Registration Now Open for Program on Computational and Parametric Design for Infrastructure Running Feb. 27 Through March 5; Availability Is Limited

“SmartGeometry 2008 will focus on innovative design tools, technologies, and methodologies that allow and encourage new forms of architectural and structural expression – forms that are radically changing the world of the built environment,” said J Parrish, director, SmartGeometry Group, who is also a director at ArupSport.

The speakers at SmartGeometry 2008 will include some of the world’s preeminent authorities on the theory and practice of advanced 3D design applications such as generative design.  Among them will be the SmartGeometry directors and their teams from Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Foster + Partners, and Arup; Patrik Schumacher of Zaha Hadid Architects; Brett Steele from the Architectural Association School of Architecture; Professor Helmut Pottmann from Vienna University of Technology; Professor Grossman from Bollinger + Grohmann Ingenieure; as well as representatives from Schlaich Bergermann und Partner, Herzog & de Meuron, Grimshaw Architects, ShoP Architects PC, Gramazio & Kohler, Aedas, and others.  Their insights will provide attendees with a broader understanding of innovative and enabling technologies and methodologies that are currently changing modern architectural and structural practice.

Speaker presentations will address new issues arising from generative technology and the underlying architectural goals.  The main session topics will include:

• Form as Art – digital tools allow a new aesthetic
• Form as Craft – digital manufacturing is opening up new avenues of expression
• Form as Computation – computational tools, such as optimization and simulation, are increasingly important
• Form as Negotiation – the digital era introduces emergent strategies that promote collaboration and participation

The schedule of events for SmartGeometry 2008 is as follows:

• GenerativeComponents Pre-Workshop Training Class, Feb. 27-28, ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel Munich – In these sessions participants will learn about, or improve their skills in the use of, GenerativeComponents – Bentley’s new generative design software. 
• SmartGeometry 2008 Workshops, Feb. 29-March 3, ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel – The workshops will provide four days of highly rewarding hands-on work with tutors drawn from the design and research communities.  These leading practitioners and educators will work with participants to explore their advanced design objectives.  The session projects will be drawn from the hundreds of innovative and challenging design ideas submitted by prospective workshop participants. 
• SmartGeometry 2008 Alumni Summit, March 4, ArabellaSheraton Grand Hotel – The first-ever SmartGeometry Alumni Summit will enable attendees to see what participants in past SmartGeometry conferences are currently achieving in practice.  Its full-day agenda will offer attendees a unique opportunity to learn about best practices and innovative applications of these advanced technology approaches, as well as to network with their peers.  The event is open to all workshop and conference attendees. 
• SmartGeometry 2008 Conference (at BMW Welt) and Reception (at Deutsches Museum), March 5 – This crowning event of SmartGeometry 2008 features a full day of presentations and discussions dedicated to advances in computational and parametric design.  Inspiring sessions will highlight the results from this year’s workshops and then move on to the latest developments in innovative design tools, technologies, and methodologies – as presented by industry experts and directors of the SmartGeometry Group.  The SmartGeometry Conference and Reception is open to all who share an interest in the theory and practice of generative design.

The site for this year’s SmartGeometry Conference – BMW Welt – is a paragon of high-performing design, making it an ideal venue for this program.  The BMW Welt event and delivery center in Munich was designed by Professor Wolf D. Prix and the Viennese architecture firm COOP HIMMELB(L)AU.  The building’s fascinating architecture features a distinctive Double Cone, floating cloud roof, free sight lines, and visual interaction between the various areas within BMW Welt and with the building’s immediate surroundings.  The transparent glass facades permit views of the landscape of the Olympiapark from inside the building.  The Four Cylinders building, headquarters of the BMW Group, is honored with a special wedge cut out of the roof shape, through which the entire high-rise can be viewed from within BMW Welt.

To get a feel for the events at SmartGeometry 2008, you can review all of the presentations from SmartGeometry 2007 at www.SmartGeometry2007.com. For complete details on SmartGeometry 2008 and to register, visit www.SmartGeometry2008.com.

About the SmartGeometry Group

The SmartGeometry Group is firmly committed to the belief that computer-aided design should lend itself to capturing, expressing, and enriching the geometric relationships that form the foundation of architecture.  The group is dedicated to educating the construction professions in the new skills required to effectively use advanced design systems such as GenerativeComponents.  The directors of the SmartGeometry Group include Lars Hesselgren of Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, Hugh Whitehead of Foster + Partners, and J Parrish of ArupSport. 

www.smartgeometry.org.

About GenerativeComponents

GenerativeComponents enables architects and engineers to pursue designs and achieve results that were virtually unthinkable before.  Empowered by computational methods, the designers can direct their creativity to deliver inspired sustainable buildings that are freer in form and use innovative materials and assemblies.  GenerativeComponents facilitates this by allowing the quick exploration of a broad range of “what-if” alternatives for even the most complex buildings.

This unique generative design software captures and exploits the critical relationships between design intent and geometry.  Designs can be refined by either dynamically modeling and directly manipulating geometry, by applying rules and capturing relationships among building elements, or by defining complex building forms and systems through concisely expressed algorithms.

To inform decisions, GenerativeComponents is integrated with building information modeling, analysis, and simulation software, providing feedback on building materials, assemblies, systems performance, and environmental conditions.  This integration also ensures that intent becomes reality by enabling designs to accurately and efficiently flow through to detailed production and fabrication.

GenerativeComponents is already enabling leading architects and engineers around the world to deliver inspired sustainable buildings.  Among them are Arup, Buro Happold, Foster + Partners, Grimshaw Architects, HOK, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Morphosis, and ShoP Architects.

For more information about GenerativeComponents and the forthcoming GenerativeComponents Discovery Subscription program, visit www.bentley.com/gc.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world’s infrastructure.  The company’s comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial verticals spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations.  With revenues now surpassing $400 million annually, and more than 2,400 colleagues globally, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Top Design Firms and major owner-operators, and was named the world’s No.  2 provider of GIS/geospatial software solutions in a Daratech research study.

www.bentley.com