AECnews.com

Autodesk Releases New Version of NavisWorks Product Line

Randall Newton — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:52:00 GMT

Support for DGN V8 tops the list of new features in the latest release of Autodesk NavisWorks, the model review software that many large construction firms swear by.

NavisWorks 2009.1 also features

·        Support for Revit assembly codes for "symbol" element types
·        Properties support for new style DWF files (as exported from Revit)
·        Asta Powerproject V10 support
·        AutoCAD Mechanical 2008 64-bit support
·        64-bit exporters now included in the main installer
·        Vico Constructor 2008 support
·        Enhancements to application programming interface

There was some concern in AEC circles that Autodesk would do NavisWorks more harm than good when it was acquired. But that seems not to be the case. Updates were made to the full Autodesk NavisWorks product line, which enables seamless visualization of all types of models, precise replication of designs, and accurate simulation of 4D construction schedules. Modules are:

·        Autodesk NavisWorks Review -- for standard, real-time review and model aggregation

·        Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate -- includes Autodesk NavisWorks Review and adds timeline and 4D (construction sequencing visualization) capabilities

·        Autodesk NavisWorks Manage -- adds clash detection and interference management functionality

·        Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom -- a free viewer for files in Autodesk NavisWorks NWD and 3D DWF formats.

Autodesk NavisWorks 2009.1 products are now available worldwide in English, French, German, Japanese, Russian and Simplified Chinese. Additionally, Autodesk NavisWorks Freedom is now available as a free add-on product with Autodesk NavisWorks Manage, Autodesk NavisWorks Simulate and Autodesk NavisWorks Review installs.

More information can be found at www.autodesk.com/navisworks.

--RSN

Nemetschek Discovers Timber-Based Construction

Randall Newton — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:07:00 GMT

Nemetschek Allplan this week announced an agreement with a smaller German software vendor to jointly develop design software for the timber-based construction industry. To the American sensibility, this announcement seems slightly odd. But, as the announcement notes:

“... every sixth private home in Germany is built using timber construction. The [Association of German Prefabricated Building Manufacturers]estimates that the proportion of timber construction projects will continue to increase. The expertise of architects and designers in using and building with this material will have an important influence on future developments.”

Allplan has been a top seller in AEC for a generation because it is more suited to European building materials and methods. It takes what I've always called a slab-based approach to design, more in keeping with the stone-based construction methods predominate in most European markets.

The deal calls for Nemetschek Allplan and Weto, both based in Bavaria, to jointly develop and market design software for the carpentry and timber construction industries. The firms note that European builders are turning toward an increased use of timber “due to its lower ecological impact. The new solution will guarantee users a consistent data flow from design to production, allowing them to design buildings in a sustainable manner.”

“For economic and ecological reasons, wood is one of the building materials of the future. We want to give our customers a tool that allows them to design timber construction products efficiently in terms of energy and resources. With its expertise in timber construction, Weto is the ideal partner for us,” says Peter Mehlstäubler, General Manager of Nemetschek Allplan GmbH.

Allplan says modern-day high-tech timber houses “combine increasing industrial prefabrication and modern building services so that decisions can be made during the design phase.”

“We cannot do without a design tool that covers everything from the draft to the working design, cost management, production and final acceptance all within a single data system,” continues Thomas Krenn, Member of the Managing Board of Weto AG. “The cooperation between Allplan and Weto creates a unique solution for the construction sector, optimized within a single program,” adds Otto Toso, CEO of Weto AG.

The two companies envision creating an integrated timber construction solution that will:

“... help users to design their projects to meet environmental criteria, cost efficiency and high quality. Consistent data flow from design to manufacture makes it possible to combine solid construction and timber construction in a single application, as well as specialist timber head profiles, dormer constructions and much more. User-friendly wizards make the application easy to learn and use. For architects and designers this means improved performance with less workload.”

The first joint customer solutions are planned for early 2009.

--RSN

Minor (?) Landing Incident at Chicago O'Hare

Randall Newton — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 21:38:00 GMT

I travelled today to Chicago, for meetings tomorrow with Oce about their hot new technology for wide format printing.

Upon landing in Chicago (United #632, Seattle-Chicago O'Hare) the braking seemed to be hard and erratic. We came to a full stop at the end of the runway, off to the side. The pilot came on the intercom and said the nose landing gear failed upon touchdown, losing the ability to steer the aircraft. The co-pilot got us out of harm's way by steering with the brakes on the rear landing wheels. About 15 minutes later, we were being towed, with emergency vehicles all around us flashing their lights as we proceeded to the gate.

As a kid I learned how to steer a tractor using the rear brakes -- I can only imagine how hard it was for the co-pilot to steer a Boeing 737 using only the brakes on the rear wheels.

Everybody was calm, and the crew acted as if everything was just fine, but as an experienced traveler I realize that a stopped jet is never really out of harm's way until it is at the gate.

When we finally parked at the gate, we were two minutes early. All's well that ends well, right?

-- RSN

New MEP Analysis Pack Available at Autodesk Labs

Randall Newton — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:27:00 GMT

Today Autodesk released The MEP Analysis Extension as a free technology preview from Autodesk Labs. The MEP Analysis Extension is a set of 25 utilities that MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) engineers can use to better understand how a building system will perform before it is built, ultimately helping MEP engineers reduce energy costs and environmental impact while improving the performance of building systems.

Today Autodesk also released the HVAC Load Calculation Extension, available to Autodesk Subscription customers of AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP. The Load Calculation Extenion performs peak cooling and heating load analysis for commercial buildings so that engineers can properly size HVAC equipment.

Both extensions can function as stand-alone applications, but also work in conjunction with both AutoCAD MEP and Revit MEP.

The MEP Analysis Extension calculates rule-of-thumb cooling and heating loads for commercial and residential buildings, calculates total R-Values for walls and roofs, determines psychrometric properties of air, and more. Running these types of calculations through the MEP Analysis Extension can help MEP engineers reduce error and waste, potentially saving energy costs. The MEP Analysis Extension also contains utilities for sizing duct work, piping, and HVAC systems – helping engineers and architects identify the most appropriate building equipment early in the design cycle.

The following utilities are included in the MEP Analysis Extension:

Metric-English Units Converter
Single-state psychrometric calculations
Mixed-air psychrometric calculations
Duct sizing calculations
ASHRAE duct fitting pressure loss calculations
General pipe sizing
Hot/chilled water pipe sizing
Steam pipe sizing
Low pressure gas pipe sizing
High pressure gas pipe sizing
Refrigerant pipe sizing
Fan cost analysis
Fan curve analysis
Pump curve analysis
Rule-of-thumb commercial HVAC load calculations
Simple residential/light commercial HVAC load calculations
Swimming pool heating calculations
U-value calculations
gbXML parser
Wire sizing utility
Glass moisture condensation
Life-Cycle cost analysis
A super calculator for complex equations
Manage HVAC equipment lists
Manage climatic weather data

The HVAC Load Calculation Extension is a comprehensive HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning) load calculation software tool that determines building peak cooling and heating loads based upon current calculation techniques from ASHRAE. Using the results from the software, engineers can properly size cooling and heating equipment without over-sizing such equipment which often results in wasted energy. The Load Calculation Extension works as a stand-alone application, but also integrates easily with BIM modelers such as Revit MEP.

Product Availability
The MEP Analysis Extension is available as a free technology preview from Autodesk Labs and can be downloaded at: http://labs.autodesk.com/utilities/mep_analysis_extension/. Visitors to Autodesk Labs are encouraged to experiment with inventive new tools and provide feedback to the Autodesk team. Participants may comment on the MEP Analysis Extension by emailing: labs.mep.analysis@autodesk.com.
The MEP Analysis Extension is subject to terms and conditions applicable to Autodesk Labs. The utilities included in the extension are currently available in English only, but will operate with all language versions of AutoCAD MEP 2009 and Revit MEP 2009 software.

The HVAC Load Calculation Extension is available to customers of AutoCAD MEP 2009 and Revit MEP 2009 on Autodesk Subscription and is subject to Autodesk Subscription terms and conditions. The extension is currently available in English only, but will operate with all language versions of AutoCAD MEP 2009 and Revit MEP 2009 software.

--RSN

Open Design Alliance Announces New Educational Program

Randall Newton — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 09:34:00 GMT

The Open Design Alliance (ODA) announces the launch of “Education and the ODA,” a program aimed to stimulate research in CAD/CAM and other engineering software applications by educational organizations.

Educational institutes, groups, and students interested in or already performing CAD/CAM research can register as ODA Educational Members free of charge. Educational Members have free access to ODA software libraries, and depending on the educational project and application, in special cases the source code can be made available at the discretion of the ODA Board of Directors.

The first annual Education and the ODA Showcase launches this year with the posting of project summaries on www.opendesign.com and an annual prize awarded for the most noteworthy and remarkable educational project.

ODA president Arnold van der Weide says the initiative is a way to promote innovation in CAD. “The CAD/CAM industry lacks innovation due to limited research in engineering software,” he said in a prepared statement. “Our education initiative is an extension of our commitment to CAD technology software development, with the added benefit to students and universities interested in creating and exploring new technologies.”

More details: http://www.opendesign.com/education.

-- from a press release

Autodesk and Bentley to Swap Access to Internal Product Libraries

Randall Newton — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:22:00 GMT

Autodesk and Bentley Systems today announced a wide-ranging agreement to cooperate on interoperability issues by exchanging file format code libraries and providing access to each other's application programming interfaces (API's). While the deal is a win-win in the long run, it gives short-term competitive advantage to Autodesk. For full details, please read the new AECnews article "Autodesk and Bentley to Cooperate on AEC Software Interoperability."

--RSN

Autodesk and Bentley to Cooperate on Interoperability

Randall Newton — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:08:00 GMT

Autodesk and Bentley just released a joint announcement describing an agreement to cooperate on interoperability. Details to follow after the press conference.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Most Sessions Now Available for Viewing on YouTube

Randall Newton — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:51:00 GMT

Most of the sessions from last month's Google SketchUp 3D Basecamp are now available for viewing on Google YouTube. Visit http://sites.google.com/site/3dbasecamp2008/ for a list of sessions and links.

-- RSN

Autodesk to Make Technology Announcement Today

Randall Newton — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:54:00 GMT

On short notice, Autodesk is inviting "a few key press" to attend a press teleconference today at 1:30 p.m Pacific time.

The announcement came from the platform division, so it is likely the news concerns AutoCAD.

In May there was a PR boo-boo involving Autodesk and Bentley (see, "Why in the World Was Carl Bass Scheduled to Tele-Appear at the Bentley Conference?"). Perhaps we will be learning about an agreement for a direct technology swap between Autodesk and Bentley. That would be good news indeed, unless you are part of the Open Design Alliance.

--RSN

Exploring Digital Sketching in Architecture

Randall Newton — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 09:17:00 GMT

The next presentation of AIA New York Technology Committee will explore the use of digital sketching in architecture as an alternative to traditional, manual approaches to the earliest stages of design.

Markus Dochantschi, the principal and founder at studioMDA New York, will share his design explorations using digital sketching July 8, 2008 starting at 6:00 p.m., at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place, New York City. RSVP is required to “paul-dot-seletsky-at-som-dot-com.”

studioMDA has used animated digital sketches to write a script, a digital story book, which becomes the basis for architectural design. studioMDA has teamed with artists, video artists, and choreographers, among others to define space generated by various artistic endeavors. According to AIANY Technology Committee member Erleen Hatfield, PE, studioMDA uses the resulting multi-discipline context to layer architectural syntax “into micro and macro scales, balancing the smallest detail with the topographical/urban fabric.”

Dochantschi was trained as an architect in Darmstadt, Germany, where he graduated with a master of architecture in 1995. He worked in Japan with Arata Isozaki in Tokyo in 1993 and with Tom Heneghan in 1994. From 1995 to 2002, he worked with Zaha Hadid in London, as a director, project director, project architect and designer for such projects as Landesgartenschau Germany, Ski Jump Austria, Contemporary Arts Center Ohio, and the Vista Master plan Singapore. He founded studioMDA in New York in 2002.

Markus has been guest critic at the Architectural Association London, UK; Columbia University, Cooper Union, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the ETH Zurich, Switzerland; the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst Vienna, Austria, and has taught at the Yale School of Architecture as a “Critic in Architecture” with Zaha Hadid in 2004, 2005 and with Stephan Behnisch and Gerald Hines in 2006.

For more information on studioMDA, visit www.studiomda.com

--RSN

New Eco-Friendly Residential Tower Created in ArchiCAD

Randall Newton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 11:27:00 GMT

Groundbreaking is slated for 3Q 2008 on an eco-friendly residential tower in Austin, Texas, that aims to be a centerpiece of both urban sustainability and the city’s downtown revitalization efforts.

7 Rio Condominiums, designed with ArchiCAD by Austin architects, Rhode Partners, is a 34-story luxury high-rise residential community being built near the Texas capital’s cultural and political epicenter. Nearly 400 feet high, the 158-unit “point-tower” building will be seeking LEED Silver certification and four stars under the Austin Energy Green Building Program, the country's first comprehensive program to encourage using sustainable building techniques in residential and municipal construction. The building will have six levels of structured parking, 27 residential levels, and 7,300 square feet of retail space.

“We designed 7 Rio to be both disciplined and beautiful, making a stunning addition to the Austin skyline,” said Brett Rhode AIA, principle with Rhode Partners. “We believe our approach to sustainable design elevates the building beyond luxury, resonating with Austin’s environmentally conscious population.”

Using a Building Information Modeling (BIM) design approach, Rhode Partners organized 7 Rio into four distinct tiers of varying unit sizes. The building’s exterior reflects these tiers, visually representing the wide variety of interior spaces within. The building’s exterior is clad with a rain-screen system of expanded aluminum accented by glass fins which vary subtly in color. Deep balconies with glass guardrails offer expansive views of the “Live Music Capitol of the World” and the surrounding Texas Hill Country. The building’s rooftop consists of amenity spaces, a dramatic pool and roof gardens.

“Rhode Partners is one of the first Austin-based architectural firms to fully utilize BIM to coordinate all aspects of building design and to produce 3D databases of its projects,” said Joanna Hartman AIA, Design Manager for the project. “Our use of ArchiCAD made every phase of the 7 Rio project – from cost estimating to marketing – run smoothly and on schedule, while providing a wealth of real-time data for the owners and building partners.”

-- From a press release

3D Basecamp: Rendering and Animation Software for Google SketchUp

Randall Newton — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:49:00 GMT

The following list of software tools for rendering or animating Google SketchUp 3D models was adapted from a handout distributed at the recent Google Sketchup 3D Basecamp.

Commerical Products

Podium, www.suplugins.com, $178, Direct SketchUp Integration.

IDX Renditioner, www.idx-design.com, $199, Direct SketchUp Integration, formerly TurboSketch.

Vue 6 xStream, www.e-onsoftware.com, $695 and up, imports .skp files.

Vue 6 infinite, www.e-onsoftware.com, $895 and up, imports .skp files.

Piranesi, www.piranesi.co.uk, $750, non-photorealistic, requires plug-in for SketchUp.

Artlantis, www.artlantis.com, $795, requires SketchUp exporter plug-in.

Vray for SketchUp, http://asgvis.com, $799, Direct SketchUp integration.

Maxwell Render, www.maxwellrender.com, $995, requires SketchUp exporter plug-in.

FryRender, www.fryrender.com, $1240, requires plug-in.

Open Source Products

Indigo, www.indigorenderer.com/joomla, unbiased renderer, requires SketchUp exporter plug-in.

Kerkythea, www.kerkythea.com/joomla, biased renderer, requires SketchUp exporter plug-in.

POV-Ray, www.povray.com, Requires SketchUp plug-in found at www.crai.archi.fr/Ruby/LibraryDepot/Ruby/su2pov.html.

Other Products of Interest

LuxRender, http://luxrender.net, open source, high quality unbiased render engine, no direct SketchUp integration, but can be integrated with the open source product Blender.

Sunflow, http://sunflow.sourceforge.net, open source, high quality biased render engine, no direct SketchUp integration, but can be integrated with Blender.

iClone, www.reallusion.com/3dx.asp, $199, non-photo-realistic animation using SketchUp models.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: At Burt Hill, the Workflow Includes Excel, SketchUp, Revit, IES, and the Onuma Planning System

Randall Newton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:50:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--Now speaking is Mark Dietrick with Burt Hill, an international architectural firm based in Pennsylvania. Dietrick described the BIM workflow the company is adopting, which sees Building Information Modeling as a process, not as a tool. Their workflow from initial concept to final construction documents includes Microsoft Excel, SketchUp, Revit, IES, and the Onuma Planning System, a new web-based architectural planning tool Dietrick calls "incredible." At any time data may need to go in either direction between these products, and the team at Burt Hill seems to do it nearly effortlessly.

In the discussion time at the end of the session, one attendee mentioned there is a new open source web-based product about to come online. I'll check it out after this conference is over, but for now take a look at BIM Server: http://bimserver.org/

Dietrick says Burt Hill's "preferred structural engineers" are now working in Revit, and they have told other engineering firms that they'd better get with Revit if they want any new business.

Not relevant to the discussion, but interesting nonetheless: For years Burt Hill was a MicroStation-based design firm. But MicroStation was not mentioned once during Dietrick's presentation until I asked about it. He said that at the beginning of the BIM era, about the time that Autodesk acquired Revit, they had some of their MicroStation TriForma users test Revit. They preferred the parametric controls, which saved much rework time when compared to MicroStation TriForma. Burt Hill still uses other Bentley products, expecially from their civil division, and Dietrick raves about Bentley's Generative Components. But at the time they made the decision, the key users who had tested Revit did not want to go back to MicroStation.

The more I talk to end users, the more I realize that while Revit may be the fastest growing BIM software, by no means is the "war" for BIM mindshare over. Most firms will evolve a workflow like the one Dietrick described--specific tools for specific processes.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: There Will Be No Product Announcements

Randall Newton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:28:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--In case you are only following these postings looking for product announcements (new version, new features, etc.) don't bother. The press attending Basecamp have been told there will be no product announcements made during the conference.

Unlike most software companies, Google rarely issues press releases regarding product updates. When there is news, it will appear on one of the many corporate blogs. The Official Google SketchUp Blog (http://sketchupdate.blogspot.com/) has a post from yesterday announcing the start of the conference, but nothing more. There will be a posting tomorrow announcing a design challenge for SketchUp users organized by Architecture for Humanity.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Turning Models into Art with SketchUp and Piranesi

Randall Newton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 09:18:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--The first presentation I'm attending this morning is on the use of 3D rendering tools. The first presenter is discussing his work using Piranesi to turn Sketchup models into client presentions. The results are gorgeous. Some look like watercolors, others like the artist was using colored chalk. Piranesi ($750) is for non-photo-realistic (NPR) rendering of models. The presenter calls Piranesi "an art medium, not a tool... every artist will come up with different results, even on the same model. It is not in competition with Photoshop; it is a completely different animal."

--RSN

3D Basecamp: The Writing on the Wall

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:23:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--When I was in college, we would put event notices inside bathroom stalls if we really wanted people to see them. I guess somebody at Google understands the principle. On the wall by each commode or urinal I've seen today is a detailed tutorial called "Testing Against Local MySQL." The tutorial is in a plastic case that has copies behind it. A stall visitor can start reading the tutorial, then take a copy when he or she leaves. (For the record, I'm guessing the "she" part; I've only been in men's bathrooms.)

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Posting Models to Google Earth? Be Patient

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:34:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--Our presenter says if you post a SketchUp model for placement in Google Earth, it takes from three to six weeks before the model will appear--if accepted--in Google Earth. There is obviously a vetting process, to make sure the model is accurate and correctly georeferenced. Google must be getting a ton of submissions daily if it takes up to six weeks before a model appears.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Flattening 3D Objects onto a 2D Plane

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:22:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--I'm still in the geomodeling session. There is a pointer to a useful tutorial and a script written by a SketchUp enthusiast on how to flatten 3D objects onto 2D planes. You can see it, and download the Ruby script, at http://sketchuptips.blogspot.com/2007/08/plugin-unfoldrb.html.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Resources for Learning about Geomodeling with SketchUp and Google Earth

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:06:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--In my previous post I said the info in the session "Introduction to Georeferencing with SketchUp and Google Earth" is too dense to adequately blog. That's true, but here are some resources if the topic interests you:

Modeling A City Guide PDF: http://www.google.com/intl/en/sketchup/3dwh/pdfs/modeling_a_city.pdf

Video Tutorials: http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/3dbuildviewer.html

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Complaining about Bandwidth at The Googleplex

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:00:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--I'm now in a session on "geomodeling"--placing SketchUp models into Google Earth. It's quite a detailed, hands-on session, not the kind of stuff suitable for a blog post.

Both this presenter and the previous one made disparaging comments about the speed of bandwidth in the conference room. To watch what they are doing on the big screeen, it doesn't seem so bad. Either these people are used to a firehose blast of bandwidth, or perhaps Google constrains bandwidth in their conference room. It seems funny that people inside Google would complain about bandwidth.

Now everyone is complaining about bandwidth because the instructor suggested having everybody get on Google Earth (the room is equipped with computers at each seat). Having everyone follow along won't work, so the instructor is going back to Plan A, just presenting on the big screen. (She didn't plan for having attendees follow along with computers, which turns out to be a good thing.)

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Promoting Your Work Using the Google Portfolio

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:41:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--The afternoon will consist of a variety of training sessions, with a keynote presentation at the end of the day. My first session is "Promoting Your Work Using Google Resources." The presenters, from Igloo Studios, are showing off how several SketchUp users take advantage of other Google tools to promote their work. On the big screen right now is the work of Michelle Kauffman Designs, a company we have written about before here at AECnews. They create innovative "pre-fab" homes. They make SketchUp models available through their web site and through the Google SketchUp 3D Warehouse.

Picasa is being recommended as an easy way to create a slide show presentation and post it inside a blog, which of course could be hosted using Blogger--Picasa and Blogger both being Google products.

Igloo Designs says they find it easier to attract their target audience using Google tools, and it saves them the bother of either doing custom website development or buying other software to do the same thing. They also create "The SketchUp Show," taking advantage of Google's YouTube.

Google SketchUp Web Exporter is a new tool in beta that allows the user to enable a simple interactive view of a SketchUp model for any web page without a browser plug-in. The end result is a SketchUp model that can be rotated in 3D by any visitor to the website. It is so new that very few people are using it. Someone in the audience has started using it, and has modified the code to expand its capabilities. I'll try to track this guy down after the session.

--RSN

3D Basecamp: Lunch at Charlie's Cafe

Randall Newton — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:39:00 GMT

GOOGLE SKETCHUP 3D BASECAMP, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA--Think of the typical shopping mall food court. Now think of such a place in Neiman Marcus or Saks Fifth Avenue. Now imagine all the food is free. That's Charlie's Cafe, the largest "cafeteria" at Google. It was a mob scene for a few minutes as all the 3D Basecamp attendees crowded in to chow down.

There is a tomato scare in the US this week, but not at Charlie's Cafe. A cook told me they private-source most of their fresh vegetables, including tomatoes. So I swarmed the salad bar and had tomatoes along with the marinated mushrooms and the other stuff.

--RSN