Archinect - News

Former head of Gehry Technologies picked to lead Rensselaer's Center for Architecture Science and Ecology

2020-02-11T15:05:00-05:00

The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Upstate New York has named Dennis Shelden as the new director for the school's Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE).

According to a press release announcing the selection, Shelden will head "a boundary-pushing organization at a critical moment for the future of the human-made environment" tasked with bringing together intellectual leaders in the worlds of architecture, science, and business "to collaborate on innovation and implementation of next-generation sustainable built environments."

The center maintains two locations, one in Troy where the Rensselaer is located, and another in Brooklyn. Text on the CASE website describes the work of the center as focused on accelerating "a more aggressively experimental process that leads to development of new systems that produce a paradigm shift in the way that our future cities metabolize energy, water, and resources."

Shelden comes to New York following a recent tenure at the Georgia I...

Highlights from Justin Davidson's candid interview with Frank Gehry

2020-02-03T17:27:00-05:00

In a recent interview for New York magazine, architecture critic Justin Davidson interviews Frank Gehry on his work past, present, and future, highlighting the nearly 91-year-old architect's unwavering penchant for working through complex design and aesthetic ideas while still being able to deliver projects for clients, often on surprisingly tight budgets.

Previously on Archinect: An Interview with Frank Gehry, Who Turns 90 Today, Upon Receiving the Neutra Award for Professional Excellence. Photo: Exterior model view of the Judith and Thomas L. Beckmen YOLA Center @ Inglewood, interior concert configuration. Photo courtesy of Gehry Partners, LLP.

In the wide-ranging interview, Gehry also dishes on his reluctance to work for oppressive regimes like China and Saudi Arabia, his distaste for publicity, and his ongoing efforts to build complex and intriguing buildings.

A few of Gehry's choice comments follow below.

Previously on Archinect: 1991 Frank Gehry on being at the right place at...

How Frank Gehry helped create the era of "technological construction"

2015-05-13T16:48:00-04:00

In the 1990s, Frank Gehry pioneered... “smart” digital design in architecture, by using software to optimize designs and translate them directly into a process of fabrication and construction. Now known in the industry as parametric design and building information modeling, this approach has ushered in a new era of architecture, according to art historian Irene Nero: the era of “technological construction” [...] How did an architect who doesn’t use computers start a technology company?

In an article for Priceonomics, Lian Chang looks at the role Frank Gehry and his team had on the development of parametric design, aka building information modeling. Beginning with Gehry's fish-inspired pavilion for Barcelona’s 1992 Olympics, Chang traces the various construction impasses and subsequent revelations that have helped establish Gehry Technologies as a significant player in the realization of many major architecture projects today (and not just the one's bearing his famous signature).

After a contractor failed numerous times to translate Gehry's vision for the Barcelona pavilion, the resident "office hippy," Jim Glymph, turned to CATIA, a C++ software package originally developed for the aerospace industry. Using parametric Bézier curves (or vectors) and 3D surface algorithms, Gehry's team was able to realize the project, and on budget.

Chang continues her history looking at the initial controversies surrounding Gehry's plans for the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the impo...

First SketchUp, now Gehry Technologies - Trimble makes another big acquisition

2014-09-08T12:37:00-04:00

In what is being described as "a strategic alliance to collaborate to transform the construction industry" software company Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies. The alliance will offer other architects and designers use of the technology to collaborate on projects more efficiently.

Press release:

Trimble and Frank Gehry Announce Strategic Alliance to
Transform the Way the Construction Industry Works

SUNNYVALE and LOS ANGELES, Calif., Sept. 8, 2014—Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) and Frank Gehry announced today that they have entered into a strategic alliance to collaborate to transform the construction industry by further connecting the office to on-site construction technologies. As part of the alliance, Trimble has acquired Gehry Technologies, the software and consulting services business that has been instrumental in delivering Frank Gehry’s visionary designs while keeping cost and schedule in line for his clients.

The alliance combines deep Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC)...

Is Your Architect A Computer? A New Exhibit Reveals How Building Went Digital... And Why You Should Care

2013-06-26T11:50:00-04:00

As a revealing new exhibit at the Canadian Centre for Architecture shows, ambivalence about digital architecture was characteristic of most of the architects who pioneered it, including Peter Eisenman, Chuck Hoberman and Shoei Yoh. “The computer has become an opportunistic gadget for most of the profession,” Gehry tells the architect-cum-curator Greg Lynn in an interview for the exhibition catalogue.

UCLA launches new IDEAS Platform with Frank Gehry, Greg Lynn and Thom Mayne headlining

2012-11-19T14:55:00-05:00

UCLA A.UD today launched the new IDEAS platform to encourage research collaboration between school and industry. Following is the official announcement:

UCLA Architecture and Urban Design (A.UD) today announced the launch of IDEAS, a new platform for cross-disciplinary research collaborations among students, faculty, industry and other partners that will radically question, challenge and expand the current parameters of architecture practice. As part of this initiative, the department has added a new Los Angeles satellite location and significantly expanded its master's of architecture program, which will now feature studio courses taught by several of the biggest luminaries in the field — Thom Mayne, Greg Lynn and Frank Gehry, with Gehry Partners and Gehry Technologies.

The revamped, self-supported Master of Architecture II program, which will continue to be known as SUPRASTUDIO, has been expanded threefold, from 15 to 45 students, for the 2013–14 academic year. During these ...

Frank Gehry, Tech Entrepreneur: The Starchitect's R&D Firm Debuts Cloud-Based Design Software GTeam

2012-07-24T20:45:00-04:00

Gehry Technologies (GT), a company founded in 2002 by Gehry Partners’s research and development team, has announced a free preview period for their latest off-the-shelf product GTeam. The new cloud-based software described by Gehry as “Google Docs for 3D models” automatically translates files from AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, Google SketchUp, and other professional modeling software into a common format, which can then be easily accessed and shared online.

10 Questions for Gehry Technologies CTO Dennis Shelden

2012-03-09T14:48:00-05:00

Gehry Technologies serves architects, engineers, builders and others with their design software and services, including 3D modeling and building information management. IDG News Service quizzed Chief Technology Officer Dennis Shelden on his priorities, challenges and insights.

Frank Gehry gathers architectural leaders to form strategic alliance

2011-10-18T12:35:00-04:00

Gehry Technologies (GT), a global leader in applying technology to building industry challenges, today announced that Co-founder and Chairman, Frank Gehry, has brought together the world's most distinguished architects and designers to form a strategic alliance furthering his vision to transform the building industry and the practice of design. As part of today's announcement, this core group of renowned architects will also serve on Gehry Technologies' board of advisors.

Besides Frank Gehry himself, initial alliance and board members include: Zaha Hadid & Patrik Schumacher (Zaha Hadid Architects ), Greg Lynn, Moshe Safdie, Ben van Berkel (UNStudio), Wolf D. Prix (COOP HIMMELB(L)AU), David Rockwell (Rockwell Group), David Childs (SOM), Matthias Schuler (TRANSSOLAR Energietechnik), Richard Saul Wurman, Massimo Colomban (Permasteelisa.com Group), and Laurie Olin.