Archinect - News

Apple highlights Archinect in official rollout of MacOS Big Sur

2020-11-13T19:10:00-05:00

If you're an Apple user, you've probably been prompted to update your operating system to version 11 the latest OS release, dubbed "Big Sur." As a mostly Apple-based team here at Archinect HQ, we were pleasantly surprised to see Archinect highlighted on the welcome screen after the update.

As the world's most valuable company, and arguably one of the businesses that values design most significantly, we're quite chuffed to be in the company that Apple has curated.

The latest operating system introduced a newly updated UI, enhancements to Safari, Messages, Maps, and improved privacy. Check out everything new in Big Sur at this link.

In architecture, the computer is a tool — not a crutch

2020-09-24T09:04:00-04:00

There's a funny thing that tends to happen in schools of architecture and design firms among the younger practitioners and students. The growth of computational modes of design and the development of design software has produced a generation of creative people who increasingly rely on the use of a computer to execute their work. Right off the bat, I'm not saying that computers are "bad" — I think they're great, but it is a tool to be wielded, not a crutch to be dependent on.

Just like a pencil, a computer is an inanimate idiot that requires the mind of its user to produce something of value, and so when lack of proficiency on a computer impedes on one's design, there is a problem. The obvious solution is to get better at using the software, but it often seems that some become preoccupied with the means while canning the ends.

What do I mean? Most typically, a project is pursued for some purpose — typically to address some kind of human condition: a need for a school, home, hospital...

Larry Tesler, creator of "cut," "copy," and "paste" computer functions, has passed away

2020-02-19T13:44:00-05:00

Larry Tesler, who passed away on Monday, might not be a household name like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, but his contributions to making computers and mobile devices easier to use are the highlight of a long career influencing modern computing. ...Tesler worked with Tim Mott to create a word processor called Gypsy that is best known for coining the terms “cut,” “copy,” and “paste” when it comes to commands for removing, duplicating, or repositioning chunks of text.

After graduating with a degree in computer science from Stanford University, Tesler began working with the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in 1973 until 1980. PARC is most famously known for developing the graphical user interface we all use in computers today. From 1980 to 1997, Tesler worked at Apple Computer, helping to develop its products and innovations. In 2001, the computer scientist joined Amazon as VP of Shopping Experience and in 2005 transitioned to Yahoo to head its user experience and design group before he progressed to 23andMe as a product fellow in 2008 until 2009, Gizmodo reports.

From Archinect Features: Never Meant to Copy, Only to Surpass: Plagiarism Versus Innovation in Architectural Imitation

Tesler's contributions to personal computing and his legacy in technological innovation is an undeniable influence in our personal and professional computing pursuits.

Amazon to re-program human workforce

2019-07-11T16:42:00-04:00

Amazon has increasingly turned to robots and automation technology to fetch products from the shelves of its warehouses to ship to customers. Now the company says it needs to help its workers adapt to the rapid change. The e-commerce giant said on Thursday that it planned to spend $700 million to retrain a third of its workers in the United States, an acknowledgment that advances in technology are remaking the role of workers in nearly every industry.

Amazon is planning to spend $700 million over the next five years retraining 100,000 human workers to help smooth a transition toward greater automation in its operations.

“When automation comes in, it changes the nature of work but there are still pieces of work that will be done by people,” Ardine Williams, Amazon’s vice president of people operations, told The New York Times. She added, “You have the opportunity to up-skill that population so they can, for example, work with the robots.”

The retraining effort, according to The New York Times, will include software engineering classes, part of the company's plan to fill a growing need for data mapping specialists, data scientists, security engineers, and logistics coordinators.

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...

This is what happens when you combine the Eames Lounge Chair with a computer mouse

2019-04-22T12:52:00-04:00

As paying a tribute to the legendary designers, the design addresses the ergonomics and style of a computer mouse from the perspective of designing furniture.

Shane Chen, a Brooklyn-based industrial designer, took two classic designs (well, one classic and one classically ubiquitous) and mashed them up into this compelling concept for a computer mouse.

Jobs are for machines, and life is for people.

2016-03-25T11:44:00-04:00

These exponential advances, most notably in forms of artificial intelligence, will prove daunting for as long as we continue to insist upon employment as our primary source of income. The White House, in a stunning report to Congress this week, put the probability at 83 percent that a worker making less than $20 an hour in 2010 will eventually lose his job to a machine. Even workers making as much as $40 an hour face odds of 31 percent.

Urban Design at the intersection of Development, Science and Super-Computing

2014-12-17T14:27:00-05:00

[...] Argonne scientists are taking on a challenge not usually associated with sophisticated computing: urban design. They say that for such large-scale developments, expert opinions, or even standard modeling, will no longer do. Instead, we need detailed simulations that will integrate immense amounts of data into one framework and project different scenarios for the designers to consider. Their initial prototype, called LakeSim, focuses on Chicago Lakeside.

Autistic teens use architecture software to build job skills

2014-07-15T12:51:00-04:00

Sixteen-year-old Mason Dimock can focus intently on one subject, thinks visually and spatially, and is interested in technology — skills that have helped him land a summer job designing for a construction company. He and nine other Salt Lake City teens were selected for a pilot project by NeuroVersity, a company that aims to give students with autism or similar disorders the training they’ll need for careers. The students work with 3-D imaging software called SketchUp Make, developed by Google.

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.

Responses to Grave's Op-ed on hand vs computer drawing

2012-09-10T11:52:00-04:00

Architectural practices and academic programs should rethink their wholesale replacement of teaching hand drawing and model making with computer skills alone. Digital tools can enhance the tactile interpretations of architectural concepts, and there should be room for teaching both when educating architects of the future.

The NYT has published a few of the responses they're received about Michael Grave's recently published piece Architecture and the Lost Art of Drawing.

To read some of the comments from Archinect users, click here.

Charles and Ray Eames Explain the Computer Revolution

2011-12-21T11:46:00-05:00

Charles and Ray Eames, designers of the classic Eames lounge chair and major contributors to 20th century architecture and furniture designs, also dabbled in the mediums of film and animation. The Information Machine, sponsored by IBM, attempted to explain how and why the computer revolution was occurring and how it benefited regular people who, at that time, may not have ever even seen one in person.