As blogging and social media are becoming a commonality between companies today, I decided to pick my top 10 favorite architecture blogs. These blogs give advice, tips, and great insight into what the current issue and trends our in the Architecture industry. There numbering does not relate to any ranking, but listed alphabetically.

1. A Daily Dose of Architecture: John Hill, an architectural student in New York, covers a pretty daily architectural journal from America’s mid-west. His well-written blog attracts many designers and architects.

2. anArchitecture: Vienna, Austria resident Christoph Wassmann blog  is a auditorium for the latest links and opinions that are focused on architectural thinking.

3. Archinect: Bringing together different disciplines from all over the world, Archinect allows the openness to discuss new ideas hitting the industry.

4. BLDGBLOG: Geoff Manaugh, editor of BLDGBLOG provides a interesting and exciting arena for “architectural conjecture,” “urban speculation, and “landscape futures.

5. Inhabitat: Inhabitat follows the new and developing technologies, practices, and materials that allow architects insight to the sustainability movement.

6. Interactive Architecture: Editor Glynn Ruairi covers emerging architectural and artistic practices. He teaches at the Bartlett, UCL and is an associate lecturer at Central Saint Martin College, UAL.

7. Revit3D: For all you Revit users out there! Gregory Arkin, Revit evangelist, shares his knowledge with tips and advice on using the Revit software.

8. Revit-Bim: Squidoo host a collection of Revit/Bim related blogs with information, insights, and tips on what is currently going on with the popular program.

9. Revit: David Light, currently employed as the Revit specialist from HOK London, Light focuses on building smart design principles. With tutorials, tools, and tips Light points the direction on Revit.

10. Super Colossal: Sydney based Marcus Trimble is a design tutor at the University of Sydney. Trimble offers insight into architectural insight also providing archives at his former site.

“Revit Renovatio”

By: Justin Davis

The relationship between Revit and 3-D printing has proven its potential for generating a worthwhile Architectural model.  Autodesk began supporting, with the release of Revit Architecture 2010, a plug-in that outputs the .STL (Stereo Lithography) file format that is commonly used in 3-D printing and rapid prototyping.

Even though the potential for 3-D printing from Revit exists, that isn’t to say that the “art-form” of 3-D printing has lost any of its “artsy-ness”. Although, the industry would like to be able to simply output an .STL file from Revit, hit the print button, and get results – that is often times not the case. However, with the right tools and file preparation process, 3-D printing a Revit architecture file can yield some favorable results.

Architectural form, typically, is easily translated from three dimensional space into a three dimensional model. The difficulty in printing an architectural model lies in the details; “the devil is in the details”. Interpolating and translating architectural details from a BIM modeler such as Revit requires a simplification process that must be approached with the utmost care so as not to destroy any of the Architect’s vision. It is at this point that 3-D printing becomes an art.

The following model was created in Revit entirely from “scratch” in roughly ten hours using a set of not-to-scale plans and hand sketched exterior elevations. Some input was provided by the architect via telephone the following was achieved.

Even though the timeframe wasn’t ideal this model project was started on a Friday morning and the model was delivered the following Monday. The model printed over the weekend. Allowed more time, imagine the possibilities of this technology.

 “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

This quote may pertain more to the garage sale lovers,  however it’s a fitting gesture for the principles of sustainability practices. Professional Reprographics recycling program, Sustainable Reprographic Solutions, SRS, provides clients a method of turning their trash into cash.

SRS, is a on-site site based recycling program. SRS provides client based receptacles, regular pick-ups, sorting, and transportation to the recycling centers for reimbursement. Using the SRS program allows the client the flexibility to decide the usage of the funds to a charity of their choice. Not only do the advantages consist of ease of use and flexibility but also firms are then able to become a part of the environmental movement.

The more trash that is collected and sorted the more money goes to benefit organizations around our community. Taller House San Jose and Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach are just a few groups that have benefited from the SRS program. 

Doing your part to become a member of the environmental movement has never been this easy. I have enjoyed seeing different organizations benefit from this simplistic system. I look forward to see what the future of these organizations will be with the help of Professional Reprographics and our clients.

Welcome! Welcome to the official, auspicious, ever popular, Professional Reprographics blog-a-torium; or so we hope. Dear readers, it is with immense pride and excitement that Professional Reprographics presents you with the latest in trends, technology, and forecasting as related to our industry. As a visual communications company Professional Reprographics strives to be the industry leader in communicative innovative technologies. With this blog Professional Reprographics will attempt to investigate the evolving reprographics industry and what that means for the future. With the aid of advancing technology the future of communications appears to be on the cusp of revolutionizing how the world interacts.