VIRTUAL CRANBROOK UNITES TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY

In the 1920s and 30s, the famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen committed both his talent and his spirit to the Cranbrook Academy of Art . This pioneer of the Arts and Crafts movement served as campus architect and president of the art school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. His goal was to create an environment for master artisans and students to live and work together.

GREEN CAD AND 3D DESIGN SURVEY

Environmentally conscious, "green" design has gained a respectable following among those already inclined to see the world through emerald lenses. Everyone else is waiting to see if it's worth the trouble.

One barrier has been a lack of truly usable building energy simulation tools. To build these, software developers need to understand the design process through the eyes of nonengineers. However, a new survey uncovers subtleties in how design software is applied in practice.

SMALL FIRM MAKES IT BIG

By B.J. Novitski

When John Marx, AIA, was a senior designer at a large architecture firm, a joke circulated that "two guys and a fast computer" could accomplish more work, more quickly than a management-heavy design department. Indeed, with well-honed skills in both design and computer modeling, Marx often completed the firm's competition entries for very large buildings with a team of only two or three.