For 10 years, Randy Deutsch led a double life. A building designer by day, he was also a playwright whose romantic comedies found homes at small theaters in various cities. Today, the Chicago-based architect and consultant unites his love of design and of writing in two blogs: Architects 2 Zebras and BIM + Integrated Design.Architects 2 Zebras came first, in January 2009. Deutsch wanted to spark a dialogue about how the fundamental aspects of an architecture career were changing. “A lot is happening to the profession,” Deutsch says. “I saw a gap in information representing the core competency of what architects are today.” His blog attempts to bridge that gap with coverage that speaks to both building and software architects, whether it’s book reviews, Q&A’s, commentary on current events, or service pieces with titles like “55 Ways to Help You Evolve as an Architect.”
Deutsch quickly noticed that he was posting a stream of items around the benefits of integrated design, a topic that is close to his heart. He spun off a second blog, called BIM + Integrated Design, which is also the title of a book being published in 2011. An early adopter of BIM, Deutsch says the book, like the blog, examines the sociological side of BIM and looks at the psychological impacts of this new technology on firm culture as well as its potential uses. “BIM is important,” Deutsch notes, “because it has the potential to stop the marginalization of the profession.”
It’s evident that an architect’s synthesizing mind is at work on these blogs. Deutsch moves seamlessly across disciplines and genres, blending vast amounts of information succinctly. He references Claude Monet when discussing BIM’s 3D qualities, quotes F. Scott Fitzgerald for a piece on ambiguity, and finds inspiration for a post on BIM physics in Neil Young lyrics. Deutsch says his goal is to help ease other architects into this next technological and creative phase and get them comfortable working in an integrated way. “Architects [can] translate from one medium to another,” Deutsch says. BIM lets them “work harmoniously … for a common goal.”
Links
flickr.com
Using data from Flickr’s and Picasa’s search APIs (application programming interfaces—geek argot), photographer Eric Fischer created “The Geotaggers’ World Atlas,” maps of 100 cities that reveal where the most photos were taken. He also created “Locals and Tourists,” a series that attempts to parse the API data to determine whether photos were taken by tourists or residents.
accents-by-design.com
Creating an optimal working environment is something designers have been wrestling with for years. Interiors firm Accents by Design ups the ante in a new white paper, “Multi-Generational Design: A Space Plan for the Emerging Workplace,” by noting that, for the first time, the employee base now includes four generations: traditionalists (born 1930–1945), baby boomers (1946–1964), and generations X (1965–1976) and Y (1977–1990).
itunes.com
Have you ever wanted to be Renzo Piano? Thanks to Italian design magazine Abitare, you can—sort of. The publication’s app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch lets you track the architect’s travels and offers a look at work in progress through galleries of sketches, models, and drawings. There are also videos to watch and interviews to read. The $11.99 price tag may seem steep, but it’s a lot less than the cost of a Piano building.
visitnorway.com/holmenkollen
The Holmenkollen Ski Jump, in Oslo, Norway, is a stunning structure by JDS Architects being built for the 2011 Nordic World Ski Championship. But you don’t have to wait until next February to see athletes at work. Send them soaring off the Holmenkollen’s ramp now with this simple, addictive game.
roofgenuity.com
Firestone Building Products has launched RoofGenuity, an online BIM tool for developing roof assemblies using the company’s products. If you sign up, you can save your creations for future use. Currently, the site supports only Revit, but RoofGenuity will be compatible with other BIM platforms in the near future.