Digital Art - A Field of Inquiry for Contemporary Architecture

This article investigates the interplay of digital technology, art and architecture and it presents a series of experimental workshops developed at LAGEAR (Graphic Laboratory for the Experience of Architecture, School of Architecture at UFMG, Brazil). The intention of these workshops is to include an artistic approach to the work in a computer lab dedicated to teaching and researching architecture. At first, a discussion on the relationship between art and architecture is presented, followed by an analysis of the enhancement of such relationship with the advent of digital technology. Then a series of works developed by artists and students in collaboration is described. The article concludes with a discussion on the role of digital art for architectural education. It is proposed that it may be one of the most adequate fields for students to freely investigate contemporary issues, such as interactivity and automation, which are now shaping our built environment.