Meet Sam Anderson—an advocate for women in real-time archviz

Without a game development background, Sam initially found the transition to using the technology difficult, as she struggled with a lack of female representation in the field and with the gender bias she often encountered. “I remember going to my first conference and speaking to someone about some questions I had, and I had a male colleague next to me and that person responded to the male colleague instead of me,” she says. “It was difficult to kind of get over that hump, in a way, to decide that this is something I want to fight for, that this is something that I want to continue to explore and work towards.”

While there are more women in architecture than in previous years, Sam feels that it’s still not where it should be, citing a lack of female “starchitects”. She feels fortunate to have female partners at SHoP, and that they are constantly embracing new technology.

“We are using headsets, VR, AR, mixed reality in order to convey the ideas behind the architectural design,” says Sam. “Using game engines within architecture really makes the design accessible to the community, to people who are not familiar with architecture; it's been really wonderful to learn more and to push the boundaries of architectural visualization.”

SHoP Architects has partnered with Young New Yorkers, an organization that gives a young person who has been arrested the option to go through an arts-based diversion program rather than a jail sentence. Usually, the program culminates in an exhibition of the participants’ artwork. Because of COVID-19, Sam is now helping them mount a virtual exhibition using Unreal Engine.