Prove It

In this episode, the Proving Ground hosts a live webinar to discuss remote working in he wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Proving Ground has used remote working as a function of operating the business for 5 years and has been a 100% work-from-home company in 2020. The team shares their experiences and guidance on making a remote team successful and they take questions from the webinar attendees.

Viewer beware: There are many memes at the start!

Discussion topics:

-Our first experiences transitioning to home offices.

-Tips for maintaining a home office a productive experience.

-Ways to create a fun culture with remote workers.

-Recommendations for how to lead and manage remote teams.

-Technologies that can help facilitate remote work.

-Long-term business benefits for remote working.

The group discusses digital transformations taking place in architecture schools, the tension between academia and practice, women in architecture, computational feminism, alternate dimensions, and our reality being a simulation - wow, things got trippy this time!

Discussion topics:

01:10 Steve has a theory...

01:41 What a way to start a podcast!

02:42 Shelby drove 2.5 hours to be here... for this?

03:21 Debate over who is a millennial

04:26 Old millennials remember a time before the internet

05:33 Traveling the world before smart phones

07:55 Problems predicting the future

08:19 Science fiction and predicting the future based on the present

09:14 The privilege of being without media

10:29 Transformations in communication

12:19 Informal communication and sending emojis to clients

12:56 "gif" or "jif" let's settle this - what about the peanut butter?

13:31 What is a scotcheroo??

14:40 How did Shelby get into architecture?

16:49 Finding a niche with computational design

18:26 Is a "parametric moment" kind of like a "digital turn"?

20:12 Shelby talks about digital craft

22:22 Changes in the architect's deliverable

25:33 Shelby talks about teaching digital fabrication

28:03 The importance of trade knowledge

33:25 Ethical and moral implications of technology transformations

35:51 How did Shelby end up in Iowa?

41:41 Thinking carefully about the moments we choose to use technology

43:12 Technology is a hearts and minds game

44:38 It is important to understand the current state when preparing for transformation

47:46 Shelby explains that there is a myth that technology is somehow unknowable

48:28 Struggle to bring people on board with new things

50:24 Teaching methods related to computation

52:58 Maybe there should be a crumpled paper tool in LunchBox

54:46 Bringing in outside expertise into the classroom

55:52 What was the biggest challenge in starting the Shelby's ISU computation curriculum?

59:04 Discussion about women in architecture and equity

01:02:57 It is hard to not re-perform your own education in the classroom

01:07:21 Shelby discusses "Computational Feminism"

01:10:51 Data is not neutral

01:13:45 Challenges and over-simplification with "optimization"

01:17:17 The digital panopticon

01:18:29 What are the disconnects between academia and practice?

01:20:36 Architecture is not about singular authorship

01:21:34 Critique of the trades mentoring model

01:22:42 Shelby has a crazy good voronoi joke

01:24:13 Student loans suck

01:25:37 Shelby asks if there are things Proving Ground wishes students had coming out of school

01:27:54 The difficulty in teaching when things are changing so fast

01:29:06 WTF is post digital?

01:32:13 Nate is legitimizing post digital by always shitposting about it.

The end! Byyyeee!

Nate sits down with Proving Ground's 2019 summer research interns Madhurya Udayakumar and Anna Lukens to talk about their experiences as architecture students, wrangling command-lines in Raspberry Pis, and why they got into architecture.

Discussion topics:

00:50 Introducing Maddie

01:22 What does Maddie really think of Omaha Nebraska

02:13 Nate talks about flyover country

04:25 Introducing Anna

05:22 Interns have spent two months so far at Proving Ground

08:02 Jumping into the deep end with IoT

08:17 Proving Ground investing in research with internships

10:38 Within a week we had a DIY sensor and data collection workflow

12:12 The need for creative iteration and experimentation

13:19 Architecture programs with robot facilities

15:34 Anna and Maddie think academia could be doing more with digital processes

17:35 Why did Anna and Maddie get into Architecture?

19:40 Maddie started in Civil Engineering

23:17 Anna talks about learning computation

24:08 Nate reveals the dirty secret that no one really knows how to use Revit

25:12 What will they do after they graduate?

28:14 Brian Ringley doesn't offer any electives. Sad.

28:47 This is Nate's test to see if Brian watches/listens to this podcast

29:45 Maddie has been working on a design competition

31:21 Anna talks about preparing her portfolio

33:59 Discussion on apply for internships

35:20 Nate's experience at career fairs as an employer

37:15 How Nate vets intern applicants

37:53 Why did Maddie and Anna apply to Proving Ground?

40:20 Nate's goal for summer internships

42:28 Maddie's observations on how Proving Ground does business

45:07 Nate talks about creating an effective and impactful small team

46:10 Technology is not a replacement for having good team fundamentals

47:55 Changes in toxic business culture and growing talent in AEC has been a long time coming

49:52 Parting thoughts, thank yous, and why Nate is way behind on editing Shelby's podcast

The discussion explores a range of topics including specialization, skills gaps, privacy, hacking buildings, and the role of the architect in designing smart buildings.

Discussion topics:

Part 1:

03:20 - New tech discussion - http://Hypar.io and next gen computational design platforms

Part 2:

01:09 Nate talks about quitting his first job.

03:05 Podcast format review

03:20 Discussing Hypar.io, next gen computational platforms

05:12 Architects and computational designers reinvent the wheel

07:03 Popularity of resources for free plugins

08:05 Challenges in bringing custom functionality "to scale"

09:54 What is the market for specialization?

11:38 Disruption fatigue in the design workflow

15:07 Letting people specialize

22:02 Organizations protective over IP - What are businesses willing to share?

27:00 The line between business logic and standards

29:50 What is the incentive to share functions with the community?

31:55 Why we don't see pull requests on our open source projects

35:00 Data deluge - the opportunities and problems with data availability

36:02 Architects are trained to understand "public" and "private" space - is the line blurred now?

37:02 Buildings are getting smarter and also more hackable

37:50 Owners making strides in using their building data

39:51 Zoom.... enhance!

40:52 The advantage of more data

43:51 Using data to building the architect and owner relationship

46:46 Extending the role of the architect into operations

47:40 Telemetry and collecting data about people in buildings

50:48 The danger of people becoming the "product"

53:40 The importance of specialization in architecture related to data

54:54 The number of sensors is growing and not going to go down

56:35 Do smart buildings need a EULA or Terms of Use?

58:00 The need for better standards in data collection for buildings

01:00:30 Smart devices in homes

01:02:21 Understanding the tradeoffs between privacy and convenience

01:04:57 Trusting the service provider

01:06:03 The scary future of public space

01:08:07 Are we directing or empowering?

01:11:27 Conclusions and the duality of technology

Rachel Riopel - Digital Design Managing Principal at HDR - talks with Nate Miller about change management, technology implementation, women in design technology, and using BIM and open standards to support benchmarking analysis.

Discussion topics:

01:21 Weather attitudes, folks from LA hate the rain

02:12 Introducing Rachel

03:07 Change management in a big firm

03:47 What is the most expensive part of a technology implementation

04:34 Change needs to happen at all levels - not just the picks and clicks

06:40 Project managers have a lot to lose if something goes wrong

08:21 Creating allowances for changes in process

09:50 Big firms hesitant to change process - high risk, expensive projects

10:43 Rachel explains the components of her innovations strategy

13:27 Will we see computational design "standards"?

15:35 Digital assets and liability

16:47 How did Rachel get into Architecture?

19:49 Rachel discusses going to college for architecture.

20:57 Nate on getting burned out on computers in college.

21:34 Rachel was not a "tech person" in college

22:09 Misaligned expectations between college and practice

23:23 Rachel first hears about Revit

25:17 Rachel buys her own copy of Revit so she can learn on her own

25:54 Rachel discusses getting her license in parallel with athletics and technology learning

26:25 Nate discusses his decision not to become an architect

29:17 Rachel goes to Autodesk University, joins HDR shortly after

31:54 2008 recession, joining a new firm and betting on technology

33:37 Rachel discusses women in technology and architecture

38:21 The current state of BIM at HDR

42:57 Getting over the hump of talking about data in abstract terms

46:30 Nate can't stop with the cliches: Poking the elephant, cracking the nut, skinning the cat

46:58 Interoperability can't get any worse, can it?

48:42 Cleaning up the mess of data that we have

49:32 There is "standards aversion" in architecture

54:37 Rachel likes IFC, using it to support benchmarking

57:22 We need to be able to access unlock data amidst transforming proprietary software

59:08 Wrap-up discussion - what should a firm be doing?

Sarah Gudeman, a mechanical engineer with Morrissey Engineering, joins Nate and Kristen to talk about energy modeling, building performance, and sustainability workflows in practice.

Discussion topics:

00:31 Have you ever watched unboxing videos?

01:22 Introducing Sarah Gudeman, Omaha-based mechanical engineer

01:56 The philosophy behind the Prove It podcast

02:26 Nate is getting social media and event fatigue

03:55 Designers and builders want to make better buildings

04:44 Highlight cool stuff happening in the Midwest

06:01 Lower incentives to change process when business is good and busy

06:50 What is good enough - letting perfect get in the way of good

08:28 Sarah's blog - WTH is Energy Modeling

13:29 The assumptions that go into a model - the art of energy modeling

18:14 Tracking deltas and metrics between stages of design

20:50 Approaches for demonstrating a track record and real-world validation

23:25 Weather - and weather files - as a variable

25:30 How is climate change affecting energy modeling?

28:26 Did you know it is hot in July?

29:00 Thermal comfort and the behavior of people as major variable

31:14 Andy Payne's smart fan prototype and personal comfort devices

33:34 Unprecedented data on the built environment

36:36 Commentary on Proving Ground's thermostat

37:44 Nate intentionally does not have smart home devices

39:20 Kristen discusses data collection and when ad targeting goes wrong

39:53 TIL about beards

40:35 Drinking water purification

42:07 How did Sarah get into engineering?

44:50 Sarah worked for an energy modeling startup

45:52 Startups filling gaps not covered by conventional practices

50:17 Sarah created voice narration to Omaha's plumbing code.

52:51 The benefits and risks of democratizing tools and knowledge for specialized knowledge

55:16 Technology and the disruption of professions - UpCodes and ICC legal troubles

58:51 Response and resistance to radical change and disruption

1:00:46 How likely is it that your job will be automated?

1:02:46 Technology and experts speaking up about positive change and benefits of technology

1:03:23 What work is exciting Sarah right now?

1:09:16 Sarah's advice to other engineers and professionals

Matt Goldsberry from HDR joins Nate Miller and Dave Stasiuk from Proving Ground in to discuss his career path and how computational design is being adopted as part of HDR's global architecture practice.

Discussion topics:

00:25 Discussion on the podcast format

01:06 Why panel discussion formats don't work well at events

02:21 Introducing Matt Goldsberry, Digital Design Principal from HDR

03:27 Matt calls out Nate for having a really bad computer while in school

04:31 Matt and Nate discuss conventional academic studies

05:15 Matt discusses moving to Los Angeles and his semester at SCI-Arc

08:21 Matt goes to work in China

09:45 Digital trends in undergraduate school

10:29 Nate and Matt comment on the era's of SCI-Arc in the early 2000s

11:04 Acadmics and the interest in digital fabrication

12:39 Why isn't digital fabrication as big in practice?

15:30 Matt discusses trying a career path in the entertainment industry

19:21 How did Matt end up in Omaha, Nebraska?

20:41 Student loans - Architecture is expensive!

22:08 Hard to start a business when saddle with student loan debt

23:21 Matt joins HDR Architecture in Omaha

25:45Leveraging corporate resources of a "BIG SHIP"

27:08 A long process to establish a computational design agenda

29:33 Collaborating with the firm's data scientists

33:40 Conventional design services and digital transformation

35:36 Using data to benchmark design

37:47 How sophisticated are Building Information Models?

40:15 When did the lightbulb go off at HDR that the needed to invest in computation?

43:30 When did Matt make the shift from designer to computational designer?

46:10 Using computational design in workshops with clients

48:11 SketchUp as the "prototype" for presenting design models

49:52 Does Matt ever use "sketchy lines" in software?

54:11 Architects have the opportunity to be great storytellers with data

56:40 Building credibility for computational design at HDR

59:59 What is Matt's one piece of advice for starting a successful computational design initiative?

The beta test! We're trying out a new format, ironing out the bugs, and talking about technology - In the FIRST Prove It podcast, Nate Miller, Dave Stasiuk, and Kristen Schulte review recent AEC technology news and discuss the (over)hype vs. reality of the Generative Design trend in architecture.

Part 1 - Technology News and Discussion

Time: 02:46 - 26:35

McNeel's Rhino.Inside and Dassault's xGenerative Design

Generative Design - History, trend, (over)hype, and reality

Proving Ground's April Fools prank

Nate gives an overview of podcast topics

02:46 - Discussion of McNeel's Rhino.Inside

06:53 - Discussion of Grasshopper with Rhino.Inside - Is it a Dynamo killer?

09:56 - Dassault's new xGenerative Design product

13:17 - Evolution of computational design tools and the trend of Grasshopper cloning

14:25 - McNeel is a consistently a step ahead

14:36 - Throwback to Generative Components!

15:56 - Growing a community starting with Explicit History - the first version of Grasshopper

16:46 - Skeptical about Dassault's platform approach

18:09 - Is Dassault's Catia platform too expensive for today's Architecture businesses?

20:08 - The potential for end-to-end building design and delivery with Catia

25:38- Architectural drawing and cultural shifts that have struggled to take hold with BIM

Part 2 - Generative What?

Time: 26:35 - 59:29

26:35 - Generative What?

30:34 - Dave on the emergence of today's Generative Design conversation

33:51- Why is "Generative Design" not really "Generative"?

35:26 - Historical context - the definition of Generative Art

39:17 - Discussion on pervasive marketing for Generative Design

39:46 - Observations of problems with over-hyping technology with marketing

44:31 - Discussion about the fragility and limits of parametric models

46:14 - Skepticism of using "generative" tools for space planning

50:10 - The marketing machine taking over the conversation

56:34 - Wrap up and conclusions