Archinect - News

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa architecture students use AI and 3D modeling to preserve Lahaina heritage structures lost in August wildfires

2024-03-29T12:51:00-04:00

A new course being taught to undergraduate students this semester at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa School of Architecture is helping preservationists on Maui document lost heritage structures using the same AI-augmented 3D modeling technology that was previously incorporated into the rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.

Co-taught by Dean William Chapman, Associate Professor Hyoung-June Park, and visiting Assistant Professor Kyung Hoon Hyun of South Korea’s Hanyang University, ARCH 490: Rebuilding Lahaina in Mixed Reality offers students the chance to aid in the recovery efforts by creating digital versions of lost buildings such as the Baldwin House, Wo Hing Society Hall, and Old Lahaina Courthouse.

"We want students to expand their creativity to think of more than simply rebuilding what was destroyed, but also what they can do with this new 3D model that they created," Hyun explained to Hawaii Public Radio recently. "They can add values or communal experiences within ...

San Francisco-based studio Gemmiti Model Art celebrates the importance of architectural model making

2021-09-17T18:04:00-04:00

Who doesn't love architecture models? These small-scaled versions of structures are revered treasures of the industry. While 3D modeling software and VR/AR have transformed the idea of the model, it's still safe to say the craft of model making will always play a key role in understanding structures within a space.

The skill and precision behind architecture models continue to be a beloved tool for showcasing a new project. Firms like MAD Architects, for example, continue to stun design professionals and architecture enthusiasts with their mesmerizing models. To learn more about the art of architecture models, we focus on San Francisco-based model-making practice Gemmiti Model Art. Their work and passion for model-making have positioned them as one of the top model-making practices for over 30 years.

California Pacific Model Medical Center at Cathedral Hill. (3/32"=1' scale) Image © Gemmiti Model Art

Founded by Lisa Gemmiti in 1999, Gemmiti Model Art has worked with Apple, NASA, Ado...

The team at Laney LA blends form, function, and fun with this residential home

2018-11-05T14:43:00-05:00

Nestled in Culver City, California lies the sleek residential creation of Laney LA. Its black wood exterior provides an alluring contrast to the surrounding greenery and white interior. The two story residential home's contrasting interior and exterior colors adds to its Nordic style theme.

3-D model of home Image © Laney LA

Interior Image © Laney LA

The structure's exterior features a dark wood facade that surrounds a minimalistic geometric form. Designed to highlight the client's needs, the team focused on creating a space that emphasized clean lines and modern open space interiors. The gable style roof and vaulted ceiling creates a loft like effect that emphasizes the volume of the room.

Reading nook Image © Laney LA

The master bedroom features an oversized reading nook with a large window overlooking the property. Another major highlight of the home is the angled, outdoor chimney that also acts as a climbing wall for the client to enjoy. The uniqueness of the home is accentuated...

Morpholio Trace and Shapr3D launch new iOS 12 features to integrate 3D modeling and sketching for architects

2018-09-26T15:59:00-04:00

With Apple's recent release of its latest mobile operating system, iOS 12, we're now seeing new feature releases in a variety of apps. Two players in the world of architectural software, Morpholio Trace and Shapr3D, today announced a joint effort that promises to further bridge the divide between 3D modeling and sketching on the iPad Pro thanks to Apple’s Drag and Drop and the new universal 3D file type USDZ.

Credit: Jim Keen. Image courtesy of Morpholio.

Dubbed "Drag 'n' Fly", the new iOS 12 feature by Morpholio, a company that we've covered previously on Archinect, enables users to integrate live 3D models in Trace sketches, create infinite views, and draw over automatically generated perspective grids. Shapr3D models can now be exported directly to Trace via the new OBJ export, simplifying the switch between drawing and modeling.

Credit: Jim Keen. Image courtesy of Morpholio.

Morpholio Co-Founder Mark Collins explains the reason behind...

MIT Media Lab's new method of 3D printing allows for advanced complexity

2018-06-20T14:34:00-04:00

MIT Media Lab’s Mediated Matter group has invented a new way to 3D print any object, regardless of how complex it is, with color and shape as detailed as a photograph. It’s the equivalent of traditional CMYK printing, but in 3D. The results are stunning.

MIT Media Lab has come up with a new method of 3D printing that allows for much more complex models and typologies. Such complexity was previously not possible as all pieces of a model had to be connected with no floating parts in space. With this new method, different materials are used to create a solid transparent block that encapsulates the complex model allowing for detached parts to "float" inside the transparent material.

Virtual reality transforms actual construction (and its ability to execute complexity)

2016-11-08T13:09:00-05:00

Speed, accuracy, and complexity don't have to be mutually exclusive in construction. At least, that's the theory behind augmented reality technologies that offer 3D glimpses of real-time construction sites, animated plans and even wall finishes (imagine holding up your phone In your abode and viewing a realistic display of what a new paint job could look like). As this article from The Guardian explains, developments in technology promise a great deal, but the actual execution is still coming along:

"There are signs that, beyond bringing flat blueprints and designs to life in front of clients, reducing on-site problems and easing investor worries, AR could provide an end-to-end service. Software is being developed that enables companies to show clients what the inside of a build will look like when furnished a certain way or the finishing touches have been applied to the outside. Of course, virtual reality allows this to be done before a project has been completed and sometimes in mo...

Help fund this Kickstarter for 3D printed maps of Tokyo

2016-10-11T13:39:00-04:00

The confluence of Google mapping, 3D printing and the desire for inventive home decor has produced a Kickstarter for One Hundred Tokyo, a fully-fledged three dimensional map of Tokyo that is divided into 100 handy pieces. Pick your favorite palm-sized square(s) or collect all 100; it's up to you and your available display space. Nonetheless, these minutely detailed urban segments are cool/notable both for their immediacy and their accuracy; Zenrin, the same urban data providers that work with Google Maps and Microsoft, have "specially equipped vehicles" that compile the metropolitan deets used to produce the models.

What else is going on with 3D printing? So glad you asked:

Take a Tour of Ancient Rome, 320 CE

2015-03-20T12:58:00-04:00

[The] extended tour [is] guided by renowned “virtual archaeologist” and overseer of the Rome Reborn project Dr. Bernard Frischer...in dialogue with Dr. Steven Zucker, whose...questions ensure that, while we take in the spectacle of Rome’s impressive architecture (to say nothing of its equally impressive aqueducts) as it looked back in 320, we also think about what the real flesh-and-blood people who once lived there actually did there...

Editor's Picks #372

2014-06-18T18:54:00-04:00

Amelia Taylor-Hochberg Editorial Manager for Archinect, talked with director Kelly Anderson about her documentary "My Brooklyn" and the “incredible, derogatory, racialized way people talk about the space". The film will air multiple times as part of PBS World's America ReFramed series, starting Tuesday, June 19, at 8pm (EST).

Plus, the eighteenth edition Screen/Print featured an excerpt from Judith K. De Jong ’s new book, New SubUrbanisms, which touched on Flattening: Formal and Spatial Practices.

citizen complained "The author seems to proclaim as breaking news the complex connectivity of central & peripheral parts of metropolitan regions...This isn't new...others have been working for decades now with the premise of a metropolitan system in which the urban/suburban binary is less and less meaningful".

News
Archinect discussed François Roche claim that Rem's Venice Biennale (is) "Obscene". boy in a well responded "Is the Biennale a good place for a soap box because the event is organi...

Is this good "Dirtt"?

2014-01-30T02:48:00-05:00

Canadian company Dirtt provides reusable building components and 3D design software, but is still convincing architects it's more sustainable than other options - and worth the price

My friend Bill wrote this article in the Guardian about a Canadian company called DIRTT, which claims to be reducing construction-related waste with its 3D modeling software and "made-to-order building materials that snap into place". It's being used by companies such as Google and Skechers... check out the article and let me know what you think about this product. Is this as innovative as it sounds? Is there a comparable solution on the market? Would you consider using such a product in your designs?