New York’s Freedom Tower implements RFID technology

I love both architecture and technology, so days were I can post about both at the same time, well it makes my day. The use of wireless tags to monitor the setting of the concrete, that’s just sweet. While it’s limited to 6-years due to battery life, it should be sufficient to monitor a majority of the setting… but 20 feet thick concrete structure that takes 14,000psi… wow!

The concrete base of the 541 metre Freedom Tower, being built on the site of New York’s former World Trade Centre, will be embedded with RFID tags to make sure it’s setting properly and can sustain the pressure of 14,000 psi the tower will exert.

Monitoring the temperature of setting concrete is nothing new, but doing so wirelessly is a developing technique that was first trialled in 2003. The technology being used for the Freedom Tower comes from Wake Inc, which leads the relatively new field.

The wireless solution is more expensive, but the complexity of laying cables and keeping track of them largely offsets that expense.

The tags themselves are battery powered, which gives a much greater range (up to 300 feet according to the manufacturers) than the more familiar induction-powered tags, but limits the life to about six years. Where tags are powered by induction, the tag reader needs to be within a few inches, something hard to achieve when the parts of the structure are 20 feet thick.

The Freedom Tower is due to open in 2011, so the tags should still be functioning come opening day, which might give comfort to the first people to ascend.

[ The Register ]

digital home meets green living: the panasonic house

This truly is ideal, the best of digital home meets the best of green living…

Panasonic (Eco&Ud) House Website
http://panasonic.co.jp/euhouse/en/index.html

Video after the jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IXLXuhXUVI

Eco home of the future built by Panasonic

The Eco & UD House at Panasonic’s technology showcase in Tokyo is a prototype of a home the company said could start being built by 2010. Using the appliances displayed there, a typical family of four could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions, and knock heating bills down some 60 percent, according to the company.

The Genkiyoku bathtub, for instance, is an upscale spa-tub that emits thousands of microbubbles (with a 30 percent oxygen content) for relaxation. The tub, however, also contains layers of a highly efficient type of insulation that can keep the bathtub warm for six hours.

A heating system converts natural gas to hydrogen. Electrons stripped from the hydrogen go to heat the home. Meanwhile, the heat generated by the chemical reactions needed to produce the electrons heat the water used in the home.

Around the corner in the kitchen and laundry rooms, motorized dish racks rise out of countertops while clothes racks descend from the ceiling. Both devices actually consume more electricity than plain, unmotorized dish racks found at Ikea. Economizing space, however, arguably gives the home the sensation of more space and marginally cuts down on its overall footprint, which can have an environmental benefit.

And let’s not forget the EMIT Suimin sleep system, which dims lights, lowers the upward tilt on the bed and plays soothing images on a plasma TV to induce slumber. Or the soundproofed home theater next to the kid’s bedroom.

http://www.cnettv.com/9710-1_53-27683.html (Video)

http://news.com.com/Eco+house+of+the+future…/_3-6129160.html (Article)

dubai tower surpasses 1680ft, becomes world’s tallest building

it was announced today that the dubai tower (the burj dubai) has now surpassed 1680ft. on it’s way to above 2,275ft, it is truly a sign of just how profitable the oil industry has made dubai. and of course what better way to show the rest of the world you’re an economic power house than to build the world’s largest tower…

the tower is now scheduled to be completed June 30, 2009

CNN -http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/07/22/dubai.building.ap/index.html

here’s how far they’ve gotten:

microsoft photosynth, a new 3d interface for photos

Ever wish you could re-live some moments from a vacation or from a special occasion? Or how about see a 3-dimensional representation of a place you’ve never been before? Well now you can! Take numerous photos of the surroundings then bring them home and organize them (or rather let this software organize them for you) with photosynth. Or if you wish enter keywords into flickr and pull from a community of photographs to visualize places and things. Microsoft’s Photosynth brings a whole new social dynamic to photographs.

Microsoft’s new technology (powered by in part by Seadragon & DirectX implementing the new Windows Media Photo format) actually recognizes similarities in different photos and then ’stitchs’ an actual 3-dimensional representation of the place. Not only that but photosynth also allows you to browse actual high-resolution images in a fast, easy, intuitive manner without having to wait ages for high-definition images to load.

Check out the tech preview:
Microsoft Photosynth

Photosynth, a new technology from Microsoft Live Labs that takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and displays them in a reconstructed three-dimensional space.We’ve assembled a few collections for you to play with, and we’re working on adding more. In the future you’ll be able to “photosynthesize” your own photos, but we aren’t there yet.

the best free fonts the web has to offer

free fonts:
http://www.fonts500.com
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/category/fonts/
http://www.betterfonts.com/
http://www.dafont.com/
http://www.urbanfonts.com/
http://neatfonts.com/
http://creamundo.com/ (9800 fonts)
http://www.1001freefonts.com/
http://www.abstractfonts.com/
http://simplythebest.net/fonts/
http://openfontlibrary.org/
http://www.typenow.net/themed.htm (themed)
http://www.searchfreefonts.com/

free font managers:
http://www.adobe.com/products/atmlight/download.html (Adobe Type Manager Light)
http://www.linotype.com/fontexplorerX
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~scef/tft.html (The Font Thing)
http://opcion.sourceforge.net/ (Opcion)

identify a font:
http://www.identifont.com/
http://www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/

type tester:
http://typetester.maratz.com/

brand names:
http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/

create your own font:
http://www.fontifier.com/
http://pentacom.jp/soft/ex/font/edit.html (FontEditor BitfontMaker)

got one to add? let me know in the comments!

adobe releases new creative suite 3 (CS3)

Largest Software Release in Adobe’s 25-year History Revolutionizes Creative Workflows

SAN JOSE, Calif. — March 27, 2007 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the Adobe® Creative Suite® 3 product line, a revolutionary offering of tightly integrated, industry-leading design and development tools for virtually every creative workflow. Adobe’s new Creative Suite 3 line-up unites the best of Adobe and Macromedia® product innovation to provide designers and developers with a broad spectrum of creative options for all facets of print, web, mobile, interactive, film, and video production. There are six all-new configurations of Adobe Creative Suite 3. These include, Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium and Design Standard editions; Adobe Creative Suite 3 Web Premium and Web Standard editions; and Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium (see separate releases). Rounding out the product line is Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection which combines 12 of Adobe’s new design and development applications in a single box—the most comprehensive creative environment ever delivered.

The majority of Adobe Creative Suite 3 editions will be available as Universal applications for both PowerPC and Intel-based Macs and support Microsoft® Windows® XP and Windows Vista™. Customers will experience increased levels of performance and speed running Creative Suite 3 natively on Intel-based Macintosh systems and the latest Windows hardware.

“Creative Suite 3 is the biggest launch in Adobe’s 25 year history and a milestone for the creative industry,” said Bruce Chizen, chief executive officer at Adobe. “This release reflects the powerful integration between Adobe and Macromedia and how our products bridge the gap between designers and developers. With new workflows that streamline collaboration and impact the development of rich content, designers and developers now have the creative license to engage audiences across virtually every medium.”

Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) Home Page:
http://www.adobe.com/products/creativesuite/

Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) Press Release:
http://www.adobe.com/…/032707CreativeSuite.html

what does it mean to design “green”?

I’m not even a fan of the term “green” but I use it here to explain what exactly it means in the design community. Right now the term “green” is a buzz word associated with everything and anything that’s supposedly better for our environment. Whether it’s a 2o Watt lamp instead of a 60 Watt lamp, or whether it is a material that comes from a local source instead of an international one… it’s considered “green”. Does it mean that you’re a tree hugger because you design green? Absolutely not, but it does mean that you care about the world you live in… and that is what’s important here.

Here’s a short description of sustainable design and how it helps create environments that help replenish themselves and become “producers” rather than “consumers.” This isn’t just good practice, it’s smart design.

“The Concept of Sustainability

The concept of sustainable design has come to the forefront in the last 20 years. It is a concept that recognizes that human civilization is an integral part of the natural world and that nature must be preserved and perpetuated if the human community itself is to survive. Sustainable design articulates this idea through developments that exemplify the principles of conservation and encourage the application of those principles in our daily lives.

A corollary concept, and one that supports sustainable design, is that of bioregionalism – the idea that all life is established and maintained on a functional community basis and that all of these distinctive communities (bioregions) have mutually supporting life systems that are generally self-sustaining. The concept of sustainable design holds that future technologies must function primarily within bioregional patterns and scales. They must maintain biological diversity and environmental integrity, contribute to the health of air, water, and soils, incorporate design and construction that reflect bioregional conditions, and reduce the impacts of human use.

Sustainable design, sustainable development, design with nature, environmentally sensitive design, holistic resource management – regardless of what it’s called, “sustainability,” the capability of natural and cultural systems being continued over time, is key.

[Source: http://www.nps.gov/dsc/dsgncnstr/gpsd/ch1.html ]

“The Hannover Principles
1. Insist on rights of humanity and nature to co-exist
2. Recognize interdependence.
3. Respect relationships between spirit and matter.
4. Accept responsibility for the consequences of design.
5. Create safe objects of long-term value.
6. Eliminate the concept of waste.
7. Rely on natural energy flows.
8. Understand the limitations of design.
9. Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge.”

[Source: http://www.mcdonough.com/principles.pdf ]

So next time you’re designing something, think about what you’re doing and how you can benefit the environment. Be thinking about things like how your design can work with nature. Learn to take responsibility for your design and to design with long-term benefits in mind. Remove the word “waste” from your dictionary. Improve upon what’s already been done and take it to the next level.

Don’t worry, designing green doesn’t mean you’re a tree hugger, but it does leave a statement about yourself that you care about the world you live in. We have the resources to design and build smarter, the question comes down to why don’t we? We are already seeing the financial benefits from designing more sustainable buildings, why should the ‘first cost’ be the driving factor anymore?

I’ll leave you with this, as for investors and developers, sometimes numbers speak louder than words.

“Reaping More Green From Green
Significant sales premiums are also possible. In
Chicago, the John Buck Company spent $270 million
constructing 111 South Wacker Drive, a LEED-gold-certified
51-story tower in the Loop district. Completed in
late 2005 when the Loop market was struggling with an
18% vacancy rate for Class A office space, the building
leased quickly to prestigious tenants. In January 2006, it
was sold to a German investment fund for $386 million,
a $116 million profit.“

For more information check out U.S. Green Building Council:
» http://www.usgbc.org

Read more on the financial benefits of designing green:
» http://charleslockwood.com/pdf/barrons_article.pdf

Learn more about sustainable design:
» http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_design

amazing new billboard concept

Here’s one for ya! Finally a creative use of materials for billboards. Ian Hart has proposed this innovative billboard design idea using GE Lexan EXL semi-transparant resin. The resin used blurs the scene behind it and best of all it’s weatherproof. Perfect for an exterior application such as this — an advertisement for something fast! Currently the ads are concepts but a great use of materials. All-in-all it’s a great advertisement, a use of a static material to produce a dyanmic image and provides a memorable image associated with all things fast. This is one ad I’d love to see while driving.

Picture of proposed billboards:

[Source: http://ianhartcw.com/]

eMi: designing a world of hope

i came across a poster for eMi back in the day when i was in design school. my first thought was… this is what i want to do with my design skills. what a greater opportunity we have than to use our design abilities to serve others in this world, and to more importantly show them the love of Christ while doing so.

eMi is for architects, engineers, surveyors, construction managers, draftsmen… pretty much any design professional. opportunities range from 2 weeks, to 3 months, to 2 years, in developing countries around the globe. and if you are unable to travel overseas, you can even help out working from home. recently graduating from design school? they also offer internships available from 3-18 mo.’s  aren’t able to serve?  you can also donate to a project!

“Engineering Ministries International (eMi) is a
non-profit Christian development organization made up of architects, engineers and design professionals who donate their skills to help children and families around the world step out of poverty and into a world of hope.”

http://www.emiusa.org/

microsoft expression – designer tools

these tools have been in testing for quite a bit, but just recently available to the general public. microsoft expression studio (web / blend / design / media) are a suite of applications directly competing against adobe’s creative suite. gone are the days of Paint and Publisher, now are the days of microsoft’s designer tools, aka expression studio.

this software suite goes above and beyond the adobe suite in regards to the capabilities of a single application. for example, with expression blend, one can edit code and graphics simultaneously to make a very clean and simple interface together. expression media can handle digital pictures, images, AND video, allowing for seamless editing, publishing and presentation capabilities. expression web has the ability to create standards-based web sites, css editing, rich data presentation, build web applications, and integration into server technology.

simply put, it’s a very impressive and competent design suite for the masses.

Microsoft Expression Studio

Better Designer Tools for Better End-User Experiences

Microsoft Expression takes your creative possibilities to a new level. The professional design tools and innovative technologies in Expression give you the flexibility and freedom to bring your vision to reality—whether you are designing standards-based Web sites, rich user experiences on the desktop, or managing digital assets and content. Expression Studio includes the following products:

Expression Web is a professional design tool to create modern, standards-based sites which deliver superior quality on the Web.

Expression Blend is the professional design tool to create engaging, Web-connected, user experiences for Windows.

Expression Design is a professional illustration and graphic design tool that lets you build compelling elements for both Web and desktop application user interfaces.

Expression Media is a professional asset management tool to visually catalog and organize all your digital assets for effortless retrieval and presentation.

Microsoft Expression – Designer Tools – Homepage

Microsoft Expression – Designer Tools – Examples (Customer Spotlight)