HOW GOOD DESIGN AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINE

Why should a business spend money on quality design in the workplace? New evidence suggests that, even if they don't appreciate good design for its own sake, business owners can find plenty of reasons in the proverbial bottom line. More cheerful, comfortable workspaces have been found to dramatically improve worker productivity. Those responsible for corporate interiors are taking this lesson to heart and getting their money's worth by investing in skylights, cleaner indoor air, worker privacy, and spatial flexibility. University of Nevada professor Attila Lawrence explains the design principles and their positive effect on productivity.

GREENING A PROFESSION

There is tremendous pressure on the architecture profession that will change the way we perceive and shape the built environment. A growing awareness by architects and owners of environmental issues within and beyond the walls of the buildings they design and inhabit is helping to fuel this change. These internal and external forces are acting simultaneously to change professional practice. Next week Ross Leventhal will explain why he thinks today's perception of "best practices" will be our source of amusement in five years.

FUN WITH COMPUTER-AIDED MODELING CLAY

When architects worked with parallel rules and T-squares, they designed rectilinear buildings. Now that they have access to sophisticated computer modeling tools, those straight lines are transforming into irregular curves and other complex geometries. But unlike real clay, the forms they're creating are also directly usable in precise structural and sun angle analyses. Next week we'll look at three examples of designs that would not have been possible to execute without these tools.