It sounds like blasphemy really. Most people these days will graduate from their university with a greater knowledge of 3D modeling software than their knowledge of AutoCAD. I really didn’t believe that this could ever be the case but its true. I can say first hand that some friends straight out of such schools as Yale, Princeton, Columbia and SciArc knew nothing about AutoCAD. While this may give you a heads up at Gehry’s office, it doesn’t help you in the overwhelming majority of firms that you will work in.

Here are 12 Reasons why your should avoid rendering in your office at all costs:

1. You Will Lose Track of Time:

You can really get lost in your modeling. A whole work day can go by without you even realizing it. Worst of all, you can spend hours on a task that you expected to take a half an hour. In the end, you will find yourself staying later into the night while your coworkers punch out at 6.

2. More Demands on Your Time

There seems to be a very unfair expectation that employers have on the amount of time that it takes to complete a digital model. I have seen employers consistently assign a brand new 3D model to be completed and rendered for print in a two day period. While that may not seem like a short amount of time, we can easily forget that a considerable amount of time is going to be spent tweaking the vantage points and materials. Also, the employer will inevitably be requesting changes to the design or look once they see your progress prints.

3. The Employer Doesn’t Have Knowledge of the Software

There in lies maybe the biggest problem. Most of your supervisors will be older and have not been personally exposed to modeling software. They often feel as though computers have made things more instant or automated, when the truth of the matter is that computers have really just complicated things.

So as mentioned above, the employer will give you these assignments and constantly make changes to the model before you are done. Often times, the changes that they request will require near full remodels, so they can really be detrimental to getting renderings complete. This brings me to my next point

More at: youngarchitect

Architecture is an amazing profession and it can really afford you a tremendous amount of satisfaction in your career. However, it is not for everyone. Here are just a few reasons why architecture might not be for you (note: some of these reasons might actually draw you towards a career in architecture).

More at youngarchitect.

The Nexus Center is conceived as a sculptural form that emerges from a linear intersection of pedestrian paths within the educational district, gradually developing into a growing organism that sprouts a network of successive branches.

Located on the eastern end of a city block, the educational center emphasizes pedestrian access by incorporating a friendly walk into the design.  The building mass is also lifted above the street level to create a covered pedestrian plaza.

The building reflects the connection between the past and modernity, nature and cutting edge technology and will be a symbol and incarnation of sustainable progress. When this comprehensive and inclusive vision is realized, it will set a standard for global educational centers that will resonate for decades to come.

Program:

• 55.000 sf developed on three floors
• 6 classrooms, 2 amphiteaters
• 12 offices with adjacent support space
• Lounge area, outside dining area, roof terrace.

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What is “normal view” for the human eye?

The human eye is capable of discerning motion and limited detail over a horizontal angle in excess of 180 degrees (depending somewhat on the individual). In full-frame 35mm parlance, that would require a fisheye lens with a focal length of about 6mm; however, unlike the camera lens, the human eye, because of the shape of the retina and the processing power of the brain, automatically re-maps the image into rectilinear space. More practically, the brain analyzes an area of the overall image corresponding to an ovoid cone approximately 25-to-30 degrees in height and 35-to-45 degrees in width as what one “sees.”

Transposing this to Digital SLR camera (APS sensor size)

Nikon SRL DX format is used for this example. There is no corresponding camera lens that exactly matches what the eye perceives as “normal.” However, the so-called “normal” lenses come close. Its focal length is derived from the diagonal of the rectilinear area of its image sensor, be it film (in the case of full-frame 35mm, that would be 24x36mm) or digital (in the case of Nikon DX sensors, it is 15.6×23.7mm). Using the Pythagorean Theorem (the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of its other two sides), for full-frame 35mm, that would be a lens with a focal length of 43.27mm, and, for DX format, it would be a lens having a focal length of 28.37mm.

With 35mm cameras, a lens with a focal length of 35mm is usually considered to be wide-angle; however, in reality, it is no more “wide-angle” than a “normal” 50mm lens is “telephoto” — each of the two is essentially equally proportionally different in opposite directions from true “normal.” It is just that the 50mm focal length is close enough and provides a pleasing enough perspective that it was adopted as a de facto standard across the industry. Regardless, with the full-frame 35mm format, almost any lens having a focal length from about 35mm to just over 60mm will give a fairly normal perspective as compared to human vision. For the Nikon DX format, this corresponds to lenses in the range of about 24mm to about 40mm.

Going Back to a 3D modeling software now…

With a Nikon SRL camera and the 18-70mm zoom lens, any focal length setting in the 28-35mm range should be really close to what a human eye sees. Considering the 1.5x crop factor of the d70 sensor, we would get to 42-52.5mm in 35mm film standard. The focal length of the lens used for site photos can be read (EXIF data) in Photoshop, and the value can be used to setup the FOV in Sketchup (or any similar 3D modeling software). Using the same camera location, both in physical and virtual world, imposing 3D model over actual site photo should be smooth and flawless.

Appendix – angular coverage for DX format focal lengths:
18 mm – H: 66.7° – V: 46.9° – D: 76.5°
24 mm – H: 52.6° – V: 36.0° – D: 61.2°
30 mm – H: 43.1° – V: 29.1° – D: 50.6°
40 mm – H: 33.0° – V: 22.1° – D: 39.1°
50 mm – H: 26.7° – V: 17.7° – D: 31.7°
60 mm – H: 22.3° – V: 14.8° – D: 26.6°
70 mm – H: 19.2° – V: 12.7° – D: 22.9°

There is a new tendency today to use numerically controlled machines to produce the elements of the spatial structure, bypassing thus traditional 2D documentation. A good example is the architectural practice of Frank Gehry, one of the most prolific and original architects working today. Gehry shifted from traditional techniques to digital ones during the construction of his Art Museum in Bilbao. The simple coordination effort necessary to generate the architect’s signature organic shapes, which by their nature, are hard to describe by typical construction documents, pushed Gehry’s computer gurus to look for solutions outside the profession. They came up with CATIA, a software used by aerospace engineers to precisely calculate, display and produce metal structures and finishes for airplanes. Working sometimes directly with milling machines and computer numerically controlled routers, Gehry bypassed shop drawings for steel fabrication and stone cutting.

It is ironic, the ancient methods and new technologies are not working together. Space design has known a variety of tools during its existence. Computers are only the latest ones. They do not justify the artificial professional division between two fields that are essentially identical in scope: production design and digital set design.

For the past  four years, Arhisstudios services changed significantly, from providing design services for architects into being THE Architect for a number of significant projects. What an adventurous and exciting ride! We did not specifically look into growing; however, significant commissions forced us into adding more staff (mostly offshore staff) and diversifying our services. More to come… (including a new website, new name!)  

more later…