtual communities and their services both internally and as regards its relations to the physical world.

Key words: virtual architecture, virtual communities, cyberspace.