Abstract:

The study aims at investigating the best international practices in the development of spatial skills in architecture and civil engineering university curriculums. In particular, it focuses on the digital tools and 3D modelling software adopted to develop spatial skills.

The ability to understand and read construction drawings, to understand 3D information from 2D drawings, to imagine 3D models with correct spatial relationship among the parts of the model, and finally to transform a mental 3D model into correct digital models and drawings is not granted for freshmen students in architecture and construction engineering curriculums and need to be developed and reinforced. In fact, many study demonstrate the positive impact of spatial skills in STEM - Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics - studies and spatial creativity (2018, Sorby).

Different kinds of 3D modelling software (digital sketching, Computer Aided Design, Building Information Modeling) and 3D visualization tools (still images, videos, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality) are currently used or experimented in the first stages of architects’ and civil engineers’ curriculums (2022, Pastor and Contero). The general usefulness of such 3D tools in improving spatial skills is commonly granted, but their specific efficiency need to be investigated more deeply.

Some factors that affect the efficiency are: the learning curve for the different software, that can be quite different; the necessary architectural background, that in the case of freshmen could be not adequate for a proficient use of certain categories of software; the interoperability of the software with the other tools that will be used later in the student’s curriculum.

Beside these considerations, it happens that sometimes the choice of software or digital tools could be affected by some constraints, such as existing commercial contracts, or the teacher’s background.

The aim of the review is to provide some useful best practices and evaluation criteria, based on literature data.

Keywords:

Spatial skills, 3D digital modelling, architecture, construction engineering, review.