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Fables and Fragments: Vision Award Winners Rethink CAD’s Potential
CategoriesArchitecture

Fables and Fragments: Vision Award Winners Rethink CAD’s Potential

By Zarkon Group,

We are thrilled to announce the winners of Architizer’s inaugural Vision Awards, the world’s biggest awards program dedicated to the art of architectural representation. Sign up to receive future program updates >  

Architecture is born from drawing. This act of laying out ideas and visions is what brings buildings and cities to life. Over time, as Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and digital technology became more popularized, there was a move from hand drawings to 3D modeling. Now, designers are quickly seeing the rise of AI-assisted visualization. Across these mediums and at the heart of architectural practice is the desire to tell compelling stories about people and places.

This year, Architizer launched the Vision Awards to recognize the talented students, professionals and studios who are envisioning the world’s architecture. Captured through photography, drawings, renderings, videos, physical models and more, there were hundreds of entries submitted across more than 30 categories. Taking a closer look at the winners, we can begin to see how designers are rethinking the potential of computer-aided design. The result is a series of beautiful, compelling works that represent visionary approaches to drawing and storytelling. The following three projects highlight the winners of this year’s Vision Awards for students, professionals and studios.

VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go”

By LWD.Co.,Ltd, Studio Winner, Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Underlining the idea that CAD drawings can be done in many different styles, the drawing VENUE ID PINKLAO-SALAYA “Shirakawa-go” by LWD.Co was the Vision Awards Studio Winner this year for Computer Aided Drawing. As the team outlines, it was made as an “inspired design that tells the story of a beautiful farming village nestled in the valley alongside the Shokawa River, where one might find an old house reminiscent of a childhood fairy tale.” Reading like a comic, the juxtaposition of angles, moments and frames moves the eye through the drawing and text.

LWD.Co. wanted to create an illustration that highlights the architectural design of Gassho-zukuri houses. “Built using the same architectural characteristics as traditional houses, this design employs the architectural style called Gassho-zukuri. Gassho means hands folded together in prayer. The distinctive feature of this traditional Japanese architectural style is the large gable roof that looks like hands folded together. This creates a beautiful blend between the wooden Japanese frame and the architectural style of a traditional Thai house. This combination is perfect for the hot and humid climate of Thailand; the elevated structure which creates a faux-basement space underneath the house is just one of the unique characteristics of Thai-style houses.”

Fable or Failure

By Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing, Vision Awards Student Winners, Computer Aided Drawing

This imaginative drawing “Fable or Failure” by Alexander Jeong and Brandon Hing won the 2023 Architizer Vision Award for a Student Drawing in the Computer Aided category. Jeong and Hing’s rendering reimagines a multitude of fantastical scenarios through space travel. As the duo notes, “Fable or Failure is a project that seeks to reimagine how space travel can be conceptualized in the distant future of societal development.” Taking the shape of an exploded axonometric drawing, the winning entry uses black, white and grey linework and shading, as well as a single color to denote outer space.

Together, Jeong and Hing are curious in how a visualization can pose questions of space, community and gathering. “Will space travel be dominated by the rich and corrupt with the ability to experience otherworldly and transformative events, commodifying it? Can we imagine a future of space travel dominated by imaginative individuals or kids, optimistic in carrying the hopes of the future of the earth with them to space? Through three distinct parts: navigation, archival and extension, the organization of the shuttle is designed for a plethora of humanity’s desires in space travel.”

Into the Void: Fragmented Time, Space, Memory, and Decay in Hiroshima

By Victoria Wong, Professional Winner, Vision Awards, Computer Aided Drawing

Navigating the past, present, and future of Hiroshima, Victoria Wong’s incredible triptych is a study in composition and layering. As this year’s Vision Awards Professional Winner in the Computer Aided Drawing category, the drawing has a fantastic collection of stories embedded within it. In Wong’s words, “This triptych adapts Japanese aesthetic theories of transience and imperfection, and applies them to the city of Hiroshima.” The three selected locations (Genbaku Dome, Yagenbori, and Shukkein Garden) are experimental adaptations to the spatial and environmental challenges that facilitate ‘changes’ according to mental statuses and behaviors.

Photo Study: A zoomed-in shot showing one of the panoramic views that was described in the text that Victoria was working with.  

As writer Patt Fin notes, you might not immediately regard Victoria’s work “as an architectural drawing according to the way the term is usually understood. But this work is an architectural drawing in the more important sense; that is, it is engaged with the questions architects deal with every time they undertake a project, no matter how humble. The illustration explores the relationship between the past and the future and how each new addition to a city is an event in its ever-evolving story.”

We are thrilled to announce the winners of Architizer’s inaugural Vision Awards, the world’s biggest awards program dedicated to the art of architectural representation. Sign up to receive future program updates >  

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Computer vision to reduce crop losses from pests and disease
CategoriesSustainable News

Computer vision to reduce crop losses from pests and disease

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: The global loss of crops due to untreatable pest damage and plant disease is estimated to be between 20 and 40 per cent. With extreme weather exacerbating difficult growing conditions, the recent emergence of a treatment-resistant wheat fungal disease is additional bad news for cereal farmers. Data science company Fermata has an artificial-intelligence-powered (AI) solution that helps growers spot disease early and track plant changes over time. 

Called Croptimus, the data platform is available as a subscription service that includes installation and management support. After the initial installation, the algorithms need two to three weeks to adjust and learn what the farm team wants to track, with data and imagery then available in real-time online.

As well as reducing labour costs, the system helps reduce pesticide use by up to 25 per cent. Automated alerts let growers know when a pest or change in growing conditions is identified. Chemical applications can be applied directly to the affected areas, with no guesswork needed to determine how far a disease has spread.  

The cameras use ethernet cables for power, and each camera visually covers 400 square metres of land, and Fermata provides custom quotes and designs for each plot’s specifications. Right now, the AI monitors problems that affect fruits, leafy greens, and medicinal crops. These include powdery mildew, spider mites, and aphids, and the technology is being trained on additional diseases and insects, as well as an increasing number of crops.  

The use of data in agriculture is constantly improving, with Springwise spotting innovations that include the use of weather data to speed up insurance payments in the event of drought or flooding, and a modelling system that predicts frost in microclimates where high value crops are growing. 

Written By: Keely Khoury

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Computer vision, automation, and machine learning boost insect farming
CategoriesSustainable News

Computer vision, automation, and machine learning boost insect farming

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: Experts are becoming increasingly concerned about how the world’s growing population will be fed in an equitable and sustainable way. One solution is edible insects – both for human consumption, and as pet food in order to help free up land and resources. Insects require far less space and fewer resources to farm than other proteins like beef or chicken, but producing them en masse has proved challenging so far. Tech company Entocycle is using innovative technology to help. 

The London-based startup uses smart technology to help insect farms work efficiently and sustainably (and manage billions of insects at any one time). Its technology aims to help farms improve accuracy, efficiency, and enable less need for manual involvement, such as by measuring populations in a farm to automate food requirements and controlling the temperature to optimise insect health.

The company focuses on black soldier fly farms, an insect that grows very rapidly – and can survive on food waste. They contain all the nutrients humans need for good health, including more zinc and iron than lean meat, and more calcium than milk.  

Entocycle recently raised $5 million (around €4.7 million) in a recent Series A funding round, which the startup will use to expand the commercial roll-out of its products and services. 

Entocycle is not alone in developing technology to help make insect-growing a viable and sustainable operation. Springwise has also spotted vertical mealworm farms that produce plant and animal feed, and AI-powered insect microfarms.

Written By: Jessica Bradley

Reference

Using computer vision to monitor hospital wards
CategoriesSustainable News

Using computer vision to monitor hospital wards

By Zarkon Group,

Spotted: In countries such as the UK, health and social care workforce shortages are reaching crisis proportions. Each day brings a new report of staff shortages and their implications for patient care. While it can’t replace staff, a Danish health tech startup is developing technology to ensure staff are being deployed as efficiently as possible. The company, Teton.ai, has developed a system that uses computer vision to track patient movements and alert staff when patients are at risk of falling or need other types of assistance.

Teton’s system includes cameras and sensors that are easily installed in patient areas. The system then employs algorithms that can be integrated into existing platforms or supplied as a separate platform. The technology can operate independently of any personal information, and all video is processed offline by the hospital or care facility, preserving privacy. The platform alerts staff when an action needs to be taken so there is no need for staff to monitor or look at the video.

According to the company, the platform uses computer vision to understand different types of activity within a patients’ room, providing analytics and timely information to staff through integration into existing devices. Teton also points out that the platform can replace the use of a large number of “hyper-specific devices and sensors set up to measure all the different things that could happen in a room,” saving both time and money.

In 2019, the hospital services market size was estimated as being worth $8.22 trillion (around €8.28 trillion) and was expected to reach $15.45 trillion (around €15.6 trillion) by 2027. Given these figures, it is not surprising that Springwise is seeing an ever-increasing number of innovations in this space. Recent advances include the use of AI in diagnosing illness and apps that can connect doctors and patients. 

Written By: Lisa Magloff

8th September 2022

Email: info@teton.ai

Website: teton.ai

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Vision Studio conceals “jewel-like” store behind perforated metal facade
CategoriesInterior Design

Vision Studio conceals “jewel-like” store behind perforated metal facade

By Zarkon Group,

Cool-toned industrial materials such as aluminium and concrete are paired with marble surfaces and translucent pastel shelving in this eyewear store in Melbourne, Australia.


Designed by local firm Studio Edwards, the first flagship store by optometrist Vision Studio is housed in a shopping centre in the city’s Glen Waverley suburb.

Transluscent pastel pink sunglasses displays with marble counter in retail interior by Studio Edwards
Vision Studio’s perforated aluminium facade (top image) hinges open to reveal a jewel-like interior (above)

Half of the store’s 3.6-metre-high perforated aluminium facade hinges open to reveal what the studio describes as a “jewel-like” interior, framed by marble tiles that contrast with the raw concrete of the existing shell.

Inside, Studio Edwards set out to create a space reminiscent of a gallery, including enough display space for 200 spectacles and storage for an additional 800 pairs alongside three consultation rooms with waiting areas and a staff and store area.

Marble accents and bright orange tap in Vision Studio interior
A bright orange tap and pastel pink doorframe act as pops of colour in the otherwise monochrome interior

To accommodate these functions, the floor plan is split into two zones with the store and display area at the front, and the optician and consulting spaces at the rear.

“The space is zoned via an angular plan configuration with the areas requiring most privacy to the rear and semi-private consulting spaces tapering to the front,” Studio Edwards founder Ben Edwards told Dezeen.

“One challenge was to work with the existing air conditioning ceiling ductwork – we chose to expose them and include them within the overall aesthetic.”

Pastel-coloured accents are applied to the shelving and cabinets that run along the walls on either side of the Vision Studio store.

The material palette, which the studio described as “a balance between raw and refined”, blends industrial materials such as aluminium and concrete with marble surfaces and translucent shelving that seems to hang in midair.

Perforated aluminium facade of retail interior by Studio Edwards
The shop is located in a Glen Waverley shopping centre

Other studios that have combined industrial materials and soft, powdery colours include Spanish studio Lucas y Hernández-Gil, which contrasted pastel furnishings against concrete walls in this restaurant in Seville.

Photography is by Tony Gorsevski.

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