September 2008 Update: Portland

Our September's update is available. The photo update includes our final installment of Portland, Oregon. Sites include The South Waterfront District (Atwater Place, The John Ross, The Meriwether), Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 21st Avenue and Tibbetts Green Street, The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area and many more. We now have over 19,000 images. You can see more sample Portland photos on our Flickr gallery.

Graphic Precast Concrete

Reading about Graphic Concrete Ltd’s (GC) new concrete surface treatment was captivating. I imagine there are numerous applications in the built environment. The technology at first reminds me of Scott System’s (SS) form liner products except it seems to be a much subtler and detailed. Currently, GC’s system can only be used on precast concrete products as opposed to SS’s ability to be used for cast-in-place concrete work. Precast concrete process provides GC a higher degree of control in the plant. According to their website the technology involves the use of a surface retarder on a membrane surface that was developed by interior architect Samuli Naamanka. The process can create single pieces that are 3000mm high by 1250mm wide. This makes it possible to create large single pieces without seams. You can make pieces larger than this by continuing the pattern. They have a series of standard patterns. I particularly like the 4090_piksel and 4011_5_Atomi patterns. You can also submit your own pattern and even create various unique fairface finishes. Though the most exciting application is the ability to submit custom digital images in black and white using their GCArt&Design product.

According to the company, the cost for applications over 5,000sf usually run around $2.50 a square foot. This is for the GC Collections product or other repetitive custom designs using their GC Pro product. For the GC Art & Design product that allows you to create non-repetitive designs from photographs or other digital graphics, the cost is determined on a case by case basis.

Graphic Concrete Ltd’s is based in Helsinki, Finland. The first graphic concrete installation was in 2002. The company is currently launching the product in the United States. International Concrete Products in Germantown, Wisconsin is the only company familiar with their process in the United States so far. Hopefully, they will be able to add more companies to the list.

Economic Outlook for Non-Residential Construction

AIA released their Architectural Billing Index (ABI) from February last week. It did not paint an optimistic view of the months to come. The release came as I was writing about AIA’s Construction Forecast for 2008 and ASLA’s Market Survey. AIA’s CF projects a relatively flat year in non-residential construction while ASLA’s MS is more optimistic. At the time they were done, they obviously did not have the benefit of knowing the future. Each provides a differing outlook, with AIA’s being more on target. The release of the AIA’s ABI was a surprise to many as it was significantly lower than most expected. AIA’s press release indicates studies that say it is a good predictor of construction activity over a 9 to 12 month period. It is down nearly 25% from December’s numbers.

I always hate to be pessimistic, but the fundamentals of the economy have been out of whack for some time and are beginning to correct themselves. With the continued credit crunch and the problems in the financing sector, money is not as easy to come by. In addition, inflation, higher energy cost, devalued dollar, and the loss of value in people’s largest asset, their home, one is to expect to see a downturn in consumer spending. With that will come a continued cutback in retail, office, and industrial expansion. The refunds coming this year from Washington won’t offer much relief from these issues. This cycle will take time and I wouldn’t be surprised if this last beyond 2010.

AIA’s Construction Forecast predicts the state of non-residential construction will only get worse in 2009 and predicts a drop of growth (-0.9%). AIA’s Construction Forecast is comprised of various organizations that make their own forecast and on AIA’s website, you can isolate each member’s projection. The most optimistic is Reed Construction Data who sees an increase of 8% in 2008 and 4.9% in 2009. McGraw-Hill Construction is most pessimistic projecting -4.6% in 2008 and -2% in 2009, though Global Insight suggests a worse 2009 at -5.4%. These are the averages combining each industry followed. The bright spots include institutional, education, and health care. As would be expected retail is projected to fair the worst.

Despite the bad news, it is important to keep in mind the population will continue to grow and while the demand for future facilities may not be at its incredible pace of the last few years, there will still be demand. Investment will still continue. There just may be less of it.

Trying to make sense of ASLA’s optimism when it comes to landscape architecture, maybe the discrepancy in the outlooks has more to do with the fact that there are fewer landscape architects than architects and the increased move in the marketplace toward sustainable building practices may favor landscape architects. This trend has resulted in greater collaboration between architects and landscape architects. Architectural Record recently wrote a piece on discussing this trend with an example illustrating the collaboration between SWA and Renzo Piano on the California Academy of Sciences.

"As the environmental details of sites become more integrated into architectural design, be it to store water or to absorb the impact of a large building, landscape design is becoming a major part of the architecture. And as green roofs are growing up in our own backyards, the relationship between architect and landscape architect is sure to blossom."

While I whole heartily believe in the benefits landscape architects bring to a design team, I caution this optimism as architects seek to protect their practices from the economic downturn. You could see more architects keeping their services in-house as opposed to bringing a landscape architect onto the team. I hope this does not happen because our built environment would suffer, but it is not out of the realm of possibilities.

Architecture Firm Licenses Epic’s Unreal Engine

After exploring the crossover of design professionals entering the gaming world, it was inevitable that gaming technology would enter the design profession. I naively assumed it already had. So the news that HKS, one of largest architectural firms in the US, announced they have licensed the Unreal Gaming Engine, the 3D engine used in games like Unreal Tournament from Epic games. It didn’t seem like big news until I read the press release and learned that they were the first. By the way, whatever happened to the promise of Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML)? I imagine using the Unreal Engine is great fun. From my experience with 3D, the walkthrough tools found in most 3D software do not react the same as if you were in a first person shooter - no collision detection as you passed through walls, nor did it recognize walking up a set of stairs or a ramp - so the experience is limited. I haven’t had a chance to use the latest 3D software, so maybe this has changed a bit. If HKS is going through the trouble of licensing this technology, I doubt it has. In a recent Business Week article, HKS explains the benefits of the new technology. Here is an excerpt from the article:

“Adopting the new technology is also helping HKS address long-standing challenges. The firm had found that clients often have trouble translating two-dimensional images—let alone architectural plans—into accurate ideas of what a building or interior space might look like in reality. "The worst is when a client sees a finished building and says: 'That's not what I expected,'" says Pat Carmichael, the company's advanced technology manager and visualization guru.

Traditionally, projects were presented to clients in the form of a series of still images (which took hours to render) or as more sophisticated animations (which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce).”

HKS’ press release states that the cost of this technology to their clients runs between $65K-150K, so it is not cheap. I am sure there will be third-party developers that will offer this to smaller firms as with most technologies it will only get cheaper. I look forward to the day when it is common place. I realize Unreal’s engine is far more advanced than Second Life, but I wonder if technologies like Second Life will accelerate this adoption and provide a place for people to explore the latest condo or public project? The future is always interesting.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Landscape Architecture

Every time I turn around, another architect is adopting Building Information Modeling (BIM) Technology. The adoption rate has been extraordinarily fast and it is only a matter of time until all design professionals will need to work within its framework. Just in case you have never heard of BIM, it is a fundamental shift away from CAD, which has basically been a more efficient drafting tool with limited database capabilities. BIM on the other hand is a complex three dimensional model of a project that includes extensive database capabilities. Since you are designing in three dimensions, at its most basic level you can more easily detect conflicts in the building. This could include a conflict between a structural beam and a mechanical duct of some sort. This reduces necessary changes during the construction process. In addition, you can pull traditional two dimensional drawings from the model. When the model is updated, the drawings are updated. Some other cool features include keeping track of schedules and cost estimating through comprehensive cost databases. This technology can allow you to quickly evaluate changes to the design, but the entire system is based on the accuracy of the model.

The model is central to the entire process. Because the system relies on the accuracy of the model, those imputing the information need more knowledge than what was typically needed for traditional CAD. In many cases, the operator in a BIM environment needs to understand the building process because they are literally building every aspect of the building. This is good for those who have the experience, but difficult for new graduates and the offices that need to train them to be productive. But even if the information has been input accurately, the tradition of shop drawings during the construction process raises other issues. Some see the model becoming the shop drawing as fabricators add to the model and get approval from the designer. This inevitably raises liability issues as the central documentation is being changed throughout the construction process.

BIM has also changed how design professionals work. Because the model is started early on in the design process, much of the work is done in the schematic and design development stages of the projects verses later in the construction document process. The construction document process becomes more of a formality and if someday the model becomes the document, the construction document process may disappear all together. This affects the traditional billing system where the emphasis is on the CD stage. Now design professionals need to consider reworking their compensation to be more front loaded because it is where they are spending more of their time. Of course this begs the question, how flexible is BIM and does it hinder the free flow of the design process? Hopefully I can address this in a future post.

I must admit I have not had the opportunity to use BIM, so I am only speaking from discussions that I have had with those who have used it. They have all been architects, and as a landscape architect I have not seen our industry begin to integrate BIM into their practice. In my opinion, it is because it is well suited for buildings that are predictably orthogonal. The added complexity of slope seems to make it much harder to develop it easily. On the other hand, maybe landscape architects just can not see the benefits or don’t have to use it. Most architects who use BIM simply export traditional 2D base plans for the landscape architect to do their work.

Despite these issues, BIM continues to grow and landscape architects may have to adopt it or be left behind.

Urban Design and Architecture of the Virtual World

Are you ready to take your design practice to the virtual world? The other day a colleague told me their friend was considering applying for a landscape architecture position within metaverse prime, a company that designs environments for Second Life (SL). For those that may not know, SL is an on-line persistent virtual world where people participate virtually in a “Second Life”. Within it people can earn local currency and exchange it with real world currencies. To get some idea of the landscape, check out SLs Google-like Map.

I was not surprised to hear about the need for landscape architects to design virtual sites, but amazed that it had finally happened. In 2000, I gave a lecture about the future of landscape architecture to a local garden club and ended it with the thought of landscape architects becoming involved in developing video games. At the time, I had been tinkering with developing models of environments for the on-line, first person shooter Quake III. It was fascinating to have total control of the environment and then interact with it. Obviously, it was not the same as the real world. Smell, touch, and the feeling of space were noticeably absent, but the design did affect the player’s behaviors and were enjoyable to view. I couldn’t help but approach it from a landscape architect’s perspective - an unlimited budget and not having to necessarily worry about physics was liberating.

I have not entered Second Life and at the moment have no plans to do it, though I must admit I have considered it. If I do I will let you know how it goes. After a few quick searches, it is interesting that there are some design professionals offering designs for both the real and virtual world. Two examples I have run across include architect David Denton’s practice and Crescendo Design. Two of the best articles I have read on the subject include a tour by Archinect and one by the Guardian. The Archinect article covers the Landing Lights Project, which uses the SL interface to facilitate the public process for designing a real world park in New York and is a very interesting use of the technology. Some companies are using the virtual world for training and it makes you wonder if some day we will be attending an ASLA or AIA convention in a virtual world.

Overall, SL’s current graphics seem a bit crude by current gaming standards, but as computing power increases I can see this becoming less of a problems and the platform becoming more and more popular. Despite the graphics, from the screen shots I have seen of Second Life, I would say it could use a lot of creative energy from architects and landscape architects. Computing power alone does not improve creativity. So if you are looking to expand your practice, you may want to stake your claim in Second Life and begin to conquer the virtual world.