PARADISE ISLAND, THEN AND NOW

 

Two concepts from 1995. Believe it or not, they are both based on fairly crude 3d geometry using Autocad. Probably Autocad 11. Certainly a DOS version.

I don't remember the exact process, but one was an attempt to pass through a digital pipeline. We had a "rendering" package, called AutoVision, but perhaps that came later. This appears to be a flat, shaded view. Also I had some kind of an image processing package, not as advanced as photoshop, but it's what I had. The name escapes.

The other method was to just set up the basic perspective and then sketch over that by hand. This results in a much nicer image, certainly more appropriate to the type of project. Two concepts from 1995. Believe it or not, they are both based on fairly crude 3d geometry using Autocad. Probably Autocad 11. Certainly a DOS version.

I don't remember the exact process, but one was an attempt to pass through a digital pipeline. We had a "rendering" package, called AutoVision, but perhaps that came later. This appears to be a flat, shaded view. Also I had some kind of an image processing package, not as advanced as photoshop, but it's what I had. The name escapes.

The other method was to just set up the basic perspective and then sketch over that by hand. This results in a much nicer image, certainly more appropriate to the type of project.

 

 

Last night I had dinner again with Karam Baki. It's always rewarding to have an online contact turn into a valued friendship. It so happens that I am older than his father, and our approaches to BIM are substantially different. However there are huge areas of overlap and most importantly we enjoy each other's company.

The venue was my local Syrian restaurant, Dyar Al Sham in International City: excellent food, great service and superb atmosphere. As we were leaving I spotted an enlarged image of a Roman theatre. One of the waiters confirmed that this was Bosra.

If only I was still young and adventurous, I would love to visit this place. But this morning it struck me that the images of Bosra, and Karam's article about his Dynamo exploits, (helping to solve the geometric challenges of Dubai's futuristic architecture) together symbolise the enormous scope and spread of BIM.

We share a passion despite differences of age, culture and skill-set. This passion allows us to dig deep into the meaning, construction and performance of buildings, ancient and modern. What a privilege to share this age of wonder and despair.

 

 

1997. This was probably the peak of my architectural career in Zimbabwe. Whatever you may think about the design, and I have my own reservations, it was by far the biggest project I handled as lead designer.

I was also responsible for maybe two thirds of the drawing set, and I carried it right through to completion on site. The visuals I produced look pretty flaky by today's standards, but at the time I was super proud.

It was a period where we installed our first office network. Coaxial cable and lots of drilling through walls. Sadly it was also a time when the Zim dollar began its precipitous slide. The company responsible for the external skin of flush glazing held on to a cash advance for too long and went bankrupt.

But I have fond memories of the way we all worked together. There was no backstabbing. We owned up to our mistakes and delivered the project on time and budget for the client. Soon after completion the work started to dry up. Inflation soared. I travelled to Malawi, Botswana and Mozambique in search of work. Things got pretty tough.

But for a brief period it felt like everything was working out, and my computer skills were an integral part of that optimism.

 

In 1998 I was dabbling with Archicad (top left). It was clear to me that the single-model approach was the future, but at the time the software wasn’t quite there yet. You had plans and 3d, “live” in the model, but for Elevations and Sections of construction-drawings quality you had to flatten everything out. Most people reverted to Autocad at this stage.

I ended up going with the Sketchup /Autocad combo for a while. Far from ideal, but it bridged a gap. My office tower was moving into fit-out stage. People were building gated communities as the currency continued to slide. I was effectively a single parent to three teenagers and just hoping this was a temporary blip and the country would sort itself out.

So my digital journey meandered through wordprocessing and desk top publishing as an educator, then I returned to architecture as CAD was taking off. Many a happy weekend getting the screwdrivers out to upgrade my desktop box. All this built on top of early experiences of print layout by hand and a lifelong love of drawing and painting.

And so I stood on the brink of BIM, just as Zimbabwe was going to the dogs. Something had to give.

 

 

Memories of a previous visit to Singapore, at the height of my enthusiasm for conferences. I was staying with my son before and after the event, but opted for a couple of nights at the Marina Bay Sands during the event. Breakfast with my feet over the infinity pool was epic.

I always thought that the best part of any conference was hanging with friends, old and new. Zach Kron is a unique figure in the Revit world. His Buildz blog inspired so many people to push the boundaries of conceptual massing, then he and Matt Jezyk became the dynamic duo of Dynamo.

I crashed the party via Zach’s Parametric Pumpkin competition, which became something of an obsession for me, four years in a row. Seems so long ago.

 

And now I’m back in Singapore for a family Christmas. My granddaughter is a joy to behold and my grandsons cracked me up with signature socks. Life is good 😍

I’ve worked on quite a few luxury resort projects over the years. Makes a change to actually stay in one. Short boat ride from Phuket to this little piece of paradise. With family as wide spread as ours, Xmas tends to be in a different place every year. This promises to be quite a special one.

I would say the room layout has prioritised drama over common sense in a couple of ways. I don’t mind the open hanging rail, but the room safe is far too low down for an old codger like me to use with comfort. And maybe they think anyone visiting their island wouldn’t possibly need a desk, but I’m on “part leave, part remote work”. Let’s hope I can manage out on the balcony.

A lot of talk about EVs but spare a thought for the humble buggy. Has anyone made a driverless version of these and coupled them up to an app yet? Not suitable for every climate and a bit slow compared to a taxi, but maybe they could be the vehicle that takes people from metro station to apartment, or does short haul movement in car-free city centres. (buggy bot?)

Probably just the tropical vibes going to my head.