Architecture through Augmented Reality

Even architecture that’s not there. TechCrunch Europe announced today that Mobilizy, the company from Salzburg that brought us one of the world’s first Augmented Reality browsers, Wikitude, just released a major upgrade that blurs fact and fiction, past and present, based on the idea of creating a virtual memorial in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks in the U.S. and the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City. So basically, you’ll point your iPhone to where the towers once were…and abracadabra, there they’ll be, right on your screen. Now you see them, now you don’t.

Lately we’ve seen quite a few Augmented Reality apps applied to cities, like accrossair’s Nearest Places and Nearest Tube. This summer we heard of MIMOA’s plans to develop their own AR architecture guide, which sounded like very cool stuff indeed. What architecture buff wouldn’t want to have their own portable point-and-shoot architecture guide at their fingertips?

What if we could combine both these ideas? Now that would be sweet:  We could experience in situ the history of our cities–or their future–envisioning the buildings that once were, or will one day be. Architecture time travel. Or is there already an app for that?