Meanwhile, Steven. "would like to learn more about applied math in architecture. Although I am not much a fan of it, how does parametric design work? " Jump's answer is "statics. thats it for math, and not much of it. simultaneous equations is about as hard as it gets.from what i see at my uni if you are into parametric stuff it is more about programming, though you can get pretty far just with grasshopper and rhino. "

Europe is undergoing a revolution in energy production that requires massive new infrastructure to support the shift to renewables. But do new power lines always have to result in blight? Some utility companies are hoping that designer power masts can help overcome local opposition. — spiegel.de

The past 12 months have seen a remarkable number of humanitarian crises with earthquakes in Japan and New Zealand and deadly tornadoes in the southern US being among the most recent.

Among new innovations which could help relief efforts is a fabric shelter that, when sprayed with water, turns to concrete within 24 hours. — BBC News

"As a designer I know that everything we've done -- everything I've done -- is to try to transform that experience to bring it back to what it was in the golden age of flight," says Foster. "To make it something that is a celebration, to make it a friendly, uplifting experience and in that sense to go back in time." — CNN.com

Co-editor Mark Foster Gage will present Composites, Surfaces, and Software: High Performance Architecture. Composites, Surfaces, and Software: High Performance Architecture explores how computer technologies and digital fabrication techniques give architects unprecedented tools for crafting performance and aesthetics through cross-disciplinary collaboration. — AIA Website

Welcome to the Immersive Cocoon, a surround display dome with sophisticated motion sensor technology that inspired the technology depicted in 'Minority Report'. Now your body becomes the interface, as you are enveloped and your body movement becomes part of this digital environment to make our everyday lives more enjoyable, at least that is what this conceptual project tries to explore. — yatzer.com

Some were invented at MIT. Others were simply inspired by time spent at MIT. But all of them (well, maybe not #150) have had a profound impact, in one way or another, on society, culture, politics, economics, transportation, health, science, and, oh yes, technology. — The Boston Globe

"Typically you tend to find that students who are seeking-out courses in visual effects and film-making are the self motivated types who have gone out and found the information themselves."

"It is something we work very hard at, but schools and colleges could be more aware about how a creative art education can be applied in the world of high-end modern digital media," he said. — BBC News

“Voiture Minimum: Le Corbusier and the Automobile” ($49.95) focuses on Le Corbusier’s design for a “minimum car,” a two-seat, bare-bones people mover with a sheer, angled front. His design existed only in drawings during his lifetime, but became probably the most famous of all automobile designs contributed by architects. — NYTimes.com

I know I have been on a Dutch rag as of late, but where else can you buy postage stamps that honor not just architects, but architecture, and not just timeworn monuments, but experimental work that has not even been built? As a kicker, the stamps are designed so that, if you hold them up to a Web cam, they turn into 3D models floating in front of your screen. — Aaron Betsky, Architect Magazine

Google’s self-driving cars might soon become more than a pet project. The company is quietly lobbying legislators to make Nevada the first state to allow autonomous vehicles on public roads.

Google has created a line of self-driving hybrids, including six Toyota Priuses and an Audi TT. The vehicles have been tested on more than 140,000 miles of California roads, at least 1,000 of which were driven fully autonomously. — mashable.com

From Steve Jobs down to the janitor: How America's most successful -- and most secretive -- big company really operates. — tech.fortune.cnn.com

Dieter Rams is a German industrial designer who trained and worked as an architect for a few years until he joined the electronic devices manufacturer Braun. Within a few years he became their chief of design, a position he held for almost 35 years. During his tenure, he and his team designed many iconic devices ranging from record players to furniture to storage systems. — Life of an Architect