The Autodesk University Journal – Day 3
Ok, so, my phone died after the last day of Autodesk University, which means I lack some of the resources to craft this post properly, but I don’t want to leave some awesome things unmentioned, so you’ll get this for now and then I’ll do something better as soon as I’m back. What was my […]
Ok, so, my phone died after the last day of Autodesk University, which means I lack some of the resources to craft this post properly, but I don’t want to leave some awesome things unmentioned, so you’ll get this for now and then I’ll do something better as soon as I’m back.
What was my third day at AU about? Here it is.
1. Design Thinking
I hadn’t selected anything for Thursday morning ‘cause I had the spectre of a meetin circling around over my head, but I could enroll last-minute in a design thinking workshop. As you might remember, I’m very fond of the sets of tricks and methods falling under the term’s umbrella and this turned out to be a good session on the future of work, mostly focused around learning. I couldn’t have asked for anything more relevant and it gave me a lot of ideas. It was facilitated by a very Canadian guy who knew how Canadian he was.
2. Landscape Information Modelling
David Fink, Digital Manager at Henning Larsen Architects under the Ramboll umbrella, and his colleague Diana C. Binciu talked about how it’s time for landscape to “step up the digital game” and explained their transition from traditional methods to Landscape Information Modelling and Artificial Intelligence. The Fælledby project in Copenhagen was used as a case study.
Rhino is the primary tool of choice for 3d sketching and rapid production of iteration, and Environment as the modelling tool to bring the right concepts into Revit alongside Dynamo and Grasshopper. Training and standardization happens through whitepapers and sample models.
Specifically, Rhino is used for the competition and concept stage, while Revit is taken up during schematic design. Speckle, custom graphs and other tools are used to facilitate this admittedly painful transition. Revit is kept all the way through the design process.
The class got into detail of coordinates, how to create a topography in Revit, the challenges in using topography (because of the lack of stratigraphy, obviously) and other challenges related to graaphics, data, integration with GIS data. They mostly showcased the usage of the Environment plug-in.
Regarding Artificial Intelligence, the topic was mostly explored in relation to generative AI for the creation of renderings, which is not my favorite application, and I won’t get into that. Their future focus is about usig AI for optimization and efficiency, which I think it’s way more intesting.
3. ISO 19650
Yes, you heard me right. A class on ISO 19650 on Autodesk University, and on a very big stage too. Victor Lima, Director of Digital Practice at Diamond Schmitt Architects, bravely tried to explain to the Americans concepts like the delivery phase of the asset, the OIR and the EIR, the tendering phase. I am grateful for the opportunity to see the faces around me and to spur some discussion around the popularity of the norm in the US (or lack thereof).
4. Ethics and Artificial Intelligence
More accurately, the class was titled “Ethics in Computational Design: Infusing Equity into AI and Generative Design for Building Design Processes”, and it was delivered by Yael Netser and Michal Burshtein (it was one of the classes I mentioned in my preliminary selection).
The class took a bold, highly interactive approach, with polls being thrown to the audience and live results being collected, only to be confronted with results from broader polls. It touched in topics such as trust in order to build up a discourse on the ethical and unethical uses of Artificial Intelligence in architecture and ask the ultimate question:
What may society lose when architects rely on AI?
That’s all for now! Expect a proper wrap up, with more materials, by the beginning of next week. Now I’m off to enjoy California.
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