Archinect - News

Nordic architects' open letter reignites scorching Autodesk criticism

2022-09-21T15:47:00-04:00

Some of Northern Europe’s leading architecture firms have signed an open letter lamenting the lack of “serious development” laden in Autodesk’s proprietary design software, an aging suite of tools the authors claim is asking usurious prices despite neglecting years of industry-wide complaints.

The letter addressed to Autodesk CEO Andrew Anagnost was written by the Association of Consulting Architects in Norway (AiN), the Association of Finnish Architects’ Offices (ATL), the Association of Architectural Firms in Iceland (SAMARK), and the Danish Association of Architectural Firms — each the largest professional architectural bodies in their respective Nordic home countries and representing more than 14,000 architects combined. Its contents included pointed criticisms of the multi-user license system, the incompatibility and lagging interoperability of Autodesk products to each other and to modern computing systems, and continual price gouging.

Their invective offers an update to a 202...

OpenSea is now hosting a Nakagin Capsule model NFT auction

2022-08-17T18:29:00-04:00

Tokyo’s beloved Nakagin Capsule Tower may be getting its speculated second digital life after all thanks to a new metaverse project from the firm of its original designer Kisho Kurokawa Architect and Associates (KKAA) and the NFT platform OpenSea.

In an exclusive collaboration with the LAETOLI Corporation’s KABUKI-X venture, the firm is now auctioning off the rights to reconstruct their founder’s most famous Metabolic work in both the physical and digital realms only a few months removed from the neglected tower’s ongoing demolition, which began formally at the end of April. Bidders will have the chance to reconstruct the tower inside the metaverse and at the global site of their choice using CAD data and a digital model of the tower produced in Revit by design partners BDP.

Image courtesy OpenSea

Restrictions are limited to the local zoning laws and regulations of the country the holders of the ‘real space’ rights select to build in. This otherwise allows for the potential resale ...

July 2020 saw leadership troubles at the AA, exposed corruption with PPP stimulus monies, highlighted struggles for new architecture graduates and Revit blowback

2020-12-24T13:15:00-05:00

By the start of July most of the world was more than three months into the COVID-19 pandemic, far surpassing the original hopes that we would have had it contained enough to return back to schools and workplaces. New architecture graduates were a couple of months into a job search at a time when most firms couldn't even think of hiring new staff. Summer travels plans were abandoned or drastically altered in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, while many were throwing caution to the wind to regain their freedom. Little did we all know, we were still in the infancy of the pandemic. In the world of architecture, these were the stories that dominated the month of July...

Wa-Di Housing, a tribal transit-oriented development. Looking north towards Colorado Peak (left) and Tetilla Peak (right). Photo Credit: AOS Architects

This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land—COVID-19’s Impact on Indian Country

For July 4th this year we opted to publish an op-ed by Joseph Kunkel, a citizen o...

Autodesk: "We have underinvested in architectural modeling functionality in recent years and are working to make that right"

2020-08-03T15:58:00-04:00

Software developer Autodesk has issued a second response to a previously published open letter from leading architectural practices speaking out about design, development, and cost issues associated with Revit software.

Addressing the lack of product development for the Revit software suite decried by an open letter signed by Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and others, Amy Bunszel, senior vice president of Design and Creation Products at Autodesk, explains in a blog post that the company commands "finite resources" while also making "investment decisions and trade-offs based on our understanding of customer and industry needs."

Previously on Archinect: "ZHA, Grimshaw, and other large firms pen open letter decrying issues with Revit." Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.

Taking responsibility for some the issues raised in the initial open letter, Bunzel adds that "We have underinvested in architectural modeling functionality in recent years and are working to ...

Autodesk responds to Revit criticism

2020-07-30T12:18:00-04:00

Autodesk has issued a public statement following the publication of an open letter signed by a constellation of BIM-forward architecture firms decrying the lack of development and rising costs of using Autodesk Revit.

Earlier this week, firms that include Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and at least a dozen others published an unprecedented open letter speaking out against the maker of the industry standard BIM software.

In their letter, the firms speak out against the increasingly difficult task of utilizing Revit to pursue design innovation in the face of advancing production and fabrication capabilities while also highlighting the fact that the software's constantly changing fee structure has forced firms that rely on the software to endure additional costs with little added benefit to their work or employees.

Previously on Archinect: ZHA, Grimshaw, and other large firms pen open letter decrying issues with Revit. Photo of Zaha Hadid's ME Dubai...

ZHA, Grimshaw, and other large firms pen open letter decrying issues with Revit

2020-07-27T19:49:00-04:00

Anyone who spends time working in Revit has surely experienced the common frustration of not being able to accomplish seemingly basic tasks without the need for some type of convoluted "workaround." Well, some of the leading BIM-forward architectural practices in the world, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and others have finally had enough.

An open letter published by the trade publication AEC Magazine highlights these firms speaking out against a variety of issues, both with Revit software itself as well as with Autodesk's business and licensing practices. The letter, according to the magazine, represents an unprecedented effort, with AEC's editors writing "In the thirty years we have been following the AEC technology market and the 18 years in which AEC Magazine has been dedicated to the BIM process, we have never seen the likes of this — an open letter from a community of national and international design practices venting their angst ...

Are you a skilled draftsperson? Here are 9 firms offering architecture job opportunities for drafters

2019-02-13T17:20:00-05:00

Are you a master of AutoCAD, Revit, and SketchUp? Drafting has changed tremendously over the years, but the skill and precision needed for the job hasn't. From reading and interpreting blueprints to ensuring 2D and 3D architectural drawings are accurately depicted, drafters play an integral role in firms. Below are nine architecture firms and studios seeking experienced drafters to join their team.

Spine Residence Image © Cohesion

Cohesion Studio seeks an Architectural Designer/Drafter in Los Angeles
The studio seeks a young, energetic person, self sufficient person with diverse design skills and experience that can work with AUTOCAD and SKETCHUP. Must have knowledge in Autocad, 3D sketchup, Indesign, excel, Microsoft office and rendering software. Comfortable on a construction site and is diligent in construction documents. Candidates must have a Bachelors or Masters in Architecture ( B. Arch or M. Arch ) and be proficient in AutoCad and Sketchup 3D.

Outer facade for Home Depot Jers...

Editor's Picks #387

2014-10-02T12:29:00-04:00

For the latest edition of Working out of the Box: Archinect talked with Adora Lo, Architect turned Pro LEGO Builder.

They discussed the "challenge of keeping it LEGO legal" and the satisfaction of designing a "Star Wars building in LEGO". midlander was impressed "That Boston model...The Lego version of 111 Huntington is nicer than the real one!"

Plus, Amelia Taylor-Hochberg shared the debut issue of ‘LOBBY ’, The Bartlett School of Architecture ’s new architecture magazine, for Screen/Print #25.

News
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) announced that it will be making significant changes to its Intern Development Program (IDP). Separate from other considerations to change the IDP's terminology, this decision chiefly includes two phases: (1) the removal of "elective" hourly requirements, and (2) condensing IDP's experience areas from the current 17 into six "practice-based categories".

The general consensus seemed to be underwhelmed - midlander quipped "So......

Editor's Picks #385

2014-09-18T17:50:00-04:00

The latest entry in the Showcase: series featured Barkow Leibinger 's Stadthaus M1, located in the "sustainable model district" of Vauban in the already so-called "green city" of Freiburg.

Plus, Nicholas Korody looked at Factory Berlin, a "start-up campus" hosted by Google, built on a site where "a section of the Berlin Wall...once housed a German Democratic Republic (GDR) watchpost". Chris Teeter recommended "if you want to keep the political going in your architecture crit, you could probably look at what I have considered the 3 downtowns of Berlin; look at them historically maybe - Kuferstendamm (west), Alexander Platz (east), and Potsdamer Plat (unified)".

News
Mildred Friedman, a curator at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis in the 1970s and ’80s who helped both the museum and the contemporary design and architecture it celebrated become objects of international acclaim, died on Sept. 3 in Manhattan. She was 85.

Until October 31, the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation is...

Editor's Picks #358

2014-03-12T15:10:00-04:00

The latest edition of Student Works: highlighted three different pop-up shops designed and built by some students at Tsinghua University in Beijing for their "Tectonic Studio". Constructed for under 2500 RMB (569 USD or 412 EUR), the program was to store and sell t-shirts.

arllita felt they were "beautifully designed and provide an efficient solution to rolling storage! Do you know if they or something similar are available for sale and, if so, are you able to direct me?"

Meanwhile, the ninth edition of Screen/Print: featured: The Air from Other Planets: A Brief History of Architecture to Come by Sean Lally. The featured excerpt is from the introduction where Lally proposes;

"Instead of thinking of architecture as a mass of inert and ossified energy—even stone and steel were not always solid masses—standing as walls in opposition to their surroundings and carving out interior space, why not look to intensify those very energy systems we know are capable of creating microclimates and ...