This paper focuses on the adoption of big data visual representation and semantic interpretation to study complex urban patterns in places largely impervious to traditional mapping technologies and documentary analytical tools. In particular, it examines stadiums built by China in the Global South as part of a broader strategy of building diplomacy. Between 1959 and 2022, China facilitated approximately 2,000 construction projects in developing countries, among which more than 150 are large-scale sports facilities. While these buildings have mainly been analyzed from architectural and typological perspectives, their relationships with the surrounding urban environments and their effects on local communities and ecosystems have remained largely unexplored and difficult to interpret. This paper demonstrates how big data — particularly Location-Based Social Network (LBSN) data — together with visualization and AI-supported interpretation systems, can provide new opportunities to understand the capacity of these large-scale architectural infrastructures to attract people, influence movement patterns throughout urban space, and generate economic and social impacts on the existing city.
Design and Modeling Atelier: Interaction of Physical and Virtual Models for Augmented Design Experiences
This paper presents an educational experiment aimed at integrating physical and digital modeling within architectural design processes through augmented reality workflows. The research investigates how the interaction between tangible maquettes, digital 3D models, and AR visualization can enhance design understanding, communication, and learning outcomes in an academic context.
The methodology is developed within a design atelier where students produce multi-scale physical models (1:500 and 1:200), digital models using NURBS-based software, and AR applications that overlay virtual content onto real maquettes. The workflow combines traditional fabrication techniques, digital modeling tools, and AR platforms such as Sketchfab, MyWebAR, and Vuforia, enabling the superimposition of additional information, animations, and design alternatives onto physical models. As shown in the workflow diagram (Fig. 2, p. 594), the process integrates sequential phases from urban maquette construction to AR visualization. Results demonstrate that hybrid real–virtual environments improve spatial comprehension, support iterative design processes, and foster a more effective communication of architectural concepts, while also highlighting technical challenges related to model alignment, tracking, and interoperability.