A software user conference isn't always just about demonstrating new products. It can also be about the underlying vision of the hosting company. That was the case with the Bentley BE User Conference, held in Los Angeles in May 2007. Company spokespeople explained their philosophical approach to their upcoming platform release, code-named "Athens," and bolstered their announcements with examples of progress in building information modeling (BIM), sustainable design, and future research.
OUR ORGANIC AIRPORT
U.S. airports are being continually retrofitted to meet the latest demands of security and growing passenger volumes — gathering climate crisis notwithstanding. One result of ad hoc remodels is an overcrowded, inconvenient, frustrating experience for travelers. To seek solutions to these problems in a new airport design paradigm, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initiated a competition for a million-square-foot (93,000-square-meter), 24-gate facility dubbed 38 N 82 W Regional Airport. The students who won the competition describe their process — working with a variety of digital media — for designing an airport that improves traveler experience while providing a distinctive, legible spatial structure and minimally invasive security. — Editor