tist desires to express, without being limited or accompanied by a physical medium. For architects, virtual reality and technologies support design metaphors and illustrate progress in the ability to electronically represent design knowledge. These new technologies, like cyberspace buildings or virtual reality cities have greatly enhanced the design process, making it faster and much less expensive. So, too, virtual reality has liberated the architect from physical necessities, including drafting papers, pens, physical models and other costly and cumbersome tools in comparison. As such, the boundaries between physical space and cyberspace are shrinking rapidly. As one architect maintains, virtual reality designs offer greater advantages to enhance the value of design for clients. As San Luis Obispo architect Darric McCormack suggests, ôI would love to say, æWould you like to walk through your buildingÆö (Quoted in ôBopö 74).
Virtual space is used routinely today as a source of space for exhibition and communication, from satellite weather Web sites and free photo sharing sites to the transmission of a staggering number of emails, research articles and images every day. No longer do artists have to mount shows and go through cumbersome work to display their art in physical or brick-and-mortar venues. Artists now engage in a freer display on the Internet and Web sites. Computer art and design used to be considered a fad or something less than real art, but there are stil
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