architecture
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MyFourWalls is a great Mac app for home interior design and planning
Often during the holidays people begin to think about updating their home, their furniture, or just rearranging. MyFourWalls (U.S. $29.99) for Mac may be just the ticket to help you visualize those changes. The app contains some intuitive tools to set your exterior and interior walls in place, elect carpeting and ceiling material, then start to populate your room with chairs, couches, tables, bookshelves etc. until you have the room built. There's everything from Flat Screen TVs to component shelves, office furniture, and kitchen equipment. You drag what you want into the room, and size it accurately with the handy guides. Once your things are in, their dimensions can be adjusted. Thinking about a new lamp. MyFourWalls let's you insert a lamp or lighting fixtures, and see the effect in the room. Views can be overhead 2D or a very nice 3D rendering, and you can move wherever you want to really get an idea how the room will look. I could duplicate my family room quite easily, and adjustments were easy. If you get stuck, there is a handy and complete help guide just a click away. MyFourWalls is not really a CAD program, but it is great for visualizing how a room will look or change. The views can be day or night, and you can have any number of floors to your home. You can also import photos or objects and use them. MyFourWalls is clever, useful and worked well without my diving into the help pages. If you are considering changes in the house it's a great tool for visualization. It's not a 5 dollar app by any means, but for all that it does it is reasonably priced and is easy to use. The app supports English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. It requires iOS 10.6.6 or later.
Doris Sung explains the tech behind her breathing, eco-friendly architecture (video)
Doris Sung has spent the past few years designing "breathing" architecture that adapts to environmental conditions. Thanks to an overview of her work at The Creators Project, we now have a simple explanation of how Sung creates these responsive structures. Her walls and windows are based on multi-layer metal "skins" that curl when certain layers react to heat -- the brighter the sun shines, the wider the skins open to let colder air through. Special software shapes each panel to maximize the cooling effect, even for very curvy surfaces. Sung's approach hasn't seen much real-world use so far, but she hopes for energy-efficient buildings that need very little air conditioning to remain comfortable.
Bless website updates with city screenshots
Bless is one of those games that we'd be following a lot closer if there was more information about it available in English. It's a Korean MMO, see, and like many Korean MMOs it's unequivocally gorgeous and sufficiently mysterious in terms of mechanics to whet our appetite. Neowiz did update its website today, though, and there are some new screenshots that show off plenty of impressive architecture and various city locales. Steparu has the details as well as a selection of the newest shots.
Imagination Tech CEO: 'The industry needs MIPS as much as MIPS needs the industry'
At an earlier press event in Shenzhen, Imagination Technologies' CEO Sir Hossein Yassaie delivered a clear message: his company's $100 million acquisition of MIPS isn't a short term strategy. Additionally, he has ambitious plans with the latter's chip architecture -- a well-known rival of ARM and Intel's x86. In his presentation, Yassaie boasted that there are currently over 300 SoCs based on MIPS. And out of the five billion devices shipped with Imagination Tech's IP to date, three billion of them use MIPS. These include phones, tablets (especially in China), wearables, printers, networking devices, storage devices and more.
Construction continues on Stanford 2 Apple Store, revealing new design
ifoAppleStore published a number of photos today showing construction of the new Stanford 2 Apple Store in northern California. The store uses a new "glass box and floating roof design" that allows passersby to get a great view of the interior of the store. This same design is allegedly being used for two other Apple Stores, one in downtown Portland, Ore., and the other in the city center of Aix-en-Provence, France. The Stanford 2 store is progressing well for an opening later this year, and demolition has begun at the sites for the other two stores. As ifoAppleStore notes, this design is completely faced with glass that actually supports the floating roof structure. Behind the glass box is a "stone-faced box" that encloses the back-of-house operations and other retail space. The images were provided by an ifoAppleStore "tipster" who took photos from inside the construction fencing. A complete gallery of photos is available on the ifoAppleStore site.
'Spaceship Campus' architecture firm to revamp Apple retail stores
Marketing Magazine is reporting today that architecture firm Foster + Partners, which is working on the design of Apple's new Cupertino campus, has been hired to create new designs for Apple Stores. Apple's previous architect of choice was 8 Inc, which has been responsible for such iconic Apple Stores as the 5th Avenue flagship store in New York City and the Regent Street store in London. It's unknown if Foster + Partners plans to make any drastic changes to the highly successful and recently trademarked design cues for Apple Stores, which include all-glass storefronts and rectangular wooden tables. Foster + Partners was hired by late Apple CEO Steve Jobs to design the new Cupertino "spaceship" campus building, which is now reportedly $2 billion over budget and somewhat behind schedule.
'60 Minutes' shows how Gaudi's Sagrada Familia inches toward completion, with help from some aeronautical software
Barcelona's Sagrada Familia has been a labor of love. Still unfinished over 130 years since construction started, Antoni Gaudi's designs have been given a boost through advanced software more typically used in aeronautical projects. CBS' 60 Minutes took a look at the recent development of the huge church, a building where every detail of its facade attempts to detail the story of the bible. While the architect had crafted elaborate plaster models of the finished designs, these were unfortunately destroyed during the Spanish Civil War. Building continued, but slowed after the second facade was finished, as the construction workers and designers had no idea how to follow the original plans for the rest of the building. This was where architect Mark Burrey and others were brought in to reverse engineer Gaudi's models, which were now piles of shards. Using advanced design software typically used in auto and airplane design, they were able to figure our how to model the advanced shapes and surfaces that Gaudi's avant garde plans demanded and building continued. You can watch the full story of the Sagrada Familia's continued development after the break -- with no extraterrestrial interference.
Xsyon architecture contest runs through January 13
It's been nine months since Xsyon's last architecture contest, and Notorious Games has kicked off a new competition to recognize the most creative tribes in the post-apocalyptic sandbox title. Submissions will be judged on originality, uniqueness, design, layout, and beautification. The contest also features two sections, one for small tribes (one to five active members) and one for large tribes (six or more actives). Submissions will be accepted through January 13th, and you can see some of the competition (and get a few ideas) via the video after the break. [Source: Notorious Games press release]
Inhabitat's week in green: solar powered toilet, pollution-fighting mural and the world's largest rooftop wind farm
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. Hear those school bells in the distance? It's hard to believe, but the start of the school year is just a few weeks away -- and all week we've been rounding up some of our favorite eco-friendly back-to-school essentials. From green school supplies to sustainable backpacks, we've got all your back-to-school needs covered. And to top it off, we're giving away a laptop-charging Voltaic solar-powered backpack (worth $389) stuffed with green school supplies for a total prize package worth over $500. If we could go back to school and live in any dorm, we'd probably choose Copenhagen's Tietgenkollegiet dorm, a circular building with community kitchens, cafes, music rooms and a central courtyard. And if we could choose any gadget to take with us, it would have to be the P&P Office Waste Processor, which can transform a basket full of waste paper into fully-formed pencils.
Stone Spray research project wants to print bridges with sand, solar power
Envious of your pet hermit crabs' 3D-printed domicile? Maybe you should cast your green eyes upon the Stone Spray project, an Eco-friendly robot printer that's exploring the viability of soil as a building material. Although making actual buildings is a bit out of the robot's reach, its team has managed to print a series of scaled sculptures (such as stools, pillars and load-bearing arc structures) out of sand, soil and a special solidification compound. The machine's jet-spray nozzle seems to have an easier time constructing objects over per-existing scaffolding, but the team is striving to design structures that don't require the extra support. "We want to push further the boundaries of digital manufacturing and explore the possibilities of an on-site fabrication machine," the team writes on the project's homepage, citing makeshift printed bridges or an on-beach canopy as possible applications of technology. If the Earth itself doesn't make a green enough building material, consider this: the Stone Spray robot can be powered by solar energy alone. Check it out in all of its sand-sculpting glory in the video below.
Canon overhauls Mixed Reality platform with new head-mounted display
Canon's been fiddling around with augmented (or mixed) reality for some time now, but the company just took things to the next level. A new AR headset announced today is less stylish than that other soon-to-be-released wearable tech you've likely heard about, yet certainly more sophisticated than its bigger brother. The controller sees visual markers through dual on-board cameras and projects virtual objects onto two corresponding displays set right above the eyes, marrying the virtual world to the desert of the real. You can gaze from any angle and even manipulate the virtual projects with what looks to be a plastic, magic ice cream cone. The glasses are set to release next month and, while Canon hasn't assigned a price, all the planned applications are decidedly industrial, making us think they won't be cheap. So, you probably won't be using em' to scope out the various Layars around your hood.
An ARM core in an AMD device? It just happened, but not the way you think
Yes, you heard right. AMD just added to ARM's burgeoning heap of gold coins, having licensed the British company's Cortex-A5 design for use in its own hardware. While this might sound like a dramatic capitulation on the part of the struggling giant, particularly after yesterday's news, it probably isn't. AMD says it'll use the ARM component solely for adding better security features to its next generation of business-focused laptops and tablets. A spokesperson told us the company's "commitment to x86 hasn't changed," referring to the fact that it'll continue to use its regular in-house chip architecture for the primary task of running applications. The Cortex-A5 will be one tiny core squeezed in amongst everything else on the future 28nm silicon. It'll be dedicated to running ARM's proprietary TrustZone technology, which protects sensitive apps from tampering -- stuff like mobile payments, DRM, and nudge, nudge corporate documents. Rather than invent its own system for doing the same thing, AMD reckoned it'd be easier to work with ARM's, and who can blame it? If we remember rightly, even Intel made a similar call five years ago. [Tentacles via Shutterstock]
Apple's Campus 2 will up the secrecy factor with an underground auditorium
You know how Tim Cook said Apple will be "doubling down on secrecy" for unannounced products? Well, the company's hush-hush mentality seems to be informing the design for its upcoming Campus 2. According to plans and technical drawings on Cupertino.org, Apple could be moving its press events underground -- into a mammoth subterranean auditorium that will no doubt also serve as Cook's secret lair / bunker for tough times in the ongoing patent wars. You know what they say -- out of sight, out of mind... and so beyond passé ground-level amphitheaters. Click the source link below for more images.
Apple, Steve Jobs win patents for Shanghai Apple Store design
Apple is constantly adding patents to its portfolio of intellectual property, many of which are not directly associated with the design or operation of the consumer electronics products the company makes. Patently Apple reported today on a patent awarded to the company and late founder and CEO Steve Jobs for the design of the Apple Store, Pudong in Shanghai, China. Like the 5th Avenue store in Manhattan, the Shanghai store is primarily underground, with a clear glass structure above ground. Instead of a giant glass cube a la 5th Avenue, the Shanghai store features a large glass cylinder. The store was designed by architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson Architects, but Apple and specifically Steve Jobs were singled out for the idea of the giant curved glass panels that make up the cylinder. Other Apple notables listed as inventors on the patent include senior director of Real Estate and Development Benjamin Fay and ex-VP of Retail Operations Ron Johnson. Steve's fascination with large curved glass panels in architecture is also reflected in the design of the still-to-be-constructed world headquarters in Cupertino.
Some Assembly Required: Xsyon picks up speed
Last year, I had the opportunity to meander around Xsyon for Choose My Adventure. Then, the game was still at the end of its beta phase. Now, with some time under its belt since release, the game continues to grow. And January has seen quite the growth spurt. I won't complain if the momentum that Xsyon has shown in the last month keeps up. Announcing multiple events and an architecture contest? Not to mention introducing new goodies? You go, game! Though it's small and indie, I am totally rooting for this title to succeed. Why? The main reason is that the game is reliant on player generated content: Instead of developers designing every aspect of the game, they built the world as a foundation and gave players the tools to go from there. This game is one of the few out there that offers many avenues for players to generate their own content and have a visible and lasting impact on the world around them. And just how is post-apocalyptic Earth shaping up with the players at the helm? This week, Some Assembly Required explores the once-ravaged land to highlight some of that generated content, from events (both player-run and developer sponsored) to small- and large-scale construction.
Architecture in The Witness is more than a pretty placeholder
Developer Jonathan Blow's coming title, The Witness, blends a new brand of storytelling with what he hopes is immersive gameplay, founded largely on the environments that Blow and two teams of architects designed. In his most recent blog post, Blow describes the intense detail hidden within each building and feature in The Witness: "The game is constructed so that the more you pay attention to tiny details during your travels, the more insight you will have to the central story, even though it may not be obvious at any given time what a particular detail has to do with that story," Blow writes. This all leads to a much deeper, philosophical understanding of the game, and we assume life, love and religion as well -- not that Blow said that last bit, but these things do tend to happen with his games.
Detailed floor plans of new Cupertino 'spaceship' campus released
The city of Cupertino has made the proposed and revised plans for Apple's massive new "spaceship" campus available to the public. If you've got a thing for blueprints and architectural renderings, check out the link to the proposed floor plans for the campus, a 25-page PDF that details the incredible scale and scope of Apple's proposal. Some of the more impressive things I found in my perusal of the plans: The edge-to-edge footprint of the circular structure is just over 1520 feet, or more than a quarter of a mile. The outer circumference of the main building is nearly 4800 feet, or 9/10 of a mile. The main structure contains over 1.8 million square feet of office space spread over 4 above-ground levels. A 4-story, 58,050 square foot restaurant space on the building's northeast corner will provide food for the whole campus. The main building's roof is almost entirely covered in solar panels. Two basement parking levels beneath the main building contain a total of 4300 parking spaces. Another 4-level satellite parking structure provides an additional 4600 spaces. A (relatively) small satellite building provides access to a basement auditorium with seating for approximately 1000 people seated before an enormous stage -- very probably the site of future Apple events. Another satellite structure contains a gigantic corporate fitness center with a 2-story, 48,000 square foot exercise area and what looks like an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Six separate R&D facilities comprise a total of 300,000 square feet of space. The scale of this new campus is impressive and ambitious in just about every detail, and it'll be quite a thing to see once it's finished in 2015.
Insert Coin: PhaserTape turns your smartphone into a rangefinder (video)
In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you'd like to pitch a project, please send us a tip with "Insert Coin" as the subject line. You've scoped that little laser dot on the cabinet at the far end of the room, right? Well, don't worry, you're not about to see an innocent stationery cupboard get perforated by a sniper. Nope, this episode of Insert Coin is actually about measuring distances using PhaserTape -- a peace-loving iOS- and Android-compatible peripheral that needs your help over at Makible. We think it could be a sweet little investment, and you only have to click past the break to discover why.
Inhabitat's Week in Green: sun-powered homes, retro robots and a solar laptop chipset
Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green. This week Inhabitat shined a light on the future of high-tech architecture as we brought you 20 stunning sun-powered homes that are getting ready to battle it out in this year's Solar Decathlon - including Team New York's prefab Roof Pod, Canada's TRTL solar shell house, and China's Y Container home. We also brought you exclusive photos of the recently unveiled 9/11 Memorial at Ground Zero, while the Empire State Building soared to new heights as it achieved LEED Gold certification. In other NYC news, we covered an underground park in the Big Apple which is to be illuminated entirely by fiber optics. Vincent Callebaut also unveiled plans for an incredible self-sufficient skyscraper for Taiwan, and we learned that scientists are planning to build a fake volcano for climate change research. It was also a hot week for energy-generating tech as Intel unveiled a solar laptop chipset that can be powered by a desk lamp and MIT developed a tiny kinetic generator that can produce 100 times more power than previous devices of its kind. Meanwhile, Google invested in the power of pig poop and researchers rolled out a new inexpensive, powerful, and lightweight jelly battery that could one day power laptops and electric vehicles. Energy infrastructure also got a boost as a UK competition showcased six designs for next-generation power pylons, and New Mexico announced plans to build an entire city for the sole purpose of testing green technologies. In other news, this week we spotted several pulse-pounding electric vehicles: a streamlined carbon fiber jet ski and an incredible mirrored motorcycle. We also went back to the future with a look at Nike's new pair of LED studded kicks, and we spotted a slick set of retro robots made from salvaged materials. Finally, we shared a bevy of tips for living a more sustainable lifestyle -- check out these seven gadgets that can improve your health and five ways to green your home entertainment system.
Researchers wed quantum processor with quantum memory, quaziness ensues
Quantum computing has a long way to go before becoming truly mainstream, but that certainly hasn't stopped us from indulging in dreams of a qubit-based existence. The latest bit of fantasy fodder comes from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where researchers have become the first to combine a quantum processor with memory mechanisms on a single chip. To do this, Matteo Mariantoni and his team of scientists connected two qubits with a quantum bus and linked each of them to a memory element, capable of storing their current values in the same way that RAM stores data on conventional computers. These qubit-memory links also contained arrays of resonators -- jagged, yet easily controlled circuits that can store values for shorter periods of time. The qubits, meanwhile, were constructed using superconducting circuits, allowing the UCSB team to nestle their qubits even closer together, in accordance with the von Neumann architecture that governs most commercial computers. Once everything was in place, the researchers used their system to run complex algorithms and operations that could be eventually used to decode data encryption. The next step, of course, is to scale up the design, though Mariantoni says that shouldn't be too much of a problem, thanks to his system's resonators -- which, according to him, "represent the future of quantum computing with integrated circuits."
