ARCHISYPHONE

Snøhetta Wins ‘King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture’ Competition in Saudi Arabia

2008-06-28T14:53:00.004+08:00

In competition with some of the world’s greatest architects, Snøhetta has won the competition about designing Saudi Arabia’s new Cultural Center. Saudi Aramco – the world’s largest oil company – is the client.

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz set the cornerstone for the Cultural Center which will house a museum, library, theater, cinema and more. The building reflects the history of oil in Saudi Arabia and is different from the country’s architectonic traditions with its abstract and spectacular form.
Along with five other internationally know architect offices, Snøhetta participated in the competition and was chosen in preference to famous names as Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas.

The building itself is pretty stunning, with its unique landscaping.....

looks like Saudi is leading the field in design innovation

Source: Bustler.net

Italian Architect David Fisher's Dynamic Architecture Building at Dubai

2008-06-26T18:26:00.003+08:00

A 420 meter high building by the Italian architect David Fisher that changes it shape based on the rotation each floor has. Integrated wind turbines makes the building powered by wind making a green building. Most parts of the building will be prefabricated as modules in an Italian factory and shipped to Dubai and later a building in Moscow.

For more visit Dynamic Architecture's website - make sure to see the intro.

Some videos on YouTube: Dynamic Tower plans unveiled, Preview of World's First Rotating Skyscraper, Dynamic Tower, Dynamic Architecture

Source: JTB World Blog

Marc Ramones Residence rendered in AutoCAD 2008 & 3D Max

2008-06-26T15:59:00.001+08:00

my stab at it
a warning though
i have no background in 3D Max
im thinking of going to school for it though

Controller that Helps Imaging Precisely target Cancer Cells

2008-06-26T14:53:00.002+08:00

Focused radiation continues to be an effective means to treat cancerous tumors, particularly when there is a clear-cut shot at the target. Finding that shot, however, is no simple task for clinicians for several reasons; the target is often surrounded by healthy tissue, it can grow, shrink or shift over time, and it is affected by changes in the patient's anatomy.

The Hi·Art® treatment system, a radiation therapy device that uses 3D CT imaging, was developed by TomoTherapy Inc., Madison, Wis., to address this challenge. The device leverages the ring gantry geometry used in CT scanning to deliver intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) from all angles around the patient, with minimal side effects More + Video>>

Happy Holloween!!

2007-11-03T03:25:00.001+08:00

Happy Holloween to everyone!!

Autocad Architecture Service Pack 1

2007-11-02T21:01:00.000+08:00

Service Pack 1 is now available for AutoCAD Architecture 2008.

AutoCAD Architecture 2008 crashes during startup - FATAL ERROR

2007-10-09T19:07:00.000+08:00

On the command line you might see the command aecprojectbrowserstartup and then you get a crash. It says something like: AutoCAD Error Aborting - FATAL ERROR: Unhandled Access Violation Reading 0x0000 Exception at cf77528h. The address cf77528h can be different each time.

Knowledge Base document: AutoCAD® Architecture crashes during startup

There is no need to uninstall SP1 as suggested in the KB unless you find other reasons that SP1 is trouble for you.

Use REGEDIT.EXE (be careful though)

Locate the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\MC3

Set MC3OptIn to 0

This is the same as opting-out from Customer Involvement Program (CIP)

Either you can continue to not opt-in for CIP or you can select to not Show Project Browser at Startup.

Start AutoCAD Architecture 2008.
Click Tools menu > Options.
In the Options dialog box, click the AEC Project Default tabs.
Select the Show Project Browser at Startup option.
Click OK.
Click Help menu > Customer Involvement Program.
Select Yes.
Click OK.

Source: JTB World Blog

this is really handy because i had this problem before and i kept reinstalling AutoCAD
till i found this.

Desperate Housewives Racial Slur

2007-10-04T12:28:00.001+08:00

MANILA -– Malacañang demanded Wednesday an apology from ABC network and producers of “Desperate Housewives” for the racial slur against Filipino medical practitioners that was aired on the show’s 4th season premier last September 30.

The issue, which has drawn flak from concerned viewers, stemmed from a remark made by Susan Mayer, a character being played by actress Teri Hatcher, when she visited the office of Dr. Adam Mayfair, played by Nathan Fillion.

Join forum on Sandiganbayan's guilty verdict on Estrada plunder case. Post comments here.

In the scene, Dr. Mayfair told Mayer that the word “menopause" opens a Pandora’s Box for the age-conscious middle-aged woman.

But Mayer cut him short, saying: “Before we go any further, can I check those diplomas? 'Coz, I just want to make sure they’re not from some med school in the Philippines."

“On the face, we can look at it as a racial slur. Masyado naman tayong minamaliit yata,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly press conference.

Ermita said there are a lot of Filipino medical professionals abroad, especially the US and “it's enough to say that they have acquitted themselves in that profession.”

“I would not wish to think that it is a US government policy, hindi naman siguro. But in a democratic system, everyone can say what he thinks he must say. And take the consequence out of their words or action,” he said.

Ermita asked civil society groups in the Philippines and in the US to call the attention of the people responsible for the slur.

He said the remark runs contrary to the fact that a Filipina nurse named Lily Lara has been chosen as one of the top 10 nurses in the US.

Asked whether Malacañang would demand an apology, he said: “Yes. I think we should. In behalf of our Filipino professionals.”

In Cagayan de Oro, new city hospital chief Dr. Dures Fe Escarro Tagayuna joined other city-based doctors in denouncing the said episode of Desperate Housewives.

Tagayuna, in a TV interview, said Mayer’s remark on Filipino doctors is a “national embarrassment” and should be rectified.

"I know of Filipino doctors abroad who worked in top hospitals and they (have excelled in their jobs) so I don't know where this comes from," said Tagayuna, who also chaired the Misamis Oriental Medical Society.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, on the other hand, filed a protest against the US TV network.

Criticisms against the TV program have also been mounting in an online petition. (Sunnex/With SC of Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro)

Open a Windows Application in AutoCAD

2007-09-27T11:20:00.000+08:00

One way is achieved by the AutoLISP function startapp. Notice that the control of what is started is not in the hand of AutoCAD. So if you have an AutoLISP program the code will just continue executing.

Here is an example how it can be used to open with Notepad the acad.pgp file that AutoCAD uses. If you do edit the acad.pgp file you need to run the ReInit command and select the PGP file check box so the changes will be used by AutoCAD. Or if you want to use AutoLISP: (setvar "re-init" 16)

Command: (startapp "notepad" (findfile "acad.pgp"))
33

33 is the return value. As long as not nil is returned the function is successful.

Notice that if one of the arguments contain spaces you need to use double quotes like this sample: (startapp "notepad.exe" "\"file with spaces in the name.txt\"")

If you want to launch Windows Explorer here is one way to open the folder of the current drawing: (startapp (strcat "explorer /e," (getvar "dwgprefix")))

If you want to open a PDF file in Adobe Reader 8.0 at a specific page this can be used.(startapp "\"C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Reader 8.0\\Reader\\AcroRd32.exe\"" "\"/A page=5 C:\\Program Files\\Adobe\\Reader 8.0\\Reader\\plug_ins\\Annotations\\Stamps\\ENU\\StandardBusiness.pdf\"")

If you want to open a DWF file in Autodesk Design Review here is how:(startapp "\"C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Autodesk Design Review\\DesignReview.exe\"" "\"C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Autodesk Design Review\\Tutorial\\IRD Addition Autodesk Design Review Sample.dwf\"")

And another one if you want to open a DWF in your favorite web browser:
(command "_browser" "http://freewheel.autodesk.com/dwf.aspx?path=http://freewheel.autodesk.com/sample/Hotel5.dwf&sec=1")

To run a VBScript this can be used:
(startapp "wscript" "c:/MyCoolScript.vbs")

There is also the AutoCAD command SHELL.

With SHELL, you can execute operating system (OS) commands while remaining in this program. When SHELL prompts you for an OS command, you can enter most valid commands for your OS. When the command has been executed, SHELL returns you to the Command prompt. You can also call the SHELL command with AutoLISP like this: (command "_shell" "dir *.dwg /p")

Another alternative is if you have DOSLib. In that case you can use the function dos_execute (Runs an external program), dos_exewait (Runs a program and waits for completion) or dos_shellexe (Opens or prints a program or file). You can with these also control how the newly opened window is to be displayed.

I think you pretty much get the idea. If you have any sample you want to share please add a comment below.

Source: jtbworld.blogspot.com

Shocking Changes At BlogRush!

2007-09-27T07:59:00.001+08:00

This is a “letter” I just sent to all BlogRush members. It contains some very important BlogRush developments so I wanted to be sure and post it on the blog also.

Many ISPs have email delivery issues and not all emails go through so I wanted to make sure everyone will read it, if possible..

TO: All BlogRush Members
FROM: John Reese, Founder of BlogRush

ARE YOU READY? Because *everything* is about to change. Forget everything else up until now…

PREPARE FOR *BIG* CHANGES! (TWO MAJOR CHANGES ARE NOW LIVE.)

BlogRush CAN’T EXIST if we’re not sending you a lot of ongoing, targeted traffic. We fully recognize this and that’s why this is our ONLY FOCUS.

The BlogRush team has been hard at work making major improvements for you and we won’t rest until BlogRush is running 100% smoothly and sending you tons of targeted traffic! This is OUR MISSION. Please know that our entire team is working around-the-clock to make improvements and fix any problems AS FAST AS HUMANLY POSSIBLE.

(We sincerely appreciate your patience.)

We’ve encountered some problems since our historic launch just over a week ago, and we fully recognize that we’ve made some real ‘goofs’ with the system for our Public Beta release…

For example, our data center provider (one of the largest in the world) had a short, temporary outage (they had to replace a network switch) two days after our launch. We had no control over this outage but want to SINCERELY APOLOGIZE to those that saw this message on their blogs (where the widget should have been):

“We are currently experiencing some technical issues and the site will be back online shortly. Please come back in a few minutes.”

We were completely *EMBARRASSED* when we realized this happened. That simple message was part of our application code and was meant to appear only on *OUR* WEB SITE PAGES if we ever experienced an outage. This was accidentally ‘marked’ to be a global error message for ANY outage — including if our widget ever had a problem loading. This was a major GOOF and we’re willing to admit it. Our code was planned so that in the case of a problem with our widget, NOTHING WOULD LOAD in its place. So a visitor to your blog doesn’t see an error or anything wrong should the widget ever have any technical issues.

This was quickly corrected and is now working properly. Should the widget ever have any problem loading in the future, your blog will be served a transparent space (which will show whatever background your blog design has) and your blog readers won’t really notice anything.

Again, our sincere apologies for our major goof. It was quite embarrassing.

NOW ONTO SOME SERIOUS ISSUES…

We also realize that we completely underestimated the number of unethical people that would sign up and proceed to CHEAT and try to ‘game’ the BlogRush system. These cheaters ruined the click-rates of many of our members (and burned through a lot of their credits using automated ‘exploit’ methods) and hurt BlogRush’s ability to send maximum traffic to our honest members’ blogs.

BUT ALL OF THAT IS ABOUT TO BE ERASED… LIKE IT NEVER HAPPENED.

In the next several days to come, we’re going to be rolling out MAJOR changes to BlogRush. BIG changes. And these changes (again) have just ONE primary purpose — to drive more ongoing, targeted traffic to your blog.

We’ve listened to your valued feedback and constructive criticism and we have been working in TURBO MODE to make the changes you want ASAP…

—– HERE’S WHAT’S COMING IN THE NEXT 48 HOURS —–

100% MANUAL BLOG REVIEW.

Our team is going to be manually reviewing every single new blog that registers to participate in the BlogRush Network.

We’ll be applying some quality guidelines and criteria to our decision-making process. (We’ll be publishing these guidelines very soon.) If a blog does not meet our guidelines and criteria, THEY WILL BE REJECTED from the network and not allowed to join — i.e. they won’t be able to serve our widget, refer other users, or have their blog posts distributed across our network. They will have no access to any BlogRush services.

Our members, like YOU, made it LOUD AND CLEAR to us… BlogRush needs to only have members that have quality blog content — not blogs filled primarily with ads and other spammy looking JUNK.

The only accurate way we’re going to keep these junk blogs out of our network is to REVIEW EVERY SINGLE ONE BY HAND. And we’re willing to do it to protect the integrity of our network. I don’t care what it costs us to hire more people (if we need them) to review 100% of any blog trying to join our network. We will be reviewing ALL OF THEM from here on out.

* We realize that several non-English language blogs blatantly ignored our “ENGLISH BLOGS ONLY” warning on our Registration page. Rest assured, though, they’ll all be PURGED from the network when we do our QUALITY CONTROL AUDIT over the next several days (you’ll read about it in a moment).

As I’ve said several times before, BlogRush isn’t some passing “fad” or short-term service. We’re dedicated to building an incredibly valuable resources for bloggers FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.

We’ll also be doing a QUALITY CONTROL AUDIT of all of our existing member blogs. We’ll be reviewing every single blog that’s currently in our network (or that registers before the Manual Review Process becomes active.) And we’ll be completely *REMOVING* any blogs in our network that don’t meet our quality guidelines and criteria.

As you can probably tell by now, we’re not messing around. We have put a lot of hard work into the development of this service and we will continue to bust our butts to make it one of the best Internet services in the world. COUNT ON IT.

We’re also deploying several new Anti-Cheat measures to SHUTDOWN AND WIPEOUT the cheaters and unethical users that have abused our network. Sorry, crooks, but THE FREE RIDE IS OVER.

We’ll be dedicating an entire department to stay on top of any abusive behavior in our network. We believe that our new measures are going to instantly eliminate most, if not all, of our system abuse. It’s going to take us a few more days to roll-out all of these measures (and to complete our entire QUALITY CONTROL AUDIT) but rest assured, BlogRush is about to go through a major TRANSFORMATION.

And a quick word to any ‘cheats’ that might be reading this letter… it’s very possible that you may come up with something extremely creative that temporarily gets by us, but you should know something… IT’S NOT GOING TO BE WORTH YOUR TIME. And I’m not just talking about the tiny amount of traffic that you’ll receive before we shut you off.

You see, we have other plans in the works…

If you attempt to cheat or abuse our network in anyway, shape, or form, we will not hesitate to come after you. Our company is well funded and has plenty of resources. And we WILL use them to punish you to the fullest extent of the law (and civil court process). Oh, you think you can just hide behind some anonymous proxy IPs? Sorry, it’s not that easy. ANY reason you’d have to try and cheat the BlogRush network for traffic and any attempt you make to monetize that traffic will lead directly to your front door — whether it’s AdSense, any affiliate program in the world, any online pharmacy, porn site, casino… ANYTHING. We will follow the trail and it WILL eventually lead to you.

Our hard-working company provides the income for MANY families. As the CEO of our company, I take this very seriously. I HAVE TO. People that attempt to abuse or cheat BlogRush are affecting the livelihood of all my employees and their families. And I will do everything in my power to protect them — it’s MY DUTY.

So for all you cheaters that joined BlogRush and had your fun trying to siphon off some traffic, hopefully it was fun. And I’ll go ahead and make this statement right now… IF you were one of the people that has been cheating our network I’m going to give you ONE opportunity… quit now and we’ll pretend it never happened. I think that’s more than fair.

BUT… if you continue after this point, all bets are off. We WILL eventually discover what you’re doing, where you’re trying to send traffic, and we will prosecute you. I GUARANTEE IT. Sorry, but WE HAVE NO CHOICE NOW.

* If you’re one of our valued, HONEST users, I’m very sorry you even have to read stuff like that. I know it’s a waste of your time. Unfortunately, there are unethical people in this world that attempt to abuse and take advantage of others.

MOVING ON…

—- ALSO COMING SOON! —-

**** A LOT MORE CATEGORIES! ****

You asked for it, and you’re getting it!

We’re going to be greatly expanding our directory of categories to increase the relevancy of post links appearing in the widget on your blog — this will also increase click-rates (and traffic) for all members.

* Stay tuned over the next several days for more news about the addition of new categories.

AND…

**** IMPROVED REPORTING! ****

The current Dashboard stats are being under-reported for all users right now. This is the reason that users show discrepancies when looking at Google Analytics data (or other stats packages). We’re currently sending more traffic to our users than we’re reporting in the Dashboard because we are giving all users bonus credits everyday. We’ll soon be reporting all bonus credit activity so all the numbers will be accurate.

SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL LOW-TRAFFIC MEMBERS: In the near future we’ll be giving our low-traffic members (those that need more traffic the most) the BULK of our bonus credit allocations. You’ll get a ton more bonus credits than high-traffic members because you really need it. It’s only FAIR!

* Also we apologize to anyone that has seen a “negative” credit balance for their account. This is a minor bug that we’re taking care of. It doesn’t mean anything and you can just ignore it for now. We apologize for any confusion.

**** IMPROVED NETWORK DISTRIBUTION ****

A few of our users have noticed that they’re building up credits faster than the system is using them. This will eventually balance itself out as the network continues to “adjust” to the growth levels and traffic patterns of each category — because our network provides syndication distribution based on daily average “cycles” and then adjusts moving into the future; so it’s able to accurately predict how fast to use a certain user’s credits, etc. — as compared to just using them all “as fast as possible.”

—- AND HERE ARE *TWO* BRAND-NEW ADDITIONS THAT JUST WENT LIVE!!!! —-

**** BLOGRUSH “FLAVORS” ARE NOW ACTIVE!

You can go login to your account, click the “Settings” tab and then select “Flavors.”

You can choose from (13) different widget colors. You no longer have to only use our original “black” widget design that many users thought was ugly! (Hey, just don’t let our lead designer hear that… he thought his black design was “really cool.”)

Now you can select a color that more closely matches the look of your blog. Our users have been asking for this since we launched our Public Beta, and we’ve taken action to offer these new options.

* We have future plans for further widget customization but we’re working on one “stage” of improvement at a time! Please bare with us. We’re fully aware of the request for a more narrow widget as our current one doesn’t fit on some blogs. We’re trying to produce a solution and should have some news soon.

HERE’S THE BEST PART…

You don’t have to copy and paste new code to your blog. Just go to that “Flavors” section for your account, select the flavor you want, then hit the “APPLY FLAVOR” button. That’s it! Reload your blog in another browser window and take a look.

And if you want to see what a different flavor might look like, just pick another one, hit the “APPLY FLAVOR” button and reload your blog. PRESTO!

AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST…

***** BLOG POST CONTROLS *****

Under the “Settings” tab you’ll also find a new option called, “My Post Control.” Here’s what this awesome new feature does…

You can create POST FILTERS for your blog posts…

For example, you can add a keyword or phrase and create a new post filter. If you ever create a post on your blog (while you have that filter active — and you can add/delete them at anytime) that contains one of those keywords in the TITLE of your blog post, that post…

WILL *NOT* BE SHOWN ACROSS THE NETWORK. And you won’t use any of your syndication credits!

All bloggers post “off-topic” stuff from time to time, or short posts that don’t have a ton of great content. Well, now you can easily keep any of those types of posts from using your valuable syndication credits and from being shown across the network!

This is GREAT for you because now you can control exactly which posts of yours will be syndicated. This can help you maximize your CLICK-RATES and, ultimately, the traffic you receive from the BlogRush network. AND it can help retain NEW READERS for your blog (your ultimate goal that can grow your blog’s traffic on a day-to-day basis.)

Here’s Why…

By selecting which posts get syndicated (by simply adding filters right BEFORE you publish a post on your blog that you don’t want to be used; or having setup one well in advance) you can make sure that you’re only syndicating your BEST POSTS. The ones with top-quality content. Your posts that a new visitor to your blog will enjoy and be much more likely to make a “YES!” decision to become a regular reader for you!

AND OH YEAH, ONE MORE THING…

This is only the very beginning for BlogRush. We have so much great stuff in store for you! As I said at the beginning of this letter… we will continue to work VERY HARD to make improvements and add-ons with ONE PRIMARY FOCUS…

To drive more ongoing targeted traffic to your blog.

I want to personally THANK YOU on behalf of our entire company for your interest in BlogRush. We’ve received a lot of criticism from many bloggers on the Internet, and we’ll be the first to admit we’re not perfect and a lot of it was WELL-DESERVED.

But please know, we’re busy working around the clock FOR YOU. You have our word on it.

Now go login to your account and try out some of the new “Flavors” for your blog! And also start setting up some Post Control Filters so you can start maximizing your content syndication.

I’ll be in touch when I have more “news” to share. Thanks for reading this long letter. I had a lot to tell you about.

Best Regards,

John Reese, Founder of BlogRush

Burj Dubai Progress

2007-09-27T03:30:00.000+08:00

Here is a progress and a detail pic of Burj Dubai

Autocad 101-03: Single Drawing Compatibilty Mode in Autocad 2008

2007-09-22T02:20:00.000+08:00

Ok it seems the guys at Autodesk have removed this handy tool form the options menu to give you the option to open your files in multiple instances or one instance in Autocad 2008. The reason is they are trying to remove options not usually used by consumers.

To enable it if you want multiple instances, type "sdi" and to enable it type "1", and Single Drawing Compatibilty Mode for AutoCAD 2008 is on again...

Autocad 101-02: Get Rid Of Tick Marks

2007-09-21T22:36:00.000+08:00

You know how sometimes you have litle tick marks on your AUTOCAD work area every time you click the mouse or draw a line or even select an entity?

Really annoying right?

This may may have been activated by accident and you want it to go away of course.

Type "blipmode" on the command line and turn off the blipmode by typing off.

There you go, an easy solution to an AUTOCAD problem.

Blogrush.com: Generate A Large Amount of Traffic to your Blog

2007-09-21T04:41:00.000+08:00

I know this is an off topic post but i was blown away by how much blogrush.com generates traffic!

If your skeptical then watch the blogrush video on their site before you signup

They really do generate traffic to your site

wont say anymore but try blogrush for yourself and be amazed as i am....

Click Here for their site..........

Aga Khan Award for Architecture 2007

2007-09-21T03:08:00.000+08:00

A diverse group of projects from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe have been honored with the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture for 2007. This year, nine projects were recognized for architectural excellence in places where Muslims live.

The School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, exemplifies the Aga Khan Award's emphasis on projects that use local resources and appropriate technology in an innovative way, and that are likely to inspire similar efforts elsewhere. Traditional methods and materials were adapted for the project and combined with new techniques.

The two-story village primary school, run by the Bangladeshi non-governmental organization Dipshikha, was constructed by hand in four months out of materials such as loam, straw, bamboo, and nylon lashing. Two architects from Austria and Germany, Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag, engaged local craftsmen in the project, helping them to refine processes and learn new techniques that they might then be able to apply to other local projects, such as housing.

The Central Market in Koudougou , Burkina Faso, also draws on a traditional local building material � compressed earth � taking advantage of its appropriateness for the climate. Earth blocks were formed into arches, vaults, and domes, creating dramatic spaces to be the backdrop for everyday commercial and social exchanges.

The local community was engaged in the processes of site selection, design, and construction. The building of a one-to-one prototype of a typical retail space provided an opportunity to train local masons and also facilitated discourse about design and construction. This is the third such market constructed under the direction of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, with the Burkina Faso government's Programme de D�veloppement des Villes Moyennes, a program focused on mid-sized cities.

Three restoration projects were among the winners of this year's award. All go beyond the immediate benefit of preserving individual works of historic architecture for the edification of current and future generations. The restorations were also a means to other ends, such as community development.

Two of the project sites are in Yemen: the Amiriya complex in Rada and the city of Shibam. The Amiriya Complex was built in the early 1500s by the last ruler of Yemen's Tahirid dynasty. By the early 1980s, the structure had deteriorated significantly. But conventional restoration techniques would have been costly to employ, so the project director, Iraqi archaeologist Dr. Selma Al-Radi, initiated a restoration project that incorporated traditional construction materials and methods and relied on local craftsmen.

Over the 22-year course of the project, 500 craftsmen and artisans were trained and employed. Lost techniques were revived, including the repair of elaborate carved stucco work and the manufacture of quhad, a smooth, waterproof plaster that is prominent in Yemeni architecture. The project became a catalyst for additional restoration and conservation projects in Yemen, and many of the craftsmen involved have gone on to work on other such projects, including the Al-Abbas Mosque, a winner of the 2004 Aga Khan Award.

In the ancient Yemeni city of Shibam, rehabilitation has been driven by the opportunity to improve the city's economic vitality and to stem depopulation. Shibam's wall encloses a cluster of tightly packed high-rise buildings of mud brick. A joint initiative by the German and Yemeni governments and the local community has provided technical and financial support for the renovation of almost 200 houses � nearly half the housing stock. New community-based organizations are also training local craftsmen, offering literacy classes and skills training for women, and reviving agriculture in the surrounding area using an old canal-and-spate irrigation system.

"Shibam has eluded imminent obsolescence under the amnesiac pressures of globalisation," said the jury, "growing into a platform for the reinvention of the vernacular high-rise in 21st-century conditions." The jury applauded the Shibam Urban Development Project for approaching the city as "a living community rather than a historical artefact frozen in time." And, in fact, a new phase of the project is still ongoing.

Divided City Comes Together

A remarkable example of a successful collaborative rehabilitation project comes from an unlikely place: the divided city of Nicosia, Cyprus. Since 1979, representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities have worked together to preserve the cultural and architectural legacy of the historic Walled City in Nicosia.

The Nicosia Master Plan includes works projects in both parts of the city, and has used the shared space of a historic urban core to foster positive coexistence. The restored buildings have drawn new residents, tourists, economic activity, and private investment. Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots continue to work together on the team for this ongoing project.

The University of Technology Petronas in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Malaysia, demonstrates the use of a performance-based approach that also preserves the natural topography of its hilly, forested site. Within the space defined by a series of knolls, a dramatic star-shaped arcade dominates the site plan, connecting buildings along its curving path and providing a shaded space for circulation and casual social interaction.

The jury commended the project, by Foster + Partners, the London-based firm of Norman Foster, and GDP Architects Sdn Bhd of Kuala Lumpur, for its "meticulous detail, rigour and persistence," and found it to be "instructive, aesthetically satisfying and technologically novel."

The Aga Khan Award also recognized another contemporary project in the tropics: Moulmein Rise Residential Tower in Singapore. Singapore-based WOHA adapted low-energy climate-control strategies from vernacular architecture for use in the 28-story building. Through orientation, perforation, and the relationships of different volumes, the design optimizes air circulation. The strategy incorporates a modern reinterpretation of the traditional monsoon window, a horizontal opening that allows breeze in while keeping rain out.

The design allows occupants to rearrange overhangs, windows, and screens, adding variety to the facade as well as individuality to the dwellings. The jury praised the project for avoiding "market-approved clich�s" and offering "an alternative that takes account of climate, spatial relations, site restrictions, daily living patterns and profit requirements."

Dutch architects Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek designed a cave-like embassy for the Netherlands on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The main building of the Royal Netherlands Embassy, located in a eucalyptus grove, is a long horizontal volume composed uniformly of concrete pigmented with red-ochre to resemble the local soil, echoing Ethiopian structures of rock.

The design incorporates substantial insulation and natural ventilation to reduce reliance on mechanical climate-control systems. The architects also sought to preserve the topography of the site and to minimize disturbance to vegetation and wildlife. The massif architecture was recognized by the jury as being a form common to many people around the world, from the indigenous tribes of Ethiopia to modern Muslims and Christians.

This year's award recognized one project in the field of landscape design: Samir Kassir Square in Beirut, Lebanon. Located in downtown Beirut, the Square centers on two historic ficus trees. A rectangular timber deck encircles the trees, which are reflected in a pool between the trees and the nearby roadway. A long stone bench lines the western side of the pool, and the Square's border is defined by a ground cover of water-conserving dwarf Natal plum.

The restrained design exemplifies the work of its designer, local firm Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture. "The insistence of showing only what is essential � and nothing else," said the jury, "is what makes this particular work excel." Through economy of elements, it creates a contemplative haven in a busy urban center.

Source: http://www.architectureweek.com/

Plan Composition

2007-09-20T02:05:00.000+08:00

Ok as we start to touch on design, it is important to discusson how to begin your design.

We start with the planning to allocate the space needed by the client in such a way that the person would be comfortable in that space.

Good planning is not placing areas aimlessly for the sake of filling the requirement. You must have a reason or a scheme behind every element we place. If you are going for symmetry or monumentality like say government buildings or other structures you want to invoke in a formal character then you may go for a plan that is arranged in a balanced manner and about a central axis.

Complexity will depend upon the use or number of units required. But simple geometric shapes are often times the most recognizable and they emphasize a specific area of a building .

Axial Arrangement of your plans may be utilized where the basic is that you have a Major Axis and a Minor Axis. There are many techniques in producing a plan but I have always based it on a the principle that the spaces must work in harmony where if you take or augment one part of it, the other parts would be affected, for me good planning is such that the user would not feel that the spaces are isolated but rather working in unison.

Reference: Architectural Theories of Design by George S. Salvan

ArchiNews: Burj Dubai

2007-09-19T11:06:00.000+08:00

found this video on youtube about the Burj Dubai, tallest building. with a few months left in construction

its coming along nicely....

When completed in 2009 it will be over half a mile high, with 160 storeys. That's like stacking 2 Empire State Buildings on top of each other.

In this video from the Discovery channel, Matt Rogers takes a look inside the unfinished building including a view from the 137th floor.

Click Here for The Video!!

Different aspects of Design and Architecture

2007-09-19T02:00:00.000+08:00

Important aspects in architecture that is subdivided to fit a certain criteria.

Here are some categories of architecture defined:

Environmental Design the ordering of the physical environment by means of architecture, engineering, construction, landscape architecture, urban design and city planning.

Urban Design the aspect of architecture and city planning that deals with the design of urban structures and spaces.

City Planning the activity or profession of determining the future physical arrangement and condition of a community. Involving an appraisal of the current conditions, a forecast of future requirements, a plan for the fulfillment of these requirements, and proposals for legal, financial, and constructional programs to implement the plan. Also called Town Planning or Urban Planning.

Interior Design the art, business, or profession of planning the design and supervising the execution of architectural interiors. Including their color schemes, furnishings, fittings, finishes, and sometimes architectural features.

Space Planning the aspect of architecture and interior design that deals with the planning, layout, design, and furnishing of spaces within a proposed or existing building.

Landscape Architecture the art, business, or profession of designing, arranging, or modifying the features of a landscape for aesthetic or practical reasons.

AutoCAD 101-01:What is AutoCAD?

2007-09-18T06:25:00.000+08:00

AutoCAD as defined in wikipedia.com is a suite of CAD software products for 2- and 3-dimensional design and drafting, developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc... The original concept of AutoCAD in the 1980s was to promote customization and feature extensibility, and that's what made it especially appealing to customers. Most contemporary CAD products at that time offered little if any customization capability and most were far more expensive. AutoCAD is also one of the first CAD programs to run on a Personal Computer, while most CAD software at the time ran on dedicated workstations or a graphics terminal connected to a Mainframe Computer such as a VAX.

AutoCAD's native file format, DWG, and to a lesser extent, its interchange file format, DXF, have become common standards for interchange of CAD data. AutoCAD in later years has adopted another file format known as DWF. These files allow selected DWG drawings to be compiled to one file. This allows distribution of the drawings to those without AutoCAD or similar packages. It also protects the drawings from manipulation by others as the drawings are rasterized inside the DWF file. DWF files can be viewed with a free program from Autodesk called "DWF Viewer" — this program allows users to both view and print DWF files. Another advantage of DWF files is that a large number of drawings can be compiled to a single DWF and be of a very small to reasonable file size for electronic distribution. In 2006, Autodesk estimated the number of active DWG files to be in excess of one billion. In the past, Autodesk has estimated the total number of DWG files in existence to be more than three billion.

Billions of engineers and architects use AutoCAD to convey designs and proposals efficiently and accurately.

This the introductory segment of a series of posts I will be doing from time to time on AutoCAD software to give you tips and tricks to help you better understand its inner working and to get the most out of your software.

Questions are welcome and will be entertained, of course I will not profess to know everything about AutoCAD but I am sure together we will slowly master it together.

The AutoCAD software has been my ally for years and has become part of my daily work and I hope to help you on your queries regarding this remarkable software.

Architecture, the Art and Science of Designing and Constructing Buildings

2007-09-18T01:11:00.000+08:00

First let’s define architecture if we are to delve into topics relating to it further, we must first understand what it is. Architecture has been defined countless times but the most fundamental and accurate definition would be that Architecture is the art and science of designing and constructing buildings.

Here are other definitions that embody what architecture really is:

Architecture – the product or result of architectural work: buildings, collectively.

Architecture – a style or method of building characteristics of a people, place or time.

Architecture – the profession of designing buildings and other habitable environments.

Architecture – the conscious act of forming things resulting in a unifying or coherent structure.

Go HERE for more definitions on architecture.