ACADIA 2008: Silicon + Skin

ACADIA Grasshopper workshop results online

Neri Oxman — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:17:20 +0000

Date: Tuesday and Wednesday 10/14-10/15

Instructors:David Fano of SHoP Architects / DesignReForm.net and Scott Davidson of McNeel & Associates

ACADIA GC workshop results online

Neri Oxman — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:42:15 +0000

GC workshop results:

Parametric Associative Modeling & Environmental Analysis
Date: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 10/13-10/15

Instructors: Rob Woodbury (Simon Fraser University) and Kaustuv DeBiswas (MIT)

Arno Schlueter

Aron Temkin

Ashley Latona and Raf Godlewski: PolypSurface Module

Dieter Toews

Jason Charalambides

Jason Johnson: Randomized Sun Screen

Jose Galarza

Peter Von Buelow

ACADIA-GC-TheodoreHall

Conference Wireless Access

Andrew Kudless — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:55:36 +0000

If you are interested in using the University of Minnesota’s wireless network, you can sign up here. Access is $5/day. Somewhat illogically, you must sign up on a computer that already has internet access, so you may want to do so from your hotel (free wireless at the Radisson) before arriving at the conference venues.

Conference Program Posted

Andrew Kudless — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:22:07 +0000

Please download the full conference program. Map of the conference is on page 7.

ACADIA Awards Announced

Andrew Kudless — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:46:53 +0000

The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture has announced the recipients of ACADIA awards for excellence. Inaugurated in 1998, the ACADIA Award of Excellence is one of the highest awards that can be achieved in the field of architectural computing. It represents recognition, by colleagues and peers worldwide, of consistent contributions and cumulative impact on the field over the course of a career. At most one award is presented each year in each category, to an individual whose work, in the eyes of the awards review committee, provides evidence of exceptional and innovative achievement.

The ACADIA Award for Emerging Digital Practice has been awarded to Fabian Scheurer. Fabian Scheurer is a computer scientist with Design to Production—an interdisciplinary consultancy for the digital production of complex architectural designs based in Zurich.

The ACADIA Award for Innovative Research has been awarded to Professor Robert Woodbury. Dr. Woodbury was the founding Chair of the Graduate Program in the School of Interactive Arts and Technology at SFU and a founding member of the Master of Digital Media program jointly offered by four Vancouver institutions.

The ACADIA Award for Innovative Academic Program has been awarded to Professor Michael Weinstock. Professor Weinstock is the Academic Head of the Architectural Association, London, and co-director of AA’s Emergent Technologies program.

The ACADIA Society Award has been awarded to Professor Tom Maver. Professor Maver is currently Research Professor in the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Architecture and is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Strathclyde.

All the award winners will be honored at the 2008 ACADIA Conference to be held at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis from October 16-19, 2008. For more information, please contact Professor Mahesh Senagala, President of ACADIA at president@acadia.org or visit www.acadia.org
ACADIA was formed in 1981 for the purpose of facilitating communication and critical thinking regarding the use of computers in architecture, planning and building science.

ACADI@Minneapolis

Andrew Kudless — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 04:26:33 +0000

We are pleased to announce the line up for a special event called ACADI@Minneapolis. The event will take place on Friday, October 17th, 8-10pm at the Rapson Hall courtyard, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. The event is planned as an evening of short, informal presentations by an outstanding group of local and visiting designers. The event is open to the public and we hope it will foster a lively discussion between ACADIA members and the local academic and professional design communities.

We are honored to introduce Jennifer Yoos, Principal of VJAA, and Aron Temkin, Director and Associate Professor at FAU, as the hosts for the ACADI@ event. The speakers will be:

Philip Beesley, Toronto, Univ. of Waterloo and Philip Beesley Architects
Blaine Brownell, Minneapolis, Transstudio and the Univ. of Minnesota
Shane Burger, New York, Grimshaw Architects
Jeff Day, Nebraska, MinDay Architects
Kevin Klinger and William Marquez, Indiana, Digital Fabrication Institute
Brian Lilley, Halifax, Dalhousie Univ.
Ralph Nelson, Minneapolis, Loom Studio
Ronnie Parsons, New York, Commonwealth
Blair Satterfield, Houston, HouMinn Practice
Jason Vollen, New York, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Built Ecologies and binarydesign.org

Two Workshops Sold Out

Andrew Kudless — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 00:05:23 +0000

Two workshops, Grasshopper on Oct. 14-15 and Rhinoscript on Oct. 18, are now sold out! There is still room in:

Rhinoscript and FormZ.Script Added

Andrew Kudless — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:26:43 +0000

We are very happy to announce the addition of two more workshops! Both are intensive 1-day workshops and will take place on Saturday, October 18th and focus on the use of scripting in design.

Rhinoscript taught by Dave Pigram of Supermanoeuvre and Scott Davidson of McNeel
FormZ.script by AutoDesSys

These workshops are great opportunities for conference attendees who are unable to attend any of the pre-conference workshops. In addition, they are ideal for local students at the University of Minnesota.

Since these exciting workshops are being added so late, we need interested parties to sign up now.

Workshop Updates!

Andrew Kudless — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:33:22 +0000

Lots of changes in workshops. Unfortunately, Wolfram Research has just informed us that they will not be able to host a Mathematica workshop. Therefore, the Mathematica workshop is now canceled.

On the bright side, we are very happy to announce that Gehry Technologies has just joined as a major sponsor of ACADIA 08! Gehry Technologies will be hosting a 2-day workshop on Tuesday-Wednesday, October 14-15 in their Digital Project parametric design software.

In addition, we are currently finalizing two other workshop. Check back for more news soon.

In Memorium: Dr. Thomas Seebohm

Andrew Kudless — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:00:42 +0000

1941 – 2008
Associate Professor, School of Architecture
University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

A long-time member and steadfast supporter of ACADIA and its goals, Thomas set and maintained high standards for aesthetic integrity and pursuit of knowledge. Our hearts go out to his family, friends, colleagues and students. He will be greatly missed.

From the Kitchener Record, Saturday August 16

SEEBOHM, Thomas – 1941 – 2008. While happily cycling in the Knowlton, Quebec area, Thomas Seebohm died suddenly on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at the age of 67. He was the beloved son of Ursula and the late Fritz Seebohm. He will be sadly missed by his sisters, Margaret, Almuth and Marie-Claire and his brother, Leif. We always enjoyed our brother’s enthusiasm, energy and keen interest in many subjects. Tom was a devoted teacher, passionate researcher and hard worker as an architect and professor of architecture at the University of Waterloo, where he relished the exchange with stimulating colleagues. He was committed to his community, being involved in urban planning and environmental issues such as the Grand River Wetlands, Victoria Park and the Farmer’s Market. A memorial gathering will be held in Kitchener, Ontario at a later date. Donations to fund a scholarship for architecture students specializing in green building would promote one of his major interests and be much appreciated: Thomas Seebohm Memorial Scholarship, C/O School of Architecture, University of Waterloo, 7 Melville St. South, Cambridge, ON, N1S 2H4, 519-888-4567 ext. 27661 (Visa, etc.).

From the abstract of his 2007 “Paradigm Shifts” keynote at Europia11

What is architectural design? What does it mean to design holistically in harmony with nature? How is designing holistically in harmony with nature different from and also like traditional architectural design? What does wholeness mean? What is the relationship between emotional power and the quantitative in holistic design? How are complex systems related to wholeness? What is the role of digital tools in design currently? How are digital tools different from all other tools? What can their role become to support digital design? Have the early researchers in computer-aided design foreseen what is needed for a holistic approach to design? What is the relationship between research in digital design and practice? What is the role of popular digital applications in the use and development of digital design tools as regards sustainability? What is our human-computer relationship now and what might it become in digital design? How can this relationship improve our ability to design a sustainable, healthy, enjoyable and emotionally uplifting future?

Additional Information:

http://www.architecture.uwaterloo.ca/professorseebohm.php
http://europia11.free.fr/Keynote.htm