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CAD MEETS INTERNET AT A/E/C SYSTEMS 2000
In all the excitement over the predominance of Internet technologies at this year's A/E/C Systems Show, it might have been easy to lose track of the software that architects most depend on. Computer-aided design systems remain as mission-critical as they've ever been. — Published 2000.0621
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ENERGY SOFTWARE TO LINK DESIGN AND SCIENCE
For decades, research scientists have been developing extremely sophisticated analysis tools to study the energy performance of buildings. These tools have been effectively unusable among architects, however, because the interface is cumbersome, the output is largely numeric, and the input requires mechanical engineering data normally associated with the end of the architectural design process. — Published 2000.0621
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A/E/C SYSTEMS TEAMS WITH PROJECT EXTRANETS
For years we've been told that fragmentation is one of the greatest problems in the architecture/ engineering/ construction industry—and that computer technology could solve it by giving us a common language and interchangeable data models. — Published 2000.0621
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THE RIGHT TOOL AT THE RIGHT TIME
Many architects can recall a favorite design instructor who could glance at their drawings then pull down the perfect reference book to help in further developing an idea. If humans can infer design intent from sketches, maybe computers can too. — Published 2000.0621
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HAND-CRAFTED DIGITAL MODELS
From Brazil comes good news for anyone who has ever felt like they have one hand tied behind their back when manipulating 3D forms with a 2D drawing instrument.
University of Brasilia architecture professor Edison Pratini has been developing the "3D SketchMaker," which relies on natural, expressive hand gestures for creating 3D computer models. This process makes form-giving easier and removes the discontinuity between conceiving a form and translating it into a digital model. — Published 2000.0621
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DESIGN BY PHYSICS: INNOVATIVE SPACE PLANNING TOOL
In the Department of Architecture at Texas A&M University in College Station, Scott Arvin, working with professor Donald House, has developed a system for "physically based space planning." Arvin's computer prototype accepts building program parameters (square footages, adjacency and separation requirements) and constructs viable floor plans. — Published 2000.0621
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TODAY'S RESEARCH, TOMORROW'S SOFTWARE
There is a crystal ball that can show us the future of architectural software. It depends not on gimmickry but on the fact that tomorrow's technology goes through years, sometimes decades, of development before it becomes commercially available. — Published 2000.0621
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MAYBECK RETURNS TO OREGON
Did you ever fantasize about doing an apprenticeship under one of the great master architects? Working with direct guidance from Frank Lloyd Wright or H. H. Richardson? Now that fantasy has become more realizable: the revered California architect Bernard Maybeck has recently returned to life and, surprisingly, returned to Oregon. — Published 2000.0628
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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. — Published 2000.0712
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B.J. Novitski page: [
