Archinect - News

Apple opens 'The Observatory' underground space at Apple Park in Cupertino

2024-09-10T17:11:00-04:00

Apple’s new The Observatory event space at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, has been unveiled by the tech giant as part of the launch event for the new iPhone 16. The design, which is in ways reminiscent of several of James Turrell’s skylit spaces, is marketed as a contemplative experience that dialogues with the surrounding mountainside landscape.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

The materials palette features terrazzo, natural stone, and timber (the same used in the campus' circular main building and Steve Jobs Theater next door). The building reportedly runs on 100% renewable energy.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

Early design concepts of The Observatory were led by Foster & Partners. Apple’s Global Architecture & Design team, led by John De Maio, completed the building design and development in collaboration with Gensler.

All images provided to Archinect from Apple

The site offers an elevated view of the main Apple Park building an...

Inga Saffron on Philly’s decade of “smartphone urbanism”

2019-12-27T11:17:00-05:00

The urban changes that Philadelphia experienced in the first years of the 21st century were gentler and more likely to enhance the city’s existing 20th-century form. The tech-induced trends from the last 10 years have challenged that physical form by radically reconfiguring the way we move through, and interact with, the city.

Inga Saffron, architecture critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer provides a tech-focused decade-in-review highlighting the impact of smartphone technologies on the city’s urbanism.

Highlighting the proliferation of “fast-casual” food, buildings, and development approaches, Saffron writes: “once millennials (and their parents) got those smartphones in their hands, they promptly began moving into cities, buying fixer-uppers in working-class neighborhoods like Point Breeze and Fishtown, and transforming them into upscale enclaves.”

In particular, Saffron highlights the Foster + Partners-designed Comcast Technology Center, which some have likened to a giant middle finger; Weiss/Manfredi’s Singh Center for Nanotechnology from 2013 at the University of Pennsylvania; and Snøhetta‘s new Charles Library at Temple University as some of the decade’s best architectural works in the city.

Your phone may need some Midcentury Emojis

2019-09-05T18:15:00-04:00

Death by Modernism has created a collection of "Midcentury Emojis," especially for the design oriented user. "Given Apple's attention to design details in practically every aspect of their products, we've always felt like there was something missing when it came to the furniture emojis in iMessage," they write.

In response, the group "chose 12 pieces of iconic mid-century design and 'emoji-fied' them for the 21st century." So everything from Finnish designer Eero Aarnio's Ball Chair to creations by Charles and Ray Eames are present within the collection.

The collection can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.

Apple's Jony Ive to leave Apple and form independent design company

2019-06-27T17:58:00-04:00

Apple® today announced that Sir Jony Ive, Apple’s chief design officer, will depart the company as an employee later this year to form an independent design company which will count Apple among its primary clients. While he pursues personal projects, Ive in his new company will continue to work closely and on a range of projects with Apple.

Apple's long-running chief design office, Jony Ive, has announced plans to depart the company to open up his own design practice.

Ive, the designer behind the iMac, iPhone, and iPod, among many other products, is perhaps the most influential industrial designer of his generation.

Jony Ive and Tim Cook at the September 2018 launch of iPhone Xr. Image courtesy of Apple.

Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said, "Jony is a singular figure in the design world and his role in Apple’s revival cannot be overstated, from 1998’s groundbreaking iMac to the iPhone and the unprecedented ambition of Apple Park, where recently he has been putting so much of his energy and care."

Cook added, "Apple will continue to benefit from Jony’s talents by working directly with him on exclusive projects, and through the ongoing work of the brilliant and passionate design team he has built. After so many years working closely together, I’m happy that our relationship continues to evolve and I look forward to working wit...

Bringing Augmented Reality for architects to the small screen: Morpholio launches Trace app for iPhone

2018-02-07T18:24:00-05:00

If you've already liked or used Morpholio's popular Trace app on the iPad Pro, you can now also get excited to put it to work on your small screen: TracePro just launched for iPhone and presents a powerful architectural application of Apple's ARKit augmented reality framework in a pocket-friendly format.

AR drawing

The app positions itself as a helpful tool in the field where critical design decisions have to be made consistently — with the amount of on-site design often outweighing planning in Concept and SD combined.

"Not only do budgets, scope changes and fast track schedules force important design decisions on site," Morpholio explains the need for TracePro, "but unforeseen field conditions, contractor errors and never ending client changes can all keep your team designing and problem solving throughout CA."

Scale photos

Five so-called "CA Super Tools" are the app's key features designed to make architects' lives in the field easier:

AR Drawing on Site: utilizing the iPhone's pow...

Recode captures Apple's new campus while covering yesterday's big iPhone X event

2017-09-13T18:59:00-04:00

Apple’s iPhone X event yesterday wasn’t just about its latest pocket computer. It was also its first opportunity to show off its ambitious new Apple Park “spaceship” campus to the hundreds of journalists, industry executives and “friends of Apple” in attendance.

Photo by Recode's Dan Frommer

Check out the article on Recode for the full photo gallery.

Apple Campus will open its doors to the public next week for iPhone 8 launch

2017-09-05T15:41:00-04:00

While the new Apple Campus still remains incomplete, Apple is moving forward with hosting the launch of their new iPhone 8 on site. The company sent out a media invite last Thursday with the tagline, "Let's meet at our place," confirming the location of the event. It will be the first time Apple has allowed large numbers of outsiders to visit the campus.

Main campus, still incomplete. YouTube/Duncan Sinfield

The reveal coincides with the 10th anniversary of the first iPhone, launched in 2007. Rumored features include a 3D camera that can unlock the device using facial recognition, no more home button, wireless charging, OLED display technology with greater power efficiency, improved dual-lens camera, and an almost $1,000 price tag.

Steve Jobs Theater. YouTube/Duncan Sinfield

The keynote speeches will be held at the Steve Jobs Theater, an 1,000 seat below ground auditorium that sits on top of the hill overlooking the main building. Visitors enter through a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder ...

Hackers can use the vibration motor in your phone to eavesdrop on you

2016-06-08T15:05:00-04:00

Hackers may be pickin’ up good vibrations from your phone. All the better to surveil you with, my dear. Researchers at the Electrical and Computer Engineering school of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign discovered that the vibration motor in your devices can operate like a microphone, according to the researchers’ paper. That means, if a hacker rewires your vibration motor (which TechCrunch reported could be executed “in a minute or two”), they can listen to what you’re saying.

In related news:

The theme for June is Privacy. How has architecture transformed notions of privacy? How have privacy concerns transformed architecture? Submit to our open call by Sunday, June 19!

Apple's spaceship campus being built to iPhone standards

2015-07-10T12:46:00-04:00

"There were many meetings when the Apple representative would pick up your [iPhone] and say: 'That's what we're building.' What that means is — if you look at the phone, there's the sheen on the phone, there's the bevel on the phone, there's how much shine they have ... every piece of that phone is engineered, and the building is the same way." [...] The project is so extensive — and Apple is so demanding — that Apple Campus 2 has effectively "raised the bar for construction standards"

For more news on Apple's under-construction second campus in Cupertino:

NCARB's new mobile app lets interns manage IDP hours on the go

2014-01-09T12:34:00-05:00

NCARB continues its ongoing streak of system advances with their new MyIDP mobile app. The app can perhaps be handy for any of you iPhone-using interns working through your experience hours for the Intern Development Program.

MyIDP was designed for interns who have already established an NCARB Record and begun reporting hours. New experience reports still need to be created online, so MyIDP is an extra portable tool to stay constantly updated on hours and overall IDP progress.

Features in the app are: adding/editing hours and viewing all work experience for Settings A and O; submitting experience to supervisors; and as already mentioned, tracking overall progress on the "IDP Progress Dashboard".

MyIDP is available for free download on Apple's App Store for iPhone iOS 7. Android users will have to wait for their version in the meantime -- the NCARB Council plans to develop it in the near future.

eBay releases eBay Exact, a print-on-demand marketplace for the iPhone

2013-07-12T12:23:00-04:00

With our first foray into 3D printing technology, we have partnered with Sculpteo, MakerBot, and Hot Pop Factory who are leaders in 3D printing technology to hand-select a range of special products including, iPhone cases, figurines, and jewelry.

The app is available for download from the App Store.

iPhone app, "Stud Find", uses built-in magnetometer to find metal in walls

2013-07-03T11:14:00-04:00

Stud Find is an iPhone application that uses the device's built-in magnetometer to find metal studs, screws, nails and anything metallic in a wall. The iPhone's three-axis magnetometer is an instrument that measures magnetic forces. Internal Apple software uses the instrument to position the phone's 360° orientation. Stud Find uses the magnetometer as a metal detector.

Find it here in the app store. The reviews are mixed.

Mµ Thermal Imager attachment for the iPhone will detect thermal vulnerabilities in a building

2013-03-02T11:22:00-05:00

In construction or renovation of buildings you'll be able to identify poorly insulated areas and badly wired electrical outlets before you put the drywall up. You'll find places where water has penetrated the structure where it should not have. Identifying mold and moisture is a much easier task with the Mµ Thermal Imager.

Mµ Optics is currently seeking financial support on crowsourced-funding website Indiegogo. The iPhone attachment may offer steep competition to the existing thermal imaging cameras that range in prices from $2,000 to $22,000, according to Mµ Optics. The Mµ Thermal Imager is currently offered for $125 and $150 to early adopters, with a final price goal of less than $200 if they are able to stock the product in the big box stores.

The Archinect iPhone app is updated with Discussion Forum, Job searching, and more!

2012-12-05T18:54:00-05:00

Some of you may have noticed recently that we quietly released an update to the Archinect iPhone app.

The new app has resolved a couple bugs* causing the app to crash for some users, introduces some subtle navigation improvements, and is optimized for the new larger screen on the iPhone 5.

More importantly, however, we're excited to now include the Discussion Forum in the app.

And you can now search for Jobs!

Download the app now from the App Store via this link: itunes.com/apps/archinect

* Note: if you noticed a crash in the recently updated v2.0, this has been fixed in the now available v2.1. The crash was affecting users with region format set to anything other than United States.

Announcing the official Archinect iPhone App!

2012-04-05T01:20:00-04:00

Left: loading screen / Right: highlighted content with section filter bar at the top

We're really excited to announce the launch of the official Archinect iPhone app!

The iPhone is by far the most popular mobile device that Archinect readers own, according to our web analytics, so we developed this app for you iPhone (and iPod/iPad!) users as a simple, mobile version of Archinect. The app is not designed to offer the full functionality that that the website does. Rather, it provides an easy-to-read interface to follow and share the latest jobs and featured stories from across the site... including, but not limited to, news, features, projects, events, blogs, & discussions.

Left: article view / Right: image gallery view

The app also features push-notifications to get instantly alerted when breaking news happens in the architecture industry, or when a big announcement is made on Archinect.

Left: article view / Right: comments view

Left: job listings / Right: individu...

Fallingwater gets interactive

2011-12-21T19:03:31-05:00

Have you visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater? Not all of us have, but there's a new app available that gives you the next best thing. planet architecture, a production company that has been publishing videos and interactive tours for many years, has just added Fallingwater to their relatively new library of app releases.

I've been quite impressed with it after playing with the app for the last couple days. It provides a surprisingly comprehensive collection of drawings, photographs, videos and 360° panoramic views of the iconic house, all accessible from an architect-friendly navigation of floorplans and siteplans.

The iPad app will set you back $9.99, which is relatively pricey in the app world, but a great deal considering the quality of the content and the experience. The iPhone app is $4.99, and currently on sale for $0.99 for the next few days.

We have some free copies (in the form of promo codes) available to the first requests in the comments below. The catch - ...

Urban Planning in the iPhone Age

2011-11-03T20:30:57-04:00

... the next wave of mobile applications do more than that—they collect massive amounts of data about how people live, where they travel and what they want to see in their neighborhoods. And they connect all of that with the officials in position to make decisions. Apps, in other words, offer potential solutions for two of the trickiest parts of the urban planner's job: sharing data and engaging citizens.