Green is the “new black.” BIM evolved from 3D, and geospatial technology finds itself in the midst of so much disruption that revolution is afoot. The beneficiary of all these changes? Perhaps, Mother Earth. From the 2D world with which we “mappers” are most familiar to a third dimension that includes not just terrain but the buildings that occupy it, geospatial technology is trying to keep up with new demands from those seeking better visualization of their environment. For everyone from politicians to the average citizen, the environment, climate change and quality of life are issues of significant importance. In all these arenas GIS is tasked with providing a better spatial perspective as well as the analysis tools to answer questions such as, “How much green space should a city maintain?” or “Will erecting a 15-story building impact the viewshed of the downtown park?”

I spoke with Geoff Zeiss, Autodesk’s director of technology, at the GITA Conference and he provided many of the facts and insights for this article. A session Zeiss moderated on critical infrastructure, which included presentations from Doug Eberhardt, formerly of Parsons Brinckerhoff and now of Autodesk, Tim Case, of Parsons Brinckerhoff, and Dan Campbell, of the city of Vancouver, Canada, illustrated many of the exciting innovations in building information models (BIM), and the policy and legal challenges that lie ahead.

Facts, and the Bad News
Let’s review a few facts:

• Global climate change is clearly upon us.
• We will need to spend $1.6 trillion over the next five years to upgrade aging infrastructure in the U.S.; much of it is at least 40 years old.
• More than 50% of the world’s population lives in cities, creating high population density and thus, more man-made structures. This increase in population density has likely led to additional man-made design errors and the resultant calamities and disasters.
• With an aging and shrinking workforce moving into an information age economy, we have fewer people to perform construction and utility work. (The average age of a utility worker is close to 50.)
• We are also facing lagging productivity in key industries including construction and utilities. Productivity in the construction industry is now 20% lower than in 1964.
• By 2010 as many as 60% of today’s experienced utility workers will retire.

The “Pretty Good” News

• The geospatial software providers have recognized the impending demands and are adding features to their software solutions.
• Location technology is everywhere and software solutions, from business intelligence to consumer navigation, are now location-enabled.
• The gaming industry has provided us with some viable 3D visualization and simulation software to leverage in the “real” world.

The Realities
Zeiss stated that cities (municipal governments and utilities) want to become more carbon neutral. New buildings are now designed to be “greener” than in the past. Instead of using traditional 2D CAD to generate paper blueprints, developers can create 3D electronic models of buildings including heating and ventilation, electrical, plumbing, and structural subsystems using building information modeling (BIM). The benefits to developers are immediate. First of all, a developer now has the ability to automatically generate a bill of materials. Second, and even more critical for construction firms trying to stay on budget and on schedule, they now have the ability to find “clashes” between different subsystems, for example a duct occupying the same space as an elevator, during design phase instead of during construction. Third, it is now possible using 3D simulation technology derived from the gaming industry to experience interactively a building during the design phase – before construction begins. Fourth, the developer now has the ability to simulate and measure the greenness of the building and surroundings, all of which involves being able to geolocate the structure. For example, the widely recognized sustainability standard, LEED certification, requires the developer to be concerned with optimizing the amount of internal naturally lighted floor space, optimizing the amount of green space surrounding the building, minimizing impermeable surfaces and eliminating heat islands. The ability to model these relationships facilitates their “greenness.” These are the commercial factors that are driving architects, engineers, developers and construction firms to adopt these new technologies, which are transforming the $1.2 trillion construction industry. In addition to the construction industry, these new technologies are also impacting other sectors, especially local government and utilities. The business motivators for these sectors include:

• urban planning
• economic development
• citizen participation
• 3D zoning and view protection
• emergency planning

Digital Progress
The result of 40 years of hard work by city and state governments to capture and manage geospatial data has led to “tomorrow’s digital city” today. As illustrated during the session by Zeiss and company, this progress has led to a city’s ability to analyze energy and land use, and to see infrastructure and as-builts from both above and below ground. Geospatial professionals and other stakeholders can query the man-made and natural environments simultaneously, creating a true convergence of CAD, BIM and GIS.

The Trends

• There is increased interest in 3D due to the ease-of-use of, and access to, programs like Google’s SketchUp.
• There are better orthophoto updates available for rendering.
• Last but not least, the unintended consequence of a younger group of workers with vast video gaming experience as kids has been a more 3D-aware young workforce.

The Issues
Policy, legal, practical and technical standards issues stand in the way of these exciting trends. For example, not all buildings have associated digital CAD drawings. Their architectural design drawings may be on paper, microfiche, or lost in some government backroom. Some of the work being done to view simple extruded models of buildings on platforms like Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth, or more precise digital data capture by LiDAR, can speed up the process of better visualization.

But let’s assume that building data do reside in a digital form. Who owns the copyright for these data, especially if they were the product of a CAD design by a private architectural firm that did the work in the first place? Most likely it would be the design firm and possibly the individual. Design plans need to be submitted to the city for review and permitting, but then what happens to those plans? Are they considered part of the public domain? Many cities return the design plans to the architectural firm that did the design.

As public officials consider the design, and review the permit process, they may be faced with questions that they may not have had to address in the past. For example, does this structure stand to become a major tourist attraction? If so, could it also be considered a terrorist target? On balance, officials must weigh whether the building represents a greater good or greater threat to the community? Yes, it’s a strange question, but valid when considering the eventual security plans for such an asset. Do, then, the resulting plans and BIMs become part of the public trust because in the event of an emergency, first responders need reliable information about this building? If they are a public trust, should the plans be in the public domain?

Dan Campbell faces these key issues everyday. What do we do with the BIMs? Are they free? Should cities consider cost recovery if someone wants to access these BIMs? There is no clear process established for answering these questions. Sounds like the same old questions about geospatial data. And there are other questions to consider. For viewshed analysis, for example, how much of the viewable area is appropriate to capture for view protection? And in what context do BIMs include information outside the jurisdiction of the city? For example, though Campbell’s jurisdiction is Vancouver, the viewshed may encompass Mt. Baker in the United States. Therefore, does everything seen within the context of the viewshed become an aspect of the 3D model?

The Standards
Tim Case raised the issue of common standards for 3D data. Data specifications, like 3D exchange formats such as COLLADA and spatial data management by Oracle Spatial 11g, are perhaps the “de facto” standards. As such, do these issues create a need to rethink how all BIMs are created, shared or managed?

These are not easy questions. It’s not the intent of this article to propose solutions, but to raise awareness of the challenges. The challenges are exciting and I look forward to hearing comments from the geospatial community.

Via Directions Magazine

Title: A living room
Artist: VICCHEN
Website: www.archicad.com.tw
Software: ArchiCAD, Cinema 4D, Vray, Photoshop

Hi all: Here’s my new practice work, base on levinsohn house ( designer: richard neutra ), hope you like it.

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KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Phillip G. Bernstein FAIA, RIBA, LEED AP
Vice President | Autodesk

Phillip G. Bernstein is a Vice President at Autodesk, a leading provider of software for architecture and engineering. A practicing architect with twenty five years of experience, he leads Industry Strategy and Relations for the AEC Division, where he is responsible for setting the company’s future vision and strategy for technology serving the building industry, as well as cultivating and sustaining the firm’s relationships with strategic industry leaders and associations.

Prior to joining Autodesk, Phil was an Associate Principal at Cesar Pelli & Associates, where he managed many of the firm’s most complex commissions. Phil has taught at the Yale School of Architecture as a Lecturer in Professional Practice since 1988. He writes and lectures extensively about practice and technology issues, has been published in Architectural Record, Architecture, Design Intelligence and Perspecta and quoted in The Economist and The Wall Street Journal.

He received a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude with Distinction in Architecture in 1979 from Yale University and a Master of Architecture in 1983, also from Yale University. He is a Trustee of the Emma Willard School of Troy, NY, a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and former Chair of the AIA National Documents Committee.

Via VisMasters

Title: Metropol
Artist: Archaus Architects
Website: www.archaus.co.nz
Software: Designed constructed in Autodesk Revit 2008, Rendered in 3DS Max 2008 and Maxwell Renderer 1.6 with Photomontage in Photoshop.

Proposed new mixed use development.

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Via VisMasters

Manuel Hidalgo Herrera lleva más de 50 años entregado a la geometría descriptiva, y se ha dedicado a la docencia en la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Con más de 20 años de experiencia en CAD y usuario de Rhinoceros desde las primeras versiones, Manuel pone a disposición de los usuarios de Rhino todo el material utilizado en sus clases a estudiantes de Arquitectura. Tanto él como sus alumnos han encontrado en Rhino la herramienta ideal para calcular y representar cualquier forma imaginable con precisión absoluta.

Manuel Hidalgo Herrera has more than 50 years experience in descriptive geometry and has been teaching in the Universad Politécnica de Madrid. With more than 20 years’ experience in CAD, he has chosen Rhino as the right tool for him and his students to represent any given form with total accuracy. Manuel Hidalgo wants to share with us his extensive manuals, a collection of theory and exercises he has been using in his classes to architectural students.

Los 3 manuales principales, por orden, son:

01-Geometría Informática (PDF 27Mb). Este manual, de carácter absolutamente didáctico, sirve para dar un curso inicial sobre diseño asistido por orrdenador a alumnos de Arquitectura, Diseño, Ingeniería, etc.

02-El Diseño Geométrico con ordenador (PDF 25Mb). Para una fase intermedia, alumnos de segundo ciclo de Arquitectura.

03-Las líneas vivas de Gaudí (PDF 23Mb). En este manual se puede sustentar el conocimiento adquirido con los dos cursos anteriores. Se trata de una serie de ejercicios de confirmación y práctica de los manuales anteriores.

Otros manuales y presentaciones interesantes:

Palacio de Aranjuez. Presentación y modelo 3DM (ZIP 4Mb)

Ejercicios Modelos sobre Ferrocarriles (PDF 9Mb)

Premio Rey Planeta (PDF 9Mb)

Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial (PPT 21Mb)

Patio de los Reyes-Monasterio del Escorial (PPT 1Mb)

Auditorio en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Santiago Calatrava. Presentación y modelo 3DM (ZIP 33,1Mb)

Contacto:

Manuel Hidalgo Herrera, Arquitectura

Via Rhinoceros

Title: Tower
Artist: Michael Brown
Website: www.downtownmikebrown.com
Software: Sketchup, Viz2007, Vray 1.50, Photoshop CS3

This is a montaged 3d model into about 9 or 10 stitched together photographs in Photoshop. The majority of it was modeled in Sketchup with minor additions in Viz. Lots of Photoshop work was done to the original image for perspective correction. Additional Photoshop work was done afterward for reflection, color, and composition elements after the render was complete.

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Via VisMasters

Title: Beach House
Artist: Aaron Coon
Website: www.cds-architect.com
Location: Arlington Heights, IL
Software: Designed and modeled with Sketchup, rendered with 3ds Max 2008, VRay 1.50.

This is a personal design for a beach house.

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Via Vismasters

3ds Max para Arquitectura

3ds Max para Arquitectura es un manual en español que permite aprender a usar 3ds Max o Viz en cualquiera de sus versiones. La particularidad de este libro es que no procura una enseñanza exhaustiva del programa sino que propone el aprendizaje de un método muy simple, pero muy probadamente efectivo, para utilizar 3ds Max como una herramienta ágil de diseño, que permite lograr imágenes muy realistas y sugerentes con muy poco trabajo y en pocos minutos.

Más información en la web del autor: www.martinferrer.com

Via Arkinetia

Here are some decent-sized renderings of Metal Shutter Houses, a residential development in West Chelsea, New York designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban.

The project consists of nine duplexes with motorized, perforated metal shutters that rise and fall to shut off the street-facing windows and terraces.

Below: penthouse

Via dezeen

Here’s some info from the developer:

–

METAL SHUTTER HOUSES
524 West 19th Street

9 duplex houses designed by Shigeru Ban
West Chelsea – New York

LOCATION

The Metal Shutter Houses, designed by the internationally renowned Japanese architect, Shigeru Ban, are located on the south side of West 19th Street, between 10th and 11th Avenues in West Chelsea’s art gallery district, steps away from the High Line, the Hudson River, Chelsea Piers, and the Hudson River Park. The block offers a bold display of new New York: the Frank Gehry-designed IAC Headquarters are next door and Jean Nouvel’s 100 11th is under construction across the street. Low-profile warehouse buildings throughout the neighborhood allow for long city views, including the Empire State building, from each floor of the Metal Shutter Houses.

BUILDING

This will mark the first new construction condominium residences in the United States by Mr. Ban. Known for his “poetic” architectural style, Ban has tailored what could be characterized as contextual invention to this unique 11 story structure. Such highly sensitive ingenuity has been seen in some of his previous house designs, such as the Curtain Wall House (Tokyo, Japan), the Paper House (Yamanashi, Japan), and more recently, the Furniture House 5 (Bridgehampton, New York). While Ban’s work is continually so inventive that one cannot generalize his “look,” the Metal Shutter Houses’ variable façade demonstrates Ban’s fascination with use of unusual materials (or use of common materials in new contexts) and mobility of parts, often inspired by the simplicity of traditional Japanese architecture as well as the modern lines of the International school.

The Metal Shutter Houses is a dynamic building. The façade’s motorized perforated metal shutters serve as light-modulating privacy screen at the outer edge of each residence’s terrace adjacent to the double-height living rooms. This subtle “removable skin” echoes the neighboring gallery after-hours shutters, subtly contextualizing the building within its site. The building can literally close down, becoming a uniform minimal cube, or it can open completely (as well as virtually unlimited permutations between). South of the terrace, twenty foot tall, upwardly pivoting glass windows open completely, thus blurring the boundary between the inside and outside – the double height living room and terrace become one. Similarly, a series of interior sliding glass doors create an open “universal floor” in each of the duplex houses – one vast and uninterrupted expanse which transitions seamlessly from inside to outside, or partition the space into private areas.

• 11 stories featuring 9 duplex houses and an art gallery and lobby on the ground floor
• 4 three-bedroom “single-bay” duplex houses with 1,950 sq. ft. interior space, 75 sq. ft. double height terrace, 70 sq. ft. library/bedroom 3 balcony, 70 sq. ft. master bedroom balcony
• 4 four-bedroom “double-bay” duplex houses with 2,700 sq. ft. interior space, 150 sq. ft. double height terrace, 90 sq. ft. library/bedroom four balcony, 90 sq. ft. master bedroom balcony
• 1 four-bedroom “triple bay” duplex penthouse with 3,180 sq. ft. interior space, 821 sq. ft. outdoor space on 10th floor, 275 sq. ft. outdoor space on 11th floor and 670 sq. ft roof deck

LOBBY

• Signature Shigeru Ban designed undulating paper tube ceiling
• Shigeru Ban designed white lacquer doorman/concierge desk in matte finish
• White lacquer cabinetry in matte finish along rear wall
• Concrete slab floor
• Elevator with stainless steel side panels and back-lit frosted glass ceiling

RESIDENCE FEATURES

• All units are floor through duplexes
• Private elevator vestibule
• Solid ¾” quarter sawn white oak flooring throughout living areas
• North, South and West (select residences) exposures
• Great room with double height 20’ceiling –ideal for displaying large works of art
• Shigeru Ban designed perforated metal shutters to enclose double height terrace – allowing for adjustable light control and privacy
• 20’ floor-to-ceiling upward pivoting window walls allow for great light air, views, and a seamless transition to double height outdoor space
• Flexible use library/bedroom 3 or 4 with balcony and sliding glass walls
• Highly flexible lower level entertaining floor — the sliding glass walls provide seamless access from the rear library terrace all the way to the double height terrace in the front, or close for privacy
• Floor-to-ceiling white lacquer cabinetry in matte finish custom designed by Shigeru Ban provides unique and ample storage space in living areas and bedrooms
• Study overlooking double height living room with Ban designed white lacquer desk in matte finish (select residences)
• Radiant floor heating in double height living room
• High performance 4 pipe fan coil heating and air conditioning (multi-zoned) for year round individual control and comfort
• Recessed down lights for uniform illumination throughout the residence in kitchen, dining room, double height living room, and galleries
• Cable/satellite television ready, CAT 6 telecommunications wiring throughout each unit
• Siedle Video intercom and state of the art security monitoring system
• Miele washer and dryer.

ANTICIPATED OCCUPANCY: Fall 2008

Developers: HEEA DEVELOPMENT LLC, a development of Spiritos Properties and Klemens Gasser

Title: Childrens
Artist: David Hamel
Location: Boston, MA
Software: 3D Studio Max, Vray, Photoshop, AutoCAD

Vray Sun + Sky, Vray Camera. I spent much more time working with the lighting rather than relying on a GI solution.

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