Saturday, February 29, 2020

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture Blob architecture is a type of wavy, curvy building design without traditional edges or traditional symmetric form. It is made possible by computer-aided-design (CAD) software. American-born architect and philosopher Greg Lynn (b. 1964) is credited with coining the phrase, although Lynn himself claims the name comes from a software feature that creates Binary Large Objects. The name has stuck, often disparagingly, in various forms, including blobism, blobismus, and blobitecture. Examples of Blob Architecture These buildings have been called early examples of blobitecture: Selfridges Department Store (pictured on this page) in Birmingham, United KingdomGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (designed by Frank Gehry)Xanadu Houses in Kissimmee, FloridaThe Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, UK (designed by Norman Foster)Admirant Entrance Building in Eindhoven, Netherlands (designed by Massimiliano Fuksas)Galaxy SOHO in Beijing, China (designed by Zaha Hadid)The Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, Washington (designed by Frank Gehry) CAD Design on Steroids Mechanical drawing and drafting changed radically with the advent of desktop computing. CAD software was one of the very first applications to be used in offices transitioning to personal computer workstations in the early 1980s. Wavefront Technologies developed the OBJ file (with the .obj file extension) to geometrically define three-dimensional models. Greg Lynn and Blob Modeling Ohio-born Greg Lynn came of age during the digital revolution. The term Blob modelling was a module in Wavefront software at the time, says Lynn, and it was an acronym for Binary Large Object - spheres that could be collected to form larger composite forms. At the level of geometry and mathematics, I was excited by the tool as it was great for making large-scale single surfaces out of many small components as well as adding detailed elements to larger areas. Other architects who were the first to experiment with and use blob modeling include the American Peter Eisenman, British architect Norman Foster, Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, Frank Gehry,   Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, and Jan Kaplickà ½ and Amanda Levete. Architectural movements, such as the 1960s Archigram led by architect Peter Cook or the convictions of the deconstructionists, are often associated with blob architecture. Movements, however, are about ideas and philosophy. Blob architecture is about a digital process - using mathematics and computer technologies to design. Mathematics and Architecture Ancient Greek and Roman designs were based on geometry and architecture. Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius observed relationships of human body parts - the nose to the face, the ears to the head - and documented the symmetry and proportion. Todays architecture is more calculus-based using digital tools. Calculus is the mathematical study of changes. Greg Lynn argues that since the Middle Ages architects have used calculus - the Gothic moment in architecture was the first time that force and motion was thought of in terms of form. In Gothic details such as ribbed vaulting you can see that the structural forces of the vaulting get articulated as lines, so youre really actually seeing the expression of structural force and form. Calculus is also a mathematics of curves. So, even a straight line, defined with calculus, is a curve. Its just a curve without inflection. So, a new vocabulary of form is now pervading all design fields: whether its automobiles, architecture, products, etc., its really being affected by this digital medium of curvature. The intricacies of scale that come out of that - you know, in the example of the nose to the face, theres a fractional part-to-whole idea. With calculus, the whole idea of subdivision is more complex, because the whole and the parts are one continuous series. -    Greg Lynn, 2005 Todays CAD has enabled the building of designs that were once theoretical and philosophical movements. Powerful BIM software now allows designers to visually manipulate parameters, knowing that Computer Aided Manufacturing software will keep track of the building components and how they are to be assembled. Perhaps because of the unfortunate acronym used by Greg Lynn, other architects such as  Patrik Schumacher have coined a new word for new software - parametricism. Books by and About Greg Lynn Folds, Bodies Blobs: Collected Essays by Greg Lynn, 1998Animate Form by Greg Lynn, 1999Composites, Surfaces, and Software: High Performance Architecture, Greg Lynn at the Yale School of Architecture, 2011Visual Catalog: Greg Lynns Studio at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, 2010IOA Studios. Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Wolf D. Prix: Selected Student Works 2009, Architecture is PornographyOther Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan and Alessandro Poli, 2010Greg Lynn FORM by Greg Lynn, Rizzoli, 2008 Sources Greg Lynn - Biography, European Graduate School website at www.egs.edu/faculty/greg-lynn/biography/ [accessed March 29, 2013]Greg Lynn on calculus in architecture, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), February 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_lynn_on_organic_designPhoto of The Sage by Paul Thompson/Photolibrary Collection/Getty Images

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture Blob architecture is a type of wavy, curvy building design without traditional edges or traditional symmetric form. It is made possible by computer-aided-design (CAD) software. American-born architect and philosopher Greg Lynn (b. 1964) is credited with coining the phrase, although Lynn himself claims the name comes from a software feature that creates Binary Large Objects. The name has stuck, often disparagingly, in various forms, including blobism, blobismus, and blobitecture. Examples of Blob Architecture These buildings have been called early examples of blobitecture: Selfridges Department Store (pictured on this page) in Birmingham, United KingdomGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (designed by Frank Gehry)Xanadu Houses in Kissimmee, FloridaThe Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, UK (designed by Norman Foster)Admirant Entrance Building in Eindhoven, Netherlands (designed by Massimiliano Fuksas)Galaxy SOHO in Beijing, China (designed by Zaha Hadid)The Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, Washington (designed by Frank Gehry) CAD Design on Steroids Mechanical drawing and drafting changed radically with the advent of desktop computing. CAD software was one of the very first applications to be used in offices transitioning to personal computer workstations in the early 1980s. Wavefront Technologies developed the OBJ file (with the .obj file extension) to geometrically define three-dimensional models. Greg Lynn and Blob Modeling Ohio-born Greg Lynn came of age during the digital revolution. The term Blob modelling was a module in Wavefront software at the time, says Lynn, and it was an acronym for Binary Large Object - spheres that could be collected to form larger composite forms. At the level of geometry and mathematics, I was excited by the tool as it was great for making large-scale single surfaces out of many small components as well as adding detailed elements to larger areas. Other architects who were the first to experiment with and use blob modeling include the American Peter Eisenman, British architect Norman Foster, Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, Frank Gehry,   Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, and Jan Kaplickà ½ and Amanda Levete. Architectural movements, such as the 1960s Archigram led by architect Peter Cook or the convictions of the deconstructionists, are often associated with blob architecture. Movements, however, are about ideas and philosophy. Blob architecture is about a digital process - using mathematics and computer technologies to design. Mathematics and Architecture Ancient Greek and Roman designs were based on geometry and architecture. Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius observed relationships of human body parts - the nose to the face, the ears to the head - and documented the symmetry and proportion. Todays architecture is more calculus-based using digital tools. Calculus is the mathematical study of changes. Greg Lynn argues that since the Middle Ages architects have used calculus - the Gothic moment in architecture was the first time that force and motion was thought of in terms of form. In Gothic details such as ribbed vaulting you can see that the structural forces of the vaulting get articulated as lines, so youre really actually seeing the expression of structural force and form. Calculus is also a mathematics of curves. So, even a straight line, defined with calculus, is a curve. Its just a curve without inflection. So, a new vocabulary of form is now pervading all design fields: whether its automobiles, architecture, products, etc., its really being affected by this digital medium of curvature. The intricacies of scale that come out of that - you know, in the example of the nose to the face, theres a fractional part-to-whole idea. With calculus, the whole idea of subdivision is more complex, because the whole and the parts are one continuous series. -    Greg Lynn, 2005 Todays CAD has enabled the building of designs that were once theoretical and philosophical movements. Powerful BIM software now allows designers to visually manipulate parameters, knowing that Computer Aided Manufacturing software will keep track of the building components and how they are to be assembled. Perhaps because of the unfortunate acronym used by Greg Lynn, other architects such as  Patrik Schumacher have coined a new word for new software - parametricism. Books by and About Greg Lynn Folds, Bodies Blobs: Collected Essays by Greg Lynn, 1998Animate Form by Greg Lynn, 1999Composites, Surfaces, and Software: High Performance Architecture, Greg Lynn at the Yale School of Architecture, 2011Visual Catalog: Greg Lynns Studio at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, 2010IOA Studios. Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Wolf D. Prix: Selected Student Works 2009, Architecture is PornographyOther Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan and Alessandro Poli, 2010Greg Lynn FORM by Greg Lynn, Rizzoli, 2008 Sources Greg Lynn - Biography, European Graduate School website at www.egs.edu/faculty/greg-lynn/biography/ [accessed March 29, 2013]Greg Lynn on calculus in architecture, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), February 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_lynn_on_organic_designPhoto of The Sage by Paul Thompson/Photolibrary Collection/Getty Images

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture

Greg Lynn, Binary Large Objects, and Blob Architecture Blob architecture is a type of wavy, curvy building design without traditional edges or traditional symmetric form. It is made possible by computer-aided-design (CAD) software. American-born architect and philosopher Greg Lynn (b. 1964) is credited with coining the phrase, although Lynn himself claims the name comes from a software feature that creates Binary Large Objects. The name has stuck, often disparagingly, in various forms, including blobism, blobismus, and blobitecture. Examples of Blob Architecture These buildings have been called early examples of blobitecture: Selfridges Department Store (pictured on this page) in Birmingham, United KingdomGuggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain (designed by Frank Gehry)Xanadu Houses in Kissimmee, FloridaThe Sage Gateshead in Newcastle, UK (designed by Norman Foster)Admirant Entrance Building in Eindhoven, Netherlands (designed by Massimiliano Fuksas)Galaxy SOHO in Beijing, China (designed by Zaha Hadid)The Experience Music Project (EMP) in Seattle, Washington (designed by Frank Gehry) CAD Design on Steroids Mechanical drawing and drafting changed radically with the advent of desktop computing. CAD software was one of the very first applications to be used in offices transitioning to personal computer workstations in the early 1980s. Wavefront Technologies developed the OBJ file (with the .obj file extension) to geometrically define three-dimensional models. Greg Lynn and Blob Modeling Ohio-born Greg Lynn came of age during the digital revolution. The term Blob modelling was a module in Wavefront software at the time, says Lynn, and it was an acronym for Binary Large Object - spheres that could be collected to form larger composite forms. At the level of geometry and mathematics, I was excited by the tool as it was great for making large-scale single surfaces out of many small components as well as adding detailed elements to larger areas. Other architects who were the first to experiment with and use blob modeling include the American Peter Eisenman, British architect Norman Foster, Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas, Frank Gehry,   Zaha Hadid and Patrik Schumacher, and Jan Kaplickà ½ and Amanda Levete. Architectural movements, such as the 1960s Archigram led by architect Peter Cook or the convictions of the deconstructionists, are often associated with blob architecture. Movements, however, are about ideas and philosophy. Blob architecture is about a digital process - using mathematics and computer technologies to design. Mathematics and Architecture Ancient Greek and Roman designs were based on geometry and architecture. Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius observed relationships of human body parts - the nose to the face, the ears to the head - and documented the symmetry and proportion. Todays architecture is more calculus-based using digital tools. Calculus is the mathematical study of changes. Greg Lynn argues that since the Middle Ages architects have used calculus - the Gothic moment in architecture was the first time that force and motion was thought of in terms of form. In Gothic details such as ribbed vaulting you can see that the structural forces of the vaulting get articulated as lines, so youre really actually seeing the expression of structural force and form. Calculus is also a mathematics of curves. So, even a straight line, defined with calculus, is a curve. Its just a curve without inflection. So, a new vocabulary of form is now pervading all design fields: whether its automobiles, architecture, products, etc., its really being affected by this digital medium of curvature. The intricacies of scale that come out of that - you know, in the example of the nose to the face, theres a fractional part-to-whole idea. With calculus, the whole idea of subdivision is more complex, because the whole and the parts are one continuous series. -    Greg Lynn, 2005 Todays CAD has enabled the building of designs that were once theoretical and philosophical movements. Powerful BIM software now allows designers to visually manipulate parameters, knowing that Computer Aided Manufacturing software will keep track of the building components and how they are to be assembled. Perhaps because of the unfortunate acronym used by Greg Lynn, other architects such as  Patrik Schumacher have coined a new word for new software - parametricism. Books by and About Greg Lynn Folds, Bodies Blobs: Collected Essays by Greg Lynn, 1998Animate Form by Greg Lynn, 1999Composites, Surfaces, and Software: High Performance Architecture, Greg Lynn at the Yale School of Architecture, 2011Visual Catalog: Greg Lynns Studio at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, 2010IOA Studios. Zaha Hadid, Greg Lynn, Wolf D. Prix: Selected Student Works 2009, Architecture is PornographyOther Space Odysseys: Greg Lynn, Michael Maltzan and Alessandro Poli, 2010Greg Lynn FORM by Greg Lynn, Rizzoli, 2008 Sources Greg Lynn - Biography, European Graduate School website at www.egs.edu/faculty/greg-lynn/biography/ [accessed March 29, 2013]Greg Lynn on calculus in architecture, TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design), February 2005, https://www.ted.com/talks/greg_lynn_on_organic_designPhoto of The Sage by Paul Thompson/Photolibrary Collection/Getty Images

Thursday, February 13, 2020

Strategic analysis of Acer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic analysis of Acer - Essay Example Acer has since been the third largest computer manufacturing company in the world holding 9.5% of the market share, with its growth being experienced outside USA mature market, largely in emerging nations. The peripherals and PC industry is very competitive and Acer has maintained growth since 1999 with significant growth in revenues. The key competitors in the market include Dell, HP and Lenovo; however there is a fragmentation of the market with 46% of it owned by brands which have market share of less than 4% each. Acer seeks to increase its market share through release of premium PCs under Ferrari brand and expansion in LCD TVs with BenQ brand (Unruh & Ettenson, 2010). This paper seeks to give a detailed report of strategic analysis of Acer Inc. The paper will analyze the environment in which Acer functions and identify the opportunities and threats to which it might expect to have to respond. This will be done through environmental analysis (PESTLE, Porter’s Five Forces, and SWOT). The report will also make analyses of the resources and key capabilities of the company plus the factors that give the company its competitive advantage. This will be done through assessing the Industry Critical Success Factors, analyzing resources and capabilities and link the generic strategy. Finally the paper will assess the extent to which Acer’s existing strategies match its environment and suggest improvements where there is a justification. This will be done through looking at the company’s strategy within its environment and use of the J and S three tests (suitability, acceptability, feasibility and suggested improvements. There will be a final management summary, conclusion and recommendations to the company and sample diagrams of the models of market and environment analysis. Acer is the third largest manufacturer of electronics (PC) in the world using a transnational strategy for procuring its components in order to maintain cost leadership.

Saturday, February 1, 2020

Films and American Popular Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Films and American Popular Culture - Essay Example This article is relevant to my topic, because it analyzes the negative effects of the mainstreaming of rap music on the goals of rappers. Blair showed concern for the commercialization of rap music, because commercialization has historically benefitted white firms more and diluted the genuineness of black rap music. He narrated the history of rap in the U.S. He argued that Marxian hegemony theory can best explain how mainstream black rap has become a tool for the elite to propagate their own interests and goals. This is a good article, because it explores the theoretical underpinnings of commercializing black rap. It directly answers the research question also on the challenges of rap music. Blair’s findings that commercialization is not an absolute good for black rappers contradicts the implications of the findings of Hunnicutt and Andrews, because in their study, black rappers use mainstream music to broaden their prominence and audiences. Hence, for Hunnicutt and Andrews, m ainstreaming black rap can also indicate the acknowledgement of the invisible voices of low-income, young, black men. Deflem, M. (2001). Rap, rock and censorship: Popular culture and the technologies of justice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Chicago, May 27-30, 1993. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from http://www.cas.sc.edu/socy/faculty/deflem/zzcens97.htm The source came from a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Law and Society Association, Chicago, May 27-30, 1993, so it is trusted as a scholarly article. This source is relevant, because it examines how popular music has been put on trial, because of its deviant messages. Deflem reviewed literature on music censorship and its effects on the development of rap music and other forms of popular music. Findings demonstrated that the law has been used to regulate social processes and institutions, but the history of music censorship demonstrated that the law and law enforcement could not significantly impact and limit musical expressions, mainly because of the First Amendment protection. The strength of this article is that it answers both research questions. Its weakness is its focus on the legal history of music censorship. This article has the same findings as Blair, in that dominant social institutions and tools are being used to limit or crush the social, economic, cultural, and political messages of black rap music. Hunnicutt, G. & Andrews, K. H. (2009).Tragic narratives in popular culture: Depictions of homicide in rap music. Sociological Forum, 24 (3), 611-630. The source came from a peer-reviewed journal, so it is trusted as a scholarly article. It is important to the research, because it answers the question about the goals of rap music. They explored homicide themes in rap lyrics across the period 1989–2000 and used the framework of cultural criminology. Their sampling included 360 titles, where they took the first top 30 songs for each year. Find ings showed three categories: 1) exaltation of killing, 2) moralizing tales about the destruction of violent death and the need for change in society, and ? or 3) homicide used as a figure of speech for being a â€Å"bigger† or more popular rapper. Some songs cautioned about the consequences of leading a criminal life, while others remarked on the power structure, and situations of preserving respect, zero tolerance, and vengeance. Homicide is also surprisingly gendered, with men killing men. The