Autodesk IDEA Studio: FutureSF Presentation

The Autodesk IDEA Studio is a residency program for students, faculty, and industry professionals who apply design-driven solutions to problems in business, society, and the environment. Autodesk provides residents with a place to work at our Gallery at One Market in San Francisco, free use of software, and access to our design professionals worldwide who serve a variety of industries such as Architecture/Engineering/Construction, Manufacturing, and Media/Entertainment. In turn, IDEA Studio residents address real-life challenges by finding new and imaginative ways to use design technology with compelling and inspiring results. It's a WIN-WIN.

Whinna, Whinna, Chicken Dinna. Senior Marketing Manager, Kimberly Whinna, directs our IDEA Studio program. On Monday, February 6, Kimberly was happy to introduce German Aparicio, who was just finishing up his project in the IDEA Studio. Before becoming a lecturer at the California College of Arts, German did some work at Arup and SENSEable City Lab.

German's IDEA Studio project presentation pointed out that as more people move to cities, it is becoming increasingly challenging to design infrastructures that efficiently support the many changing needs of so many inhabitants. Over half the world’s population now live in urban areas, and 75% will do so by 2050. While this urban migration is underway, data is being captured today at growing rates. Sensors are being embedded in cars, appliances, cameras, roads, pipelines, medicine, and even livestock. His project explored ways in which such data streams can become tools for designers, decision makers, city officials, project owners, city inhabitants, and additional stakeholders in creating new strategies for urban design. His work can be applied to cities like San Francisco to design a better FutureSF.

German's design project explored emerging technologies like Project Vasari and Project Dasher to help map urban sensor data which can be used for design and facilities operation. Autodesk was happy to participate in this project.

IDEA Studio proposals are reviewed quarterly. The next proposal submission deadline is May 1, 2012. To learn more and submit a proposal, visit the IDEA Studio page on the Autodesk web site.

More than just book learning is alive in the lab.