The future of buildings is low-tech and dumb
December 8, 2016
Good Star Wars movies give clues on how to design buildings to last for centuries.
the future of architecture
A brief history of living rooms and their televisions
December 5, 2016
Finding the best location for a TV in my own house is a good excuse to talk about the history of living rooms-and the evolution of home entertainment.
Why your Building Project Might Fail in 2016
January 14, 2016
BIMQ CEO Christian Ehl shares his thoughts on the data-driven building and why the construction industry needs to reinvent itself in 2016.
To be a better Architect, learn how to talk to computers
October 7, 2015
Not so long ago if you tried to talk to computers, people laughed at you. Now if you aren’t teaching yourself that skill, it might be too late to catch up.
Architects Are Irrelevant, So You Better Hire An Architect
July 16, 2015
The architect is the great generalist of the project team. The architect knows a good deal about every other discipline on the team.
Become an ArchiCAD 19 Beta Tester
February 26, 2015
ArchiCAD 19. It just feels good to write that. Are you excited about what’s next? Do more than just dream about the next version. Apply to be a beta tester.
21st Century Residential Architecture Business Models
February 18, 2015
The latest edition of the AIA CRAN Chronicle has just been released. The theme of this issue is architectural business models for residential practices.
Takenaka Adopts GRAPHISOFT BIMx for Mobile Access to BIM Projects
December 3, 2014
Takenaka Corporation will adopt BIMx to make the award-winning BIM project presentation app available to thousands of field technicians, further ensuring on-site construction quality and management efficiency. THOUSANDS of field technicians. THOUSANDS!?!?!?!
Support AIA San Francisco’s vision for the future of the AIA
October 15, 2014
What do you think the future of the AIA should be? Renaming it The American Institute of Architecture and Design sounds like a good start.
3D Printing Buildings: Fire Up the Constructorbots
October 7, 2014
3D Printing Buildings is quickly becoming a reality. Guest blogger Crawford Smith looks at three current trendsetters.
It’s been a while since Google sold SketchUp to Trimble; who should be gloating?
July 9, 2014
Who won when Google sold SketchUp to Trimble? Or more importantly what does it mean that Google didn’t want SketchUp anymore?
In Need of an Update
June 17, 2014
Quick! What year was this photo taken in? 2014? 1974? 1944? Our construction sites, on a macro scale, are due for a big overhaul, don’t you agree?
The convergence of 25,000 years of Art History leads to BIM
May 2, 2014
I love creating diagrams. But this BIM Diagram is by far my favorite. It probably should become my new logo. Find out why it took 25,000 years to make.
Analog – Digital – Organic
March 17, 2014
The organic future will not be what Hollywood has been telling you. Nor will it be like what most architects assume. This is a good thing. Here’s my article from the SCI-FI issue of CLOG that explains why.
How the Conscious Home Can Make You a Better Parent
February 3, 2014
In this follow up to my article from mid-January, Eliot from SmartThings shares how the Conscious Home can really make you a better parent today.
The Conscious Home could make me a better Parent
January 16, 2014
This week I read about the SmartThings Hub and also about Google buying Nest. It made me think about how these technologies could make me a better parent and architect.
Guest Blogger Alicia Liebel Berg: What Emerging Architects are about to inherit
December 10, 2013
Has anyone noticed that obtaining the title of ‘Architect’ is not evaluated on the merit’s of one’s design, but how mathematically they grade within a set of standardized parameters?
Blacksmith, Telephone Operator, Architect
December 6, 2013
I want to see a chart tracking Blacksmiths per Capita over the last 150 years. And for telephone operators. And then one for Architects extending to 2050.
Neither Mies nor Corb used BIM
November 15, 2013
We have powerful digital tools. But neither Ludwig Mies van der Rohe nor Le Corbusier needed them to be famous. Shouldn’t you just follow their lead?
Future of Architecture and the Built Environment – LinkedIn Group
August 21, 2013
I started a LinkedIn group. It has a grandiose title: Future of Architecture and the Built Environment. You can join the group by clicking here. Why did I start a LinkedIn group when there are already a million billion groups to join. Well: The Main Reason is that there really isn’t a group focused on the things I want to discuss and share. I want a place to share articles
From Film to Digital Cameras & a Free Copy of OrthoGraph Architect 3D v7
August 16, 2013
I talk a lot about the future of practicing architecture. I’m really interested in how our tools and processes evolve. I am curious about what common frustrations we will soon no longer need to deal with. A lot of these changes are subtle. Others are a bit more overt. Here’s one example that comes to mind: the switch from film to digital cameras when photographing existing site conditions. Are you
World’s First 3D Ancient City Tour Comes to Life in Bergama
July 18, 2013
BERGAMA, TURKEY, July 18, 2013 — Bilkom has launched a project called “History comes to life in 3D” using 3D modeling software and mobile technology from GRAPHISOFT and Abvent. As a result, the ancient city in Bergama can be explored in 3D, making it possible for visitors to experience a virtual tour of the historic area for the first time. iVisit Anatolia, a 3D viewing application for tablets and smart
How BIM connects with your client’s clients: a Tour of an Exhibition via BIMx.
July 16, 2013
Today on Facebook, I saw a link to a 3D tour of an Exhibition at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Sweden. Carl Larsson — Friends & Enemies (update: the above BIMx file is no longer available online, but here’s another by Joakim Werning) Grab your iOS or Android device, or download the file to your Mac or PC and explore the BIMx file for a minute. It’s not big so it
Guest Blogger Shivang Rajvir: 3 Responses to Technology
June 24, 2013
The days and nights we used to spend creating drawings by hand during the early days of college are still fresh in my mind. It was then that this question first hit my mind hard, and it is still with me today. “Why do we use computers?” Since my college days (i.e.2002-2003), there have been innumerable arguments regarding this, with senior faculty members, students, professionals, and even with CAD and
Inspire a Shared Vision: Architect as Leader
April 25, 2013
I was on Twitter earlier in the week and noticed that AIA National is looking for architect bloggers to write about “architect as leader”, to help expand on the AIA 2013 National Convention theme of Building Leaders. So… what does Architect as Leader mean? The First Rule of Architecture School is Don’t Break this Rule I write about some wild stuff. I talk about monetizing BIM through micro-transactions via Augmented
Get Ready to Improve the National BIM Standard — United States
April 23, 2013
Jared’s Note: I learned about this today via an e-mail list I’m on and thought I should share. By the way, the fortune is from a cookie I got last summer in Boston. For the record the cookie is wrong. The nice thing about standards are that they make communication and collaboration within the AECO industry much easier. Viva OpenBIM and clear, defined information exchange standards for BIM. Now for
A great interview and some thoughts about Autodesk
April 12, 2013
When I was writing yesterday’s post, which asked the question “Do you love your BIM software too much?“, I had in the back of my mind an article I recently read. But I couldn’t find it. Which is for the best because that post took a turn in a different direction. Well I found the article. If you haven’t already read this, take a moment and read a great interview
QR Codes and Micro-payments
March 8, 2013
Did you read my post on Augmented Reality and Micro-Payments? You should. It’s pretty cool. The more I think about affiliate links and micro-payments, the more I get excited about the idea. Could we test this concept in 2013? You bet we can. Here’s how. Step One -Â Find a client willing to do an experiment with you. It probably needs to be a commercial client, my guess is that a
Ten Years Later, summer internships aren’t what they once were
March 6, 2013
I’ve seen into the Chasm. It’s beautiful, ambitious, and not the architectural graduates of times past. Back in January I had coffee with two students from the University of Minnesota that I’m mentoring. I asked them a question, “do you have any classmates who still say ‘I can’t wait to graduate and start designing buildings!’?” The answers: “We’re not allowed to be that optimistic” and “There are people who say
Augmented Reality and Micro-payments
February 26, 2013
Sooner than you think. Much sooner than you believe possible. You’ve reached BIM IV-IV, the pinnacle of Social BIG BIM. You talk with prospective clients about the AECOU relationship. Your BIMs are integrated with the final buildings so that they are a part of the user experience. You are in the realm of augmented reality. Anyone who walks into one of your buildings can query an infinite amount of information
Who is in the BIM? AECO meet AECOU
February 20, 2013
I couldn’t fit this graph in the previous post on social BIG BIM, so it gets its own post. Which is good because I also want to ruminate on the acronym AECOU. Once we reach Social BIG BIM, IV-IV (augmented reality), the time line of the building/BIM and who is using it might look something like this: Blue is 100% in the model, Gray 0% in the model. Note 1:
Primary Benefits of BIM
February 5, 2013
This is the third part in a series about demystifying BIM. The first post Why you failed at BIM (you were impatient) looked at the struggles with BIM adoption. The second post There are Four BIM Flavors clarified the term BIM by looking at two major factors: BIG/little and social/lonely. The result of the second post was a diagram that divided BIM into four major variants. Each quadrant has a
There are Four BIM Flavors
January 31, 2013
“In the short term, we are little bimmers. In the long term, we are Big Bimmers.” -David “Joshua” Plager, AIA The comment above was posted on LinkedIN in response to my blog post “Why you failed at BIM“. What a great sentiment. In all the back and forth discussions of what BIM means, we all pretty much agree on the concept of little bim, BIG BIM. I’m not sure if
Make the ARE Vignette Program HARDER
January 25, 2013
So I titled my post about the beta-testing of the ARE practice program “The Most Advanced 64-BIT Drafting Program“. That was a bit of a snarky, jerk comment. I am so thrilled that it is finally going 64-bit. I have heard too many horror stories from friends who took the AREs after I did. They had to go to work and use the old 32-bit machine connected to some random
You are a Dinosaur
January 23, 2013
If you are reading this you are a dinosaur. The digital natives will steal your job. But that’s okay because you won’t be qualified to do your job when they start taking responsibility from us. And I do mean us (more on that maybe tomorrow). So what are we going to do to survive? Okay dinosaurs. I’ve got a question for us. If we don’t design buildings that look like
The best designs lie ahead of us
January 2, 2013
If you’re an optimist, then you’ll have to agree that the best architecture awaits us in the future. I’m an optimist. I’m a romantic too, so I’ll always dream of and love the great buildings of our forefathers. My three favorite buildings are probably the Kimbell Art Museum, the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy (both by Louis Kahn, obviously), and the Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris by Henri Labrouste. Well they are in
Guess What? Your EVERYTHING has already changed
November 11, 2012
I’m going to start this post with a hypothetical encounter. Here’s an imaginary e-mail exchange I often have: Dear Mr. Banks, ArchiCAD is driving me crazy. I want to keep working like we did when I first got out of school. But the computer is MAKING me do things I don’t want to… Help! Fix it and tell me what I need to do to get back to the good
Facebook, Twitter and Shoegnome
October 19, 2012
Late last night the Shoegnome Facebook page reached 500 Likes. That’s awesome. The Shoegnome Twitter feed is a little smaller at 381 followers. Thank you everyone. There’s plenty of information on both those sources that doesn’t show up on the blog so for even more on BIM, ArchiCAD, and the future of Architecture, follow both. Shoegnome on Facebook Shoegnome on Twitter On to 600 & 400…
Let’s Dream a little about Orthograph Architect
October 11, 2012
Orthograph Architect is billed as a great survey tool and, from what I can tell, it is. Furthermore, the creators of this iPad app keep adding new features like crazy; I’ve lost count of the number of upgrades and improvements this not-so-little-anymore app has gotten since it was released in November 2011 (less than a year ago!). Now I don’t have an iPad, so I haven’t personally explored it yet.
All their songs are about Death, Girls, or Family
October 9, 2012
A former coworker of mine at SALA Architects introduced me to The Avett Brothers’ music a few years ago. I’ve since become a huge fan. They recently came out with a new album on September 11th and I bought it right away. Being fairly exhausted and worn out from my life these past few years, I find that working 8-10 hrs a day is difficult. And while I’m horrible at
Guest Blogger Willard Williams: BIM is a Distraction
September 27, 2012
This is an expansion of some comments that Willard Williams made on a LinkedIn thread. I really liked what he had to say and asked him to expand it into a guest post for Shoegnome. Enjoy! In the end it is the final product that is of greatest importance. The reality is that both ArchiCAD and Revit (as well as the rest of the BIM software family) have done something