Inventive Engineering

Is civil engineering on the cutting edge of technology? While almost all civil engineers remain devoutly proud of their chosen profession, some forward looking engineers are challenging the status quo. Are civil engineers followers – mostly implementing the ideas developed by others? Is there a stagnation of ideas in the profession?Certainly,...

Will it tick?

Can you tell the time on my new watch? There should be many ways of marking the passage of time. Why are we limited to digital numerals and analog spinning hands? Throughout time many devices, including water clocks and sun dials, were developed, but here in the Western world we've coalesced around two standards.I love my new Nooka watch....

Pecha Kucha! Gezhundeit.

What is Pecha Kucha? First things first, try pronouncing it Pe-Cha-Ku-Cha with emphasis on the "Cha's." The expression is a colloquialism for chit-chat in Japanese, but since 2003 it has come to mean something special to young designers in several cities. Regular events feature architects, artists, and even engineers (in my case) giving...

The quiet war: architecture and digital technologies

Two weeks ago I attended a lecture/discussion led by Tristan D’Estree Sterk and Douglas Pancoast at the Flatiron Arts Building in Chicago. Both presenters are known for their forward-thinking approach to digital technologies in Architecture.Tristan founded a small design and technology enterprise called the Office for Robotic Architectural...

Achitects & Beyond

Last Thursday I attended the Architects & Beyond lecture sponsored by the Chicago Young Architects Forum. The event was held at HOK’s office in the South Loop. It was marketed as an evening of learning and networking. Four presenters spoke from their personal experiences of setting up new businesses. Three had left safe careers as...

Will an unreinf. conc. dome stand?

Few 1800-year-olds look so good. From within the rotunda of the Pantheon, you could be excused for thinking that the church was constructed just recently. Among all the remaining Roman sites of the Mediterranean, the basilica is probably the most well preserved. Two features contributed greatly to the preservation: its constant use as...

Will smart balloons change design?

At the 2009 ACADIA (Assoc. for CAD In Architecture) conference, I was blown away by all the radical design ideas brought forth. Of them, the most intriguing ideas imagined how new technologies could be used to create responsive structures - buildings that could change shape and function in reaction to external stimuli. Ideas like this are...