Ben Yahr

I love it and think its doable!

I wonder how much it would cost to retrofit the roof of a big box store that can barely support its own weight?

The “American Dream” is becoming less realistic financially and functionally. If we can invest in amenities, parkland, vibrant architecture, functional/appealing mass transit, and encourage business development- urban living will become much more appealing than the suburbs.

Growing up in a “bedroom community” (even worse than a suburb!) we drove…[Read more]

It seems like the typical American dream of suburbia has become (or soon will become) unsustainable. While a few visionary design professionals tried to artificially stop sprawl and encouraged revitalization of urban cores, the average American got caught up in the “bubble” or complained about high gas prices. While these folks may not prefer an…[Read more]

Most turbines rotate to face the wind, though arrays of turbines (wind farms) are situated based on prevailing winds.

Another ecological impact of wind farms is on bats.

Inactive wind farms would probably indicate poor siting in a location without adequate wind, though this article offers a different…[Read more]

I applaud Jake for bringing this up. As mentioned in another topic recently, we are doing ourselves a disservice by refusing to engage in any type of critical discussion.

It would be great if there was a serious discussion on actual working conditions at various firms, because you can bet the only thing that the recruiters will be talking to…[Read more]

digital rendering is a superb tool for visualizing multiple iterations, alternatives, and views of a project. there may be additional setup time, but once you have a digital 3d model, the viewing possibilities are endless and changes are simple.

i disagree that computers are confining and limit free flowing design. personally, hand-rendering is…[Read more]

hey guys, i’ve got an old ‘mayline’ parallel straightedge i would like to get rid of. major improvement over a t-square.

similar to this-http://www.engineersupply.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=ES1433&affid=7

it wouldn’t be hard to attach to any table and you could save a lot compared to a new system.

i don’t remember the length, let me know if…[Read more]

I passed Section C in June– its certainly do-able.

It was tough to learn to design in ‘LARE-Y’ land, but what frustrated me the most is that the entire LARE (and to a certain extent our profession) is based on accommodating the automobile.

If you plan to design fast food restaurants and big box stores than I agree that the CLARB standards are…[Read more]

I use Vue Infinite (http://www.e-onsoftware.com/products/solutions/?page=6) for rendering. Everything is built in 3d in Autocad and then exported to Vue to add materials and vegetation.

It is much more specialized than 3DS for the type of work that we do and significantly less costly. The downside is software stability and accurately locating 3d…[Read more]