Budding home designers and decorators can now create realistic homes and stock them with virtual furniture, appliances and decorative products using a free online tool from Autodesk, which makes a wide range of powerful design software...
Using the new Web service, dubbed Project Dragonfly, you can begin building virtual rooms in your preferred shapes and dimensions. Then, you can fill the rooms with things like washers and dryers, tables, vases, windows and rugs. And, when all is said and done, you can view the room in three dimensions.
“We discovered there were tons of people modeling their living rooms in the Sims video game,” said Mike Haley, a director of engineering at Autodesk. “Now they can design realistic spaces.”
New York Times
33 Comments
Its inevitable; dont fight the future
Maybe the AIA should get its head out of its "all to important ass" and spend some money on BRANDING/Advertising to show how important architectural services can be. That's the problem with architects and why we get paid shit. We think we are "ohh so important", but don't bother to tell the public why.
(In full disclosure--I am an intern architect).
The person will download the software, design something, either:
1. Person has no talent. Everything ends up sucking. Person gives up, finally knows how hard the job of designers are, willing to pay more.
2. Person has talent. Something awesome happens. Person posts on blog, got famous, well done.
I means, Option 2 is how most of us began designing anyway, right?
Charlie,
Don't you mean "intern [insert anything BUT the word architect here]"?
full disclosure... I'm also an intern nonchitect
let the octagonal shaped house designs begin!
We still get paid shit. Fucking lawyers go to school for 3 xtra years and walk out of school making 100K+ 2 years later.
Architects can go to school for up to 4 more years and then work another 3 plus a year of tests and be lucky to make 75K.
Don't get me wrong--I love the profession, just not the way it portrays itself. I think some healthy new branding could do us all some good--unless you think 5-6% is a good take.
As I've said elsewhere before, most people can't even arrange their own furniture. Let the civilians figure out how hard it is, and then maybe they'll understand why our skill set and education is worth paying for.
vado, LOL, u might want to organize a competition!!!
The problem with all your arguments is that you assume that laypeople (will even) understand the difference between good and bad design.
Guaranteed that 99% of the people who use this will get bored after their first time, and forget about it forever. Plunking preselected furniture into a coloured box just isn't very exciting.
oh calm down guys, it's a decorating tool, not "Architecture for Everybody" like 3D Home Architect leans towards
"Plunking preselected furniture into a coloured box just isn't very exciting."--unless its a ARE vignette. which it is.
mr aaron needs to learn what the aia is and isn't, and what it does and doesn't do.
the aia's 'all-too-important ass' is our ass: the aia is made up of architects and is not separate from us.
if you're not an aia member, the aia is not obligated to do anything on your behalf - though we do anyway, in our efforts to support our whole profession.
i think the some point[s] might be missed here. we have a company, that many of us agree sells a product at outrageous prices, a near monopoly, and then seeks to bite the hand that feeds by offering what seems to be a free software for homeowners to DIY...
read the first sentence quitarchitect, it says; Budding home designers and decorators can now create realistic homes and stock them with virtual furniture, appliances and decorative products using a free online tool from Autodesk, which makes a wide range of powerful design software...
steven, will this tired rant from interns ever die or do you think it dies when they become architects?
it seems that if the AIA needs to urgently address something, it might be going to programs and explain who we are...
Steven,
Mr. Aaron is an AIA associate member, working through IDP and is quite vocal in his chapter. Way more vocal then any of the architects, who just seem to be there for the free beer.
Bottom line--When people are sick, they call a doctor. When people get into trouble with the law, they call a lawyer. Only rich people and civic/commercial, (etc..) call for an architect. The only time people are yelling "Get me the architect!" is when something goes wrong on the project---and they're not to happy to see one.
All of you have proven my point. "Let the layman see how hard it is, and then they'll realize they need us" -- is what you are all saying. Architects think way too fucking highly of themselves. I'm just saying that architects, as designers of the built environment, need to SHOW the public just how good our services are.
Why do you think everyone shops at Target. They brand the fuck out of themselves. GOOD ADVERTISING--Good product. There is a reason people advertise.
Yeah, we have a good product. Now let's campaign a bit. Let's make the public question if they should buy the "house-flipper's" home or ours. People buy what they see. People buy what they know. If more people thought they should have "architecture" -- Myself and all of you, would earn a lot more money. Compensation we are all deserving of. There is a reason we get paid shit and everyone tries to nickel and dime architects.
And Steven, maybe the AIA should better represent us to the public. Why do you think they shouldn't? If that's not in their mission, well then they're a bunch of assholes.
The problem as I see it residential single family is that 3/4 of the architects in that market dont understand what they are doing, cant meet a budget, cant design, incite hostile situations and generally give us all a bad name. Go to any decent suburban comunity and you will see the contractor lead design build team is fast becoming the method of choice - and that doesnt mean developer driven crap - which is more likely to be architect designed.
The failure starts in school. They weed out the architects in favor of fine arts drop outs.
uh, Charlie when will you ever see the point, the AIA is us, the we, when will WE do a better job of representing US to the public?
b3tadine, this is no more complicated than, say, a "1000 House Plans for $10" book, many of which have been around for ages. Not to mention that the vast majority of homes are designed and built by developers anyway, since (at least in my part of the world) you can build anything under 4,000 SF (and under 3 stories) without an architect - you just need a technician with a building code stamp.
all that being said, I think you're being over-dramatic. Autodesk isn't the only company that makes software for architects, and the customers they're going after (people who tend to go for DIY solutions) aren't the kind of people who would go to architects to begin with.
And I don't care what the first sentence says - the vast majority of users won't be doing full-blown house designs with this (you can't do anything with multiple stories, nor can you put a roof on anything, and so on) - they'll use it to decorate their new condo and mess around with color schemes for their new paint job.
Let's be honest - anyone with enough money and desire will still go out and hire an architect, and this software will do as much damage to our business as the IKEA Home Planner tool does (which is to say, none).
That being said, if I was an interior decorator who worked with low-budget clients, I might make a post to an interior decorator's forum with a title like the one you used, lamenting the fact that my skill with furniture placement was being substituted by a piece of software.
a quick anecdote: my dad designed and built our basement 5 years before I was born, by drawing up everything on graph paper and making scaled furniture cutouts, then playing around until he found something that worked.
I feel like what you're trying to say is the equivalent of someone in 1975 saying "we have to get people to stop using graph paper!"
as far as I can see, this is just a fancier way to do the same thing, and I think anyone who feels threatened by it needs to take a deep breath
two points:
1. I used to love 3D Home Architect when I was younger. I think I'm going to start putting it on my resume.
2. What's wrong with going to the AIA for free beer?
I know the AIA is us. But, we as individuals are only going to advertise/market our own firm. The AIA can market ARCHITECTURE. Duh. Yes - WE must market ARCHITECTURE.
Do you not get it? You seem to be too involved in the semantics to realize the public gives a shit about you. MAKE THEM WANT YOU!
Yes - free beer is good. But there is also an opportunity to talk about what is going on.
I can give a fuck if someone uses Ikea's tools or Autodesk's free software. I'm just saying we, as a profession (which the AIA is a collective body of), must market ARCHITECTURE. Then people will go straight to US vs even bothering to tool around with some dumbass software.
No wonder the profession is going downhill. I'm going to design a software that you put in all your constrains and you get a pretty building, complete with proper engineering and great space making--forget about the architect. The architect is dead.
I love this site!
wait, how is this software different from sketchup?
i've seen and heard aia advertising on the radio and in non-professional magazines. it's not bad. the aia IS advertising architecture and the benefits of working with an architect.
in my area, local architects also have reasonably regular appearances on radio and tv show talking about architecture.
our aia chapter sponsors an architect-designed house tour which gets very good attendance and from which proceeds go to habitat.
and we have campaigned the local papers to make sure that when an architect's rendering appears in the paper, the name appears too. same with a new project where discussion of the design is a major part of the article.
we're doing it - we're doing a LOT. does it hav the impact we'd like it to have? probably not. as ep indicates: there are some architects whose actions work against the efforts of the rest of us. stereotypes are hard to beat.
Why are we so threatened by this? Are we so insecure in our own design abilities that some crappy-looking free software has us shaking in our boots?
charlie - you seem very passionate, so why not put that passion to something productive? figure out what YOU can do and do it. Don't wait around for others to join you - show us by example.
I'm with Dustin. Most people out there don't know what good design IS in the first place, so they will never be able to see that their own design is bad.
Charlie, I'm sorry, but organizing furniture and choosing paint colors isn't Architecture - you're addressing an issue which is out of place in the context of this article. If you have problems with the AIA, fine - but that has nothing to do with an INTERIOR DECORATING TOOL.
What we can do about this is see it potentially beneficial for our profession. Could be a begining of a conversation with a client, maybe an online dialogue. I am sure a serious client would realise they need a serious architect to do their dream home. If they don't , the architects should be content they did't waste their time with some Target loving loser client.
dream home or no dream home - architecture should be for everybody. fuck the house flipper, fuck the development maker. But this is what people see and this is what people buy. I'm not even talking about this software anymore. I want more people to take in poetic space not the shit we (as americans) are dealt. I think that people need to realize they DESERVE architecture. In order to do this I think the profession needs a branding makeover.
go tiger!
I tend to agree with Mookytecture. If you are an architect or becoming trained as an architect, I would worry about this. This isn't Architecture. If you were serious about your discipline, you wouldn't necessarily spend loads of money and time on an architecture degree and ARE exams, just to decorate a room with furniture and fabrics. Like the article says, it's for aspiring decorators and budding home designers. Sounds like this is something for the ApartmentTherapy.com generation.
And if you aspire to do this kind of work, more power to you. Means one less generic architect in our field.
I have to really side with Charlie Aaron on this one and it's not that a software has us quaking in our booties. It's real simple, architects get very little respect these days and the average person, which is most to all people that have no association with what we do as architects, don't know the difference between good and bad design. They buy a house and fill what they have with furniture and make do with whatever layout they get. The truth is without proper respect from the public for what we offer as designers and architects, our service that we provide gets under valued. Subsequently, the cookie cutter crap that home developers spit out only serves to reinforce the public opinion because the architecturally uneducated population buys into it without properly criticizing what they are buying. We all know the rule of thumb with design...you get what you paid for. The problem with that and what happened with the housing market in recent years is you were paying double for the crap that was provided on the market. This is because the focus is on making money fast and delivering the least. More focus needs to be put on the QUALITY OF DESIGN & FUNCTIONALITY. Unfortunately somehow our industry has allowed quality to go by the wayside which is partially due to ridiculous timelines set by inexperienced clients. We need to stand together and set new guidelines so that our service that we provide is not dictated by the client. Educating people on what we do, why we do and the reason for the time involved should be the focus to at least the beginning of a resolution. I may be rambling a bit, but you can't tell me that most of us architects aren't pissed about the same issues.
Food for thought: Based on other "professions"...
Do lawyers work without being paid? No!
Do doctors let their patients tell them how long they want the surgery done in? No!
Then why do us architects undermind our own services and the proper time required to do the job. Again I will say, if we all stand together and say "No and explain Why" when appropriate...we may just earn the respect that has been lost.
The problem is the developers' services. They should be banned, so only architects can offer housing solutions. Doctors or lawyers don't have the equivalent of developers for architects, to undermine their authority. Yes, it is pricy, but you pay the money to have your health or justice or shelter.
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