Monthly Archives: September 2008

The new California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano

The latest Renzo Piano project opened this weekend in San Francisco, CA. The California Academy of Sciences “is believed to be the greenest museum in the world, and is on course to earn the highest rating possible for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).” The building features a 2.5 acre ”living roof” of greenery, an array of energy collecting solar voltaic panels and wall cavity insulation made from recylced denim. Built for a reported $500 million, “the new Academy is a single structure but contains multiple venues, including the aquarium, the planetarium, the natural history museum and the 4-story rainforest. In addition, there’s a new 3D theater, a lecture hall, a Naturalist Center, two restaurants, an adjacent garden and aviary, a roof terrace, and an Academy store. The new building also houses the Academy science labs and administrative offices, including an extensive library and scientific archive consisting of more than 20 million specimens.”

source: CAS

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Milk Paint a safe organic solution

Everyone with an old home is subject to a paint project every few years and the likelihood of using an organic paint is seldom considered. Before modern paints containing chemicals were invented, craftsman used organic pigments to add tone to furniture and walls.

The Old Fashioned Milk Paint Companyfrom Groton, Massachusetts has been making organic milk paint since 1974. They started out as a vintage furniture reproduction business and demand for their special formula of milk paint used on the furniture soon became popular. The Milk Paint Company now offers many colors and paints for different applications including walls (SafePaint). The Milk Paint Company website offers plenty of useful information, history, and examples of milk paint applications.

Next time it’s time to paint, consider using an organic or low/zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) paint that will not harm the environment by releasing harmful fumes into the atmosphere.

T-Mobile G1 with Google (the Android) phone?

As the name implies there is a new phone technology being introduced. Yet, there is no “Android” in the new phone and it supposedly takes the ever evolving technology of communications one step future. The official model name for the device is the “T-Mobile G1 with Google”, the “Android” is the platform developed by HTC (a produce development company), and it’s the first phone by Google (yes the search engine leviathan).

If this new “android” phone is anything like it’s hype then you’ll want to view the press release and run out to purchase one, but they are already sold out thanks to the pre-order process.

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GINA by BMW makes you think about future cars

Design is all around us and takes on many shapes and forms. As consumers of product goods we express ourselves by the stuff we use in our daily lives, one such product is the car we drive.

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A design technology called BIM

I recall many years ago hearing about a small software company in Cambridge, MA that was working on a new program for architects and designers. Back in the day, Autocad was the prominent application, and I was using Microstation. It seemed then that a new method of drawing lines was in the works, perhaps something far more sophisticated and design oriented outside the basic 12 commands that most users were and still are using to produce drawings. Personally, spending time filleting lines and cleaning up lines and layering lines just never made any sense to me in terms of design. Sometimes I’ve wondered on projects that bill hourly if the clients were merely expensing the shortcomings of the cad user based on their understanding of the software, shouldn’t they be paying for design time and project related documentation?

So I start my blog talking about software, or as I perfer to call it “design technology”, because it’s important to understand that today most design is generated in the mind and communicated through digital media. Until the introduction of BIM about a decade ago there has been no significant change in the way Architects produce drawings outside of the introduction of the personal computer.

This year I decided to make a commitment to using Revit, a BIM program, which initially meant learning new software, however I’m finding the change to be more than that. The gratification of drawing smart walls, doors and windows quickly dispersed as the software demanded more of my attention. Unlike other applications that can be understood through a “Blah for Dummies” book, this one continues to ask questions.

The journey I find myself in has happened 100′s of times in small to large firms around the world, perhaps some of the questions regarding BIM are similar, completely different, or previously answered, nevertheless this information needs to be shared and discussed in order to elevate the platform to new levels.