Kseniya Simonova is a Ukrainian artist who just won Ukraine's version of "America's Got Talent." She uses a giant light box, dramatic music, imagination and "sand painting" skills to interpret Germany's invasion and occupation of Ukraine during WWII. Enjoy!

Building of the year award 2009, RIBA award was won by Lord Richard Rogers with his amazing building, The Maggie's Centre, London.

The building was opened to the public by Nigella Lawson and Maggie's Patron, Sarah Brown, on 29 April 2008.

The small, orange building with a roof that seems to float above it has enlivened a challenging corner of Fulham Palace Road, with a tranquil garden leading up to the entrance. Stone sculptures and wooden benches provide welcome and pleasant places to sit along the winding path to the front door.

Designed on a domestic scale, the centre's heart is the double-height kitchen, from which the three sitting rooms, library, courtyard gardens and a number of other spaces for more private or personal conversations, open. Light fills the interior, coming through the glazed walls at first floor level and through openings in the roof.

Despite being on a busy main road, the centre is surprisingly quiet inside, thanks to the protection of the wall and birch trees which wrap around it. The birch-faced ply and fair-face concrete finishes and furnishings - that include rugs by Paolo Lenti and furniture by Alvar Aalto - add to the relaxed, homely atmosphere.

Since opening its doors, the team at Maggie's have welcomed a constant stream of visitors with cups of tea, knowledge and support, as well as a wide range of events and activities, from lunch clubs to yoga. Maggie's Centre, London is already receiving in the region of 50 visitors per day.

Building also won the Civic Trust award see link

zliten campus at asmariya university for islamic sciences by RMJM architects
image courtesy RMJM architects

RMJM architects have received the islamic architecture award for their work on
the zliten campus at asmariya university for islamic sciences in libya at the cityscape
awards in dubai, 2009.

the zliten campus is a new branch of al asmariya university, located 75 miles southeast
of tripoli. RMJM’s architects designed a campus master plan for the development of
the 202-acre site. core academic functions are organized in four quadrants within
a perimeter habitable wall that houses faculty offices and academic support functions.

with a total build-out of more than 1 million square feet, the new campus provides
academic and support buildings, a conference and student center as well as
administration, library, recreation and residential spaces for a population of 4,600 students.


image courtesy RMJM architects


image courtesy RMJM architects


image courtesy RMJM architects


image courtesy RMJM architects

The Connection Extension for Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 design visualization software offers a range of new and enhanced connectivity features exclusively to Autodesk Subscription program customers.

Enhanced Interoperability with CAD Packages

Bring solid models from many of your favorite CAD packages into 3ds Max Design 2010 for visual enhancement and export them back when you’re done. A new, high-fidelity SAT data translator makes it easier for designers to move solids-based design data between 3ds Max Design and Autodesk Revit Architecture software, Autodesk Inventor Professional software, or third-party CAD products such as Solidworks, Rhino, and FormZ. The SAT translator offers:

Import of geometric boundary representation data for trimmed surfaces, solids models, and assemblies as 3ds Max “bodies” (boundary representations based on NURBS).
The ability to retain imported data as the mathematical description of the surface. Users can determine and modify the conversion to polygons at any time.



Extensive Connectivity with Google SketchUp
Develop a concept in Google SketchUp software, and finesse it in 3ds Max Design. The Connection Extension for 3ds Max Design 2010 features a powerful new SKP file translator that enables you to bring SketchUp scenes into 3ds Max Design with a high degree of data preservation. And 3ds Max Design can now read thousands of free SketchUp models from the 3D Warehouse section of the Google website. The SKP translator includes:

Support for the double-faced materials workflow available in SketchUp, so arbitrary surface orientations don’t cause models to appear to be missing faces when displayed in 3ds Max Design.
Preservation of original pivot and scaling values of objects and instances, so designers don’t have to redo work.
Consolidation of material references. Multiple uses of the same SketchUp material are collected and referenced back to a single material, saving designers time if a change is required.



Streamlined Compositing with OpenEXR
Create professional-quality cinematic narratives. A rewritten OpenEXR translator makes it easier to work with compositing applications, enabling you to seamlessly blend CG animation with live action footage. The OpenEXR plug-in includes:

Advanced options for transferring extra elements, such as camera information and scripted data, reducing the number of iterations required to achieve a final result.
The ability to store render elements and G-buffer channels to EXR layers.



Intelligent Workflows
Save time and avoid costly geometry cleanup work with new, more effective workflows for dealing with complex scenes that enable you to:

Optimize display and rendering of imported solid and NURBS-based bodies.
Fix imported bodies with new repair tools.
Map the daylight system in SketchUp to the daylight system in 3ds Max Design, for a faster, more painless visualization workflow.
Select a layer from an OpenEXR file to use in a 3ds Max Design material. This functionality is similar to the way Adobe Photoshop software layers are used as textures in a material.

To download log on to your Autodesk subscription centre

Via Autodesk Press Release …