You probably didn’t know it, but a building boom is under way in more than 50 first- and second-tier cities across North America, Europe, and Japan—even in this global recession. The construction activity isn’t occurring along urban streets, however, or out in the suburbs, or anywhere in between. Instead, it’s all taking place within the hard drives of Google’s massive data centers.
The technology giant, which already has fostered a wave of amateur architects through its wildly popular SketchUp software, now offers a simpler way to create 3D models of the manmade world: Building Maker. “We had this drive to give tools to people to quickly make things for Google Earth [GE], but we wanted more people to participate,” says product manager Mark Limber. “We wanted a lower cost of entry.” With the free, Web-based Building Maker, they’ve got it.
Launched in mid-October in 14 languages and with a built-in list of 50 cities (more have been added since), the tool is simplicity itself. Once the GE plug-in is installed, (1) choose a city; (2) choose a building; (3) use basic geometric blocks to create a 3D model; (4) add texture to each surface via GE and Street View images; (5) provide a title and description; and (6) upload to Google’s 3D Warehouse. Although not every model will make it into GE, as there is a review process to ensure that the virtual world contains the best building representations possible, all models will remain in the 3D Warehouse for everyone to see.
Limber declines to provide a number for how many buildings have been uploaded, but he says the response “has been more than I expected”—which is something, given that he works for one of the world’s most popular companies. And even though there will be upgrades to Building Maker, the goal is to keep this “simple product that’s pretty powerful” just that. Best of all, says Limber, “one of the great things about a Web product is that updates are easy.”
Links
sightunseen.com
Design mavens Jill Singer and Monica Khemsurov—former editors at I.D. magazine—have launched Sight Unseen, which covers the gamut of creative endeavors and reveals “the stories, inspirations, and obsessions of people who love to make things.” You also can follow them on Twitter: @designunseen.
mgerwing.wordpress.com
The “notebook” for M. Gerwing Architects, a Boulder, Colo., firm that focuses on residential, retail, and renovation projects. Keep abreast of design- and planning-related news from Boulder, as well as whatever else the firm finds of interest.
greenpearl.com
Back in July 2008, architect wrote about a real estate networking website called mydealbook.com (bit.ly/4Dvwvy). After The New York Times protested the name (in an effort to protect the trademark of its own DealBook financial blog), the owners retooled and changed the site to GreenPearl—a nod to sustainability and to the fact that, as CEO Ryan Slack told Inman News, green pearls “are extremely rare in nature, and fruitful relationships are [too].”
ajnotebook.com
Brought to you by The Architects’ Journal, Notebook is a user-generated, editor-curated website for learning about inspiring ideas in architecture, design, and art. You send them links, and they choose their favorites to feature on the site.
pecha-kucha.org/presentations
The folks behind Pecha Kucha—the design event that’s taken the creative world by storm (read our article on it at bit.ly/3rGvz0)—are now uploading some of the best presentations from gatherings around the globe.
loudpapermag.com
At long last, loud paper—the zine created in 1997 by architect contributing editor Mimi Zeiger as her SCI-Arc thesis and published in limited editions for several years after—now has a proper home on the Web. Learn what the motto “dedicated to increasing the volume of architectural discourse” was all about.
