NBWW BLOG…

by Rory Scott In contemporary architecture practice, proficiency in an ever-widening array of architecture software is becoming increasingly important. For almost every job in the field, it is no longer enough to bring a skilled mind and a pencil; different jobs may require different levels of expertise and different types of software, but one thing that seems universally accepted is that some level of involvement with software is now a requirement. Read the Full Story with resource lists HERE >>>> Source: Architecture Software Tutorials: Which Are The Best Out There? | ArchDaily

Watson Island super-yacht marina to open by year’s end A new marina on a publicly owned island can hold 50 yachts of up to 550 feet long.

From AIA Architect Magazine: Florida/Caribbean As the design team finalized this project, it was with the realization that the Marriott Marquis needed to become the result of its surroundings rather than an object attempting to claim its own identity. In this case, it was the team’s main concern and the focus of almost all our design energy. – Igor Reyes, principal designer

Brian Bandell: South Florida Business Journal Miami Worldcenter, one of the biggest urban projects in South Florida, is slated to break ground in the third quarter this year after its phase one site plan cleared approval from the city on Monday. …A 1,800-room Marriott Marquis hotel with 600,000 square feet of meeting and event space is also part of Miami Worldcenter in partnership with MDM Development. Read the Full Story HERE >>>> Source: South Florida’s Miami Worldcenter project slated for groundbreaking in Q3 – South Florida Business Journal

By Wanda Lau The report takes a deep dive into the responses from its survey on the state of equity in the architectural profession. Architecture is a not a profession for the weak-hearted, but a recent report sheds some new light on the different obstacles female and male designers face in their careers. AIA San Francisco’s Equity by Design (EQxD) committee, formerly known as The Missing 32% Project, has released a full report of its findings from its 2014 Equity in Architecture Survey following its Equity by Design Hackathon workshop at the annual AIA Convention last week in Atlanta. EQxD had released preliminary results from the 90-question survey at its symposium in San Francisco last fall. Read the Full Story HERE >>>> Source: Architect Magazine Equity by Design: The...

On a day like today, German architect Walter Gropius was born May 18, 1883. BERLIN.- Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture. Gropius died in 1969 in Boston, Massachusetts, aged 86. Today, he is remembered not only by his various buildings but also by the district of Gropiusstadt in Berlin. Fagus Works built some 100 years ago by famous German architect Walter Gropius in Alfeld Leine, Germany. Source: ArtDaily News

Text by Natalia Rachlin As computers have increasingly eclipsed the notion of pencil-in-hand, has the art of the architectural sketch been lost to the ages? Drawing from Practice, Architects and the Meaning of Freehand (Routledge, $55), a new book out this month by author and journalist J. Michael Welton, argues that despite never-ending technological advances, freehand is still very much a part of the architectural profession today. Read the Full Story HERE >>>> Source: The Art of Freehand Architectural Drawing Is Alive and Well in a New Book : Architectural Digest

by Katherine Kallergis Marina designed for 50 yachts up to 550 feet long Island Gardens, the planned mixed-use development on Miami’s Watson Island, will open its marina in time for Art Basel this year. The $1 billion project, designed by Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates, will include two luxury hotels, a residential building, retail and restaurants. Read the Full Story HERE >>>> Source: The Real Deal: Island Gardens | Watson Island | Flagstone Property Group

By Nicholas Nehamas Looking for a place to park your mega-yacht? Fear not: A new marina on Watson Island designed to hold 50 yachts up to 550 feet long will open in time for the first week of Art Basel in early December, developer Flagstone Property Group said Tuesday. The deep-water marina is part of a planned, mixed-use development called Island Gardens that has drawn criticism from locals concerned about traffic. The approximately $1 billion project will include two luxury hotels, a residential building, upscale restaurants and a luxury shopping center, developers say, although they are still working to acquire financing for the residential and retail components. Those portions of the project are scheduled to open in 2017 and 2018. The architectural firm Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe...

Microsoft has envisioned a world of holograms which is set to have a profound effect on the building and design industry. by Angela Fedele The company’s new wearable technology, entitled HoloLens, is a headset device affixed with ski-mask type lenses to create holograms. It allows the user to interact with an augmented reality version of their surrounding environment by navigating with their gaze. It also uses voice recognition and hand gestures to help create the new reality. The device’s ability to scale items in real time, add details to existing products and visualise what a building might look like could make it invaluable to the architecture and design industry. The technology is also founded on the basis of improving accuracy and providing easier collaboration...

Autodesk will make 3D models created in programs such as Autodesk Maya and Fusion 360 compatible with Mirosoft’s new HoloLens augmented reality technology (shown above), allowing designers to make and view models earlier in a project. The company also says its Spark 3D-printing platform will be made compatible with Windows 10, streamlining the printing of parts and models. [Autodesk] Read the Full Story HERE >>>> Source: This Week in Tech: Autodesk Takes on Virtual Reality | Architect Magazine

The American Institute of Architects’ 2015 National Convention will be held in Atlanta May 14 – 16 at the Georgia World Congress Center featuring tours and events taking place in and around the city. The convention will bring 15,000 architects, exhibitors, and allied professionals to the city will highlight local architectural gems, innovation and accomplishments in both architecture and urban re-development. “It is a unique and special opportunity for Atlanta to host the 2015 National Convention of the American Institute of Architects,” said convention chair Mark Levine, AIA. “The theme is IMPACT, and promotes the impact that both architects and the profession of architecture have on our lives. Through significant urban redevelopment efforts such as the Atlanta BeltLine, and Ponce...