Kemper Smith (info@architosh.com)

22 June 2004

 

Feature Report: AIA National Convention Recap

AIA National Convention Expo Showcases Technology in Architecture

The annual American Institute of Architects Convention and Design Exposition was held just over a week ago in Chicago, Illinois. The expo hall featured 700 companies including several Mac software developers. @Last Software (SketchUp), Auto-Des-Sys Inc. (Form Z), Graphisoft (ArchiCAD), Informatix Software International (Piranesi), and Nemetschek North America (VectorWorks) were all showing off their Mac software on the show floor. Despite the absence of Apple Computer and other computer hardware companies, many of these software developers displayed their products and performed demonstrations on both PC and Mac platforms.

Technology United

For convenience, the CAD software company booths were in close proximity to each other on the expansive show floor. The proximity of each booth also demonstrated the close partnerships between Mac software developers. The show floor atmosphere was one of companionship and not competition. Each developer expressed their continuing dedication to industry standards and interoperability.

Software

@Last Software - SketchUp. @Last Software, the makers of the SketchUp, announced the release of version 4.0, due out next month, and demonstrated its new features on the show floor. Visitors to @LastÕs booth had a chance to play around with the new version as well. For a detailed look at SketchUp see Architosh's new review article here.

Auto-Des-Sys Ð Form Z. Auto-Des-Sys was also demonstrating their latest native Mac OS X release of Form Z 4.1.4. The highlight of the Form Z booth was the prominent display of the only Power Mac G5 on the entire show floor (see photo). The G5 and Apple Cinema Display were on loan from Apple. For a detailed look at formZ 4.1 see Architosh's new inDepth article here.

Graphisoft - ArchiCAD. Graphisoft demonstrated the latest release of their building information modeler (BIM) ArchiCAD 8.1. In addition to touting the advantages of the BIM concept over traditional Computer Aided Drafting and Design (CADD), Graphisoft also demonstrated the new features available in 8.1, such as enhanced document creation and management, streamlined interface, and extended modeling features. Graphisoft's booth also featured a Florida-based architect demonstrating some of the real-world projects he has been working on with ArchiCAD. This firsthand approach reassured several architects still wary of the value of today's virtual building technology.

Informatix Software - Piranesi. Informatix Software had a small but effective booth displaying the newly released Piranesi 3 for Mac OS X. Piranesi, which is often called the Photoshop for architects, has the ability to paint three-dimensional images with receding textures and hand rendered effects. Several people on the show floor found these features intriguing and powerful enough to overshadow Informatix's small booth size.

Nemetschek - VectorWorks, RenderWorks, Architect, Mechanical, Spotlight, and Landmark. Nemetschek makers of the VectorWorks Suite, had a prominent demonstration of their new versions of VectorWorks, RenderWorks, and Architect 11. Some of the new features highlighted at the booth for Architect 11 and RenderWorks 11 were support for multiple viewports as well as Autocad paperspace import, artistic rendering effects, QuickTime VR support, smaller file sizes, faster navigation and redraws, batch printing, and import/export improvements.

Other Software News

Autodesk Inc. also had a large presence at the AIA Convention. They were a Platinum sponsor of the Convention and had one of the largest booths on the show floor. Work on the Mac OS X version of their DWF Viewer application is still underway. However, it appears that porting the PC version to the Mac is more difficult than originally thought. Both the PC and Mac versions of the DWF viewer are slated to view three-dimensional files in the future.

Hardware News

Dell and Hewlett Packard were the only computer hardware companies to display workstations and laptops on the expo floor. Neither company had a large presence at the show. Apple missed a huge opportunity for the hardware spotlight during the show. Just one week before the AIA Convention, Apple displayed eight Dual 2.0 Ghz G5 Power Macs at the Mac Design conference in Chicago. This provided inquisitive graphic designers to experience the speed of the G5 processors with OS X. A similar appearance at the AIA Convention could have turned several architects' heads. However, Auto-Des-Sys was the only booth to have a G5 Power Mac on display. There were several PowerBooks on the show floor, some set up at booths and others carried by visitors. ---- KEMPER SMITH, Intern Editor- Summer 2004

Related Feature Articles

Feature Photo Report: 2004 AIA National Convention Photos

Architosh Analysis: Folks, this is Kemper Smith's first report for Architosh.com. He is Architosh's summer intern for 2004 and is an architecture student at Mississippi State University's School of Architecture. Besides being passionate about the Macintosh in architecture, Kemper has done some wonderful work in A school and you can learn more about him and view his work by visiting his bio for more info. You can write Kemper here: kbs7@msstate.edu

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