 AU Design Slam
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AU Design Slam
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DIGITAL DESIGN TOURNAMENT CITIES:
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COMPETITION DESIGNS & CONCEPTS
Less Is More
The rigor of geometry and materials—simple and smart architectural design in Revit
CHALLENGE: In the setting of the famous replica of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona pavilion (originally created 1929 and rebuilt around 1985), design an open forum pavilion with the following purposes and constraints in mind:
- Celebrate 80 years of the Barcelona pavilion
- Follow, interpret, or get inspired by the principles of van der Rohe and the Modern Movement
- Provide open and closed space for meetings and lectures, day and night usage
- Create a new vantage point for experiencing the Barcelona pavilion
All competitors used Revit to create their designs.
CRAIG BARBIERI (KlingStubbins) – WINNER
I have never been to Mies van der Rohe’s German Pavilion in Barcelona, but have a new appreciation for it after this awesome competition. The pavilion is very much about space, material, and perception. It is a difficult challenge to respond to it with another pavilion while respecting its position in architectural history. So instead of competing with it, I chose to deconstruct it in the neighboring landscape, providing opportunities to perceive its elements in a new way. This expression of the pavilion becomes more of a landscape than another pavilion, yet provides the same amenities of seating and shelter and vantage point, and also makes use of the existing reflecting pool at the opposite end. Looking at it now, the design almost reads as remnants of construction of the original pavilion, which is an unintentional bonus. The whole experience was a pleasure, albeit a little stressful, cranking out a design in the twenty minutes!
MARK BASSETT (Gensler)
Goals:
– Not to attempt to compete with Mies next to one of his master works.
– Respect the importance of the area’s greater context within Barcelona and thus not disrupt the site’s two major axes, one being terminated by the pavilion itself.
Response:
A modest building located at the edge of the site, nestled in the trees, that avoids any straight lines in order to contrast with and not compete with the Pavilion. The visitors center is constructed of modern standard wall systems, simple and relatively inexpensive to build, easy to remove in the future. It incorporates a vertically moving wall to meet the requirement of an indoor/outdoor meeting/performance space. Different skin treatments respond to the different orientations of the facade to mitigate the climate’s strong sunlight.
MATTHEW JOGAN (H3 Hardy)
Concept description coming soon.
Less AND More
Wild architecture on new platforms—and a home for the future
CHALLENGE: Working with a predetermined photo backdrop as reference, create a modern collective social dwelling for 500 families on the water between Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City. Points of inspiration and practical considerations include:
- Global warming and the potential need for habitats on water
- New architectural responses to the problem of collective housing
- Potential lessons learned from Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation (aka Cité Radieuse) in Marseille
- Capturing the spirit of New York City
- Bridging cultures, ideas, and spaces
Competitors chose to use different software tools to create their designs: James O'Toole used AliasStudio, David Fano used 3ds Max, and Mark Foster Gage used Maya.
JAMES O'TOOLE (Burt Hill)
“Ripping Paper”
This concept for the city of living for 500 people off the coast of Manhattan was conceived by a method to solidify a design quickly due to the 20-minute design limitations. I just ripped a piece of paper to solidify a concrete form, added it into a canvased plane of the New York skyline, and using Alias Studio sketched life into the form.
DAVID FANO (CASE Design) – WINNER
Inspired by historical examples of architecture-as-infrastructure, including Ponte Vecchio and Le Corbusier’s plan for Algiers, I imagined a future where global sea levels have risen and obsolete infrastructure has been repurposed for new uses. With no river left to span, the iconic Brooklyn Bridge became the host of a new social housing development suspended between the bridge pylons.
Using the arch of the suspension cables as a point of departure, I created a three-dimensional lattice structure, hanging the units in a lightweight net. The units themselves are derived from the net mesh, affording amazing views of what’s left of New York Harbor. A new park replaces the roadway down the center of the bridge, connecting the units with one another and the natural environment.
[Bonus: Check out Dave’s video demonstration of how he modeled the bridge.]
MARK FOSTER GAGE (Gage/ Clemenceau)
As the program called for a new genre of dwellings on water, I thought through how one might build on a limited amount of land. As water levels rise and coastal areas encounter these higher sea levels, it’s probable that archipelagos will be formed on formerly solid land masses. Without easy access to former underground utilities, such as power or water, new buildings in these areas are going to have to be more self-sufficient. In my design for the Cut&Paste event I developed a series of stout towers with minimal footprints that were each sheathed in power-generating wind catching shells. These outer shells work on the next-generation principle of fluid power generation that uses shapes more like fish, capitalizing on small movements, rather than windmills that require larger amounts of force to be useful. The shells were lined with vertical gardens intended to help clean and desalinate water in each of the individual buildings. All of these new archipelago-type buildings rested, like popsicles, on vertical shafts, allowing them to be situated above the waterline while still providing physical access to whatever nearby land remains available.
Watch This
A two-round industrial design challenge—creating the next big thing in time-keeping
CHALLENGE: Design a timepiece of any size, shape, or model that targets the 16–25 age group in present-day society, narrowing down the market by identifying a particular lifestyle and culture that relates to this demographic. Teams may split the design duties between its two members by having each person carry out one round of design, or they may work as a tag team, switching turns at the computer during a round.
Round One—Conceptual Sketches. Express the concept for the timepiece, creating an image board that captures the key themes, ideas behind the concept, and the proposed form factor (design intent). Communicate the target user’s lifestyle, the direction of the styling, unique functional aspects, and the design intent.
Round Two—3D Modeling. Based on conceptual sketches from Round One, create a 3D comp of the timepiece. The primary body of the time piece must be made on the spot from scratch.
All teams used AliasStudio to create their designs. Henry Goecke chose to compete solo and used SketchBook Pro for his Round One work.
CORALEE SANDEE (Kohler) & ROB WURM (Independent)
We named our design Será (Spanish for "will be") because the watch can be what you want it to be. It offers certain tech values that the targeted age group finds important: personalization, connectedness, health, and sustainability.
The proposed concept is a digital display touch-screen watch. Included in its functions are a health monitor (takes pulse, etc.), a web browser (you could check the weather forecast), and a mini USB charging port (not shown). The watch band is co-injection molded TP covered with photovoltaic spray. Ultracapacitor solar cells power the watch. It adjusts electro-mechanically, with no visible attachments. One end of the watch band is narrower and thinner, and inserts into the face and is adjusted with a touch sensor as the excess feeds under the face and into the actual band of the watch.
The form and color options of the watch were inspired by a kite-surfer. The frame of the watch would be something like black chrome/metal, with the face being the actual touch screen. Color options (not shown) are for the band of the watch.
HENRY GOECKE (Armstrong & White) – WINNER
We are becoming a more virtual society every day. I find that in my own life I crave things that are tactile to offset so much of my life being digital. This helped solidify my idea for the watch design. I wanted a mechanical, palpable, and visually complex piece at the end. The biggest hurdle was the time constraint. Twenty minutes pushed me to the limit as far as what was capable in that arena.
The event was extremely exciting and nerve-racking. There was no room for error and I think that's what made it so fun to do. Thanks to Autodesk and Cut&Paste for showcasing what is possible in the software we are using every day. It was an honor to be chosen to participate in a real-time design experience. It's a groundbreaking idea and I hope it inspires people to get involved. I believe design drives the world.
RICH WALTERS (Brooks Stevens) & GLENN WALTERS (Brooks Stevens)
Watches are dead. They compete with too many other gadgets. We knew that our target market had a limited budget for a device to tell time and could care less about status symbols, so we set out to develop a watch that would deliver a unique experience and serve as a useful creative tool. We drew our inspiration from the digital and analog music technology that infests the bedroom studios and sticky-floored rock clubs around the world. This watch has a recorder that can be used to experiment with audio recording and simple gaming. The major iconic theme is, of course, the classic rotary dial. This old school knob would also serve as a joystick, a pointer device that would improve functionality on such a small device. Maybe one day watches may come back, but until then, maybe it’s all about knob-tweaking.
COMPETITORS
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CRAIG BARBIERI Craig A. Barbieri is the Director of Practice at KlingStubbins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. He has worked on multi-million square foot projects including NGA, St. Maarten Constellation Resort, Fidelity Investments campus, Vanguard campus, and Shire Pharmaceuticals. He is a winner of the Woodman Competition, and a recipient of scholarly awards including the Dales Fellowship, Bockius Traveling Fellowship, Newberry Scholarship, and the National AIA Scholastic Award. Craig was a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Design, Department of Architecture, and now works on, and manages Revit projects and BIM technologies at KlingStubbins. Craig blogs online at www.iRevit.com. |
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MARK BASSETT Mark Bassett is a Registered Architect, and holds a Bachelor of Building Science and a Bachelor of Architecture from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He also has a Masters in Arichitecture and Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an Associate at Genslers’ Washington DC Office where he has been responsible for driving that offices adoption of Revit. The office has completed approx 100 interiors and architecture projects in Revit encompassing several million sqft over the last 3 yrs. Prior to Joining gensler Mark worked at three other architecture firms and 3 software companies in the GIS and CAD markets, including Revit Technologies prior to its purchase by Autodesk. He enjoys designing and building both architecture and software. |
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DAVID FANO David Fano established CASE Design in 2008. He previously worked at SHoP Architects, where he was Director of Technology Research. His responsibilities included managing technology R&D initiatives, working with project teams to ensure the successful implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM), and developing "direct to fabrication" initiatives with software manufacturers and fabricators through the use of BIM. He contributed technology expertise on numerous projects, including a 41-story rental tower in New York City and The New Seaport - a 860,000 sq. ft. multi-use development in New York City’s Historic Seaport District. Since 2006, David has been an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation where he teaches Meshing, Re-thinking BIM, and Orchestration, focused on exploring how technology can transform design processes. David received his Master or Architecture with honors from Columbia University where he was the recipient of the Lucille Smyser Lowenfish Memorial Prize and the Computer Aided Design Honor Award. |
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MARK FOSTER GAGE Mark Foster Gage is a principal of Gage/ Clemenceau Architects in New York City. His work has been exhibited widely at venues including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago. Mark is an assistant professor of architecture and chair of the design curriculum at the Yale University. He has also taught at Columbia University and published and lectured on architecture and aesthetic theory internationally. |
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HENRY GOECKE Henry is a digital artist based in Michigan. He has an automotive background, but contributes to a wide range of design, architectural and entertainment projects. Henry has been involved with industrial design for over ten years, and has also taught several Autodesk StudioTools classes. Today, Henry works at Armstrong White, a visual entertainment studio that specializes in rendering reality out of automotive 2D and 3D assets and digital landscapes for print, broadcast and interactive mediums. |
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MATTHEW JOGAN Matthew Jogan is a designer and project architect at H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, directing their use of advanced technology to foster a meaningful dialogue among history, innovation and contemporary use. Matthew specializes in applying advanced computer modeling, such as parametric and building information modeling, to his work and is currently spearheading projects in Santa Fe and Texas. He received his bachelor of architecture degree from the University of Cincinnati and earned his master of architecture degree at Yale University. |
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JAMES O'TOOLE Breaking any preconception of what an architect is today, James OToole has sketched his own path. He has a unique background in art, sketching and sculpture along with his personal hands on construction of buildings, furniture and artistic machines. Born and residing in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, James studied architecture at Pennsylvania State University and abroad in Florence Italy. He continued his studies for two years under the renowned architect Yasuo Yoshida in Osaka Japan. James is an international designer as he is presently working for international architects Burt Hill based in Pittsburgh. Current works include state of the art buildings designed for Dubai, UAE and India. |
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CORALEE SANDEE Coralee has a diverse background from engineering to industrial design. She has been working for the Kohler Company in computer-aided design for over eight years. Part of the faucets industrial design studio, Coralee executes generation of new product concepts. |
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GLENN WALTERS Glenn has been bringing product concepts into reality for the past 20 years consulting for a variety of industries. Whether he’s working on fitness equipment, vehicles or baby strollers, he always enjoys the technical process nearly as much as the creative results. Glenn works as a Lead Industrial Designer at Brooks Stevens Inc’s Allenton, WI, office. |
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RICH WALTERS With over 20 years of consulting experience Rich has developed his skills in both the strategic front end and the tactical production of design and product development. In 1993 Rich helped lead Brooks Stevens in the successful integration of AliasStudio into their design production. Rich is now Manager of Industrial Design at Brooks Stevens’ first branch office in St. Paul, MN. |
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ROB WURM Rob is a product of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, MI. He has a diverse background of transportation, product, and furniture design. He has close to two years experience as an industrial designer at Kohler Company, working in the Bathroom Furniture/Sanitary product group. In his time at Kohler he worked on new product development as well as advanced design projects. |
JUDGES
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ROBERT AISH Robert Aish has studied Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art in London and has a Ph.D. in Human Computer Interaction from the University of Essex. He has developed engineering software with Arup, architectural software with Rucaps, naval architecture software with Intergaph and the GenerativeComponents parametric design software with Bentley. In 2005 the UK ‘Building Design’ Magazine named Robert Aish as one of the top ten innovators in British Architecture. In 2006 he received the ‘Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture’ (ACADIA) Society Award. He is a co-founder of the SmartGeometry Group and visiting professor of Design Computation at the School of Architecture at the University of Bath, in the UK. His role at Autodesk is to converge innovative concepts such as ‘Design Computation’ with the main stream of design and engineering software. |
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PHIL BERNSTEIN Phillip G. Bernstein is a Vice President at Autodesk, a leading provider of software for architecture and engineering. A practicing architect with over twenty years of experience, he leads Industry Strategy and Relations for the AEC Division where he is responsible for setting the company’s future vision and strategy for technology serving the building industry. Phil was formerly with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects where he managed many of the firm’s most complex commissions. Phil teaches Professional Practice at the Yale School of Architecture where he received his both his B.A. and his M.Arch. He is a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council and former Chair of the AIA National Contract Documents Committee. |
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DAVID BREHM |
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SHANE BURGER |
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TATJANA DZAMBAZOVA Tatjana practiced architecture for 12 years in Vienna and London prior to joining Autodesk 8 years ago. Initially technology expert and evangelist of architectural solutions such as ADT; Architectural Studio and Revit, later took the lead of the Revit product development Team in the role of a Product Manager of Revit. Currently acting as Industry trends and Technology advocate for Autodesk, looking at the wealthy Autodesk technology portfolio and together with colleague architects identifying new solutions and approaches relevant to the current and future trends. Book co-author of ‘Introduction in BIM’ and ‘Mastering Revit Architecture’ 2008 and 2009. Crazy about animals (wild life conservation), architecture, industrial and graphic design, motorcycling, theater, good cooking and foreign languages. |
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RICHARD HARPHAM |
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GRAY HOLLAND |
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JAY SHUSTER The title of the film Planes, Trains & Automobiles might just be the perfect description for Pixar Animation Studios sketch artist Jay Shuster’s childhood in Birmingham, Michigan. As the son of a car designer, Jay’s childhood bedroom was a nest of blue prints, drawings, posters, machines, and models of all things connected with nearly every mode of mechanized transportation. But it wasn’t until Jay saw Star Wars that he connected his interests to a possible future in the film industry, where he saw an opportunity to work in an unrestrained creative culture. That desire initially took him to Lucasfilm Ltd., where he designed a variety of vehicles and environments for the Star Wars prequel film trilogy. Jay arrived at Pixar in 2002 as a concept designer on Cars, where he translated Director John Lasseter’s ideas into characters and environments. More recently, he worked on DisneyPixar’s 2008 release, WALL-E, as a sketch artist, working in a similar capacity. Jay graduated in 1993 from the Industrial Design program at College for Creative Studies in Detroit. He currently resides in El Cerrito, California. |
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FRANK TYNESKI Frank Tyneski is the Executive Director of the largest professional society of product designers, The Industrial Designers Society of America. Formerly the Senior Director of Design for Kyocera, Frank established design teams in San Diego, California and Bangalore, India and Shanghai China. Before Kyocera, Frank was the Director of Design Integration for RIM BlackBerry, where he was responsible for expanding Research In Motion’s line of BlackBerry products into the prosumer/consumer market space with the revolutionary 7100 series of Sure-Type products. Frank has made a career of bringing new category creating products to market. At Motorola, he designed the first generation of award-winning, ruggedized, mobile data products for its Commercial and Government Solutions Sector. He also designed the first Nextel products and was later responsible for Motorola’s award-winning consumer two-way radios, the TalkAbout series. Known for taking the field of industrial design beyond product styling by developing ’reach out’ products that change the way we work, play and communicate, Mr. Tyneski has also designed products for Fisher-Price and General Motors and was sponsored to develop groundbreaking medical devices for the National Institute of Health. A recipient of numerous industry awards for design excellence, including BusinessWeek’s Design of the Decade award, he holds more then 50 US and foreign patents. Frank’s work has been displayed in the Smithsonian and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museums. |
COMPETITION ADVISERS
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CHRIS CHEUNG Chris is the Product Manager for conceptual and industrial design in the Manufacturing Solutions Division for Autodesk. Classically trained as an industrial designer, Chris has been part of the software design and development of products like AliasStudio™ since 1995. Presently, he is the Product Manager for SketchBook® Pro and several other projects. |
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TATJANA DZAMBAZOVA Please see Tatjana's bio in the JUDGES section above. |
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