Metropolis Magazine's short interview with Rick Smith is so dense with fascinating information, I'd have to excerpt the whole thing, so just got read it now.
He talks about convincing Frank Gehry to buy CATIA, the aerospace industry CAD/CAM software that revolutionized Gehry's--and, increasingly, other architects'--practice. He talks about how he helps Richard Serra make those Torqued Ellipses. [I love that Serra makes them by hand, with lead sheets and wooden elliptical forms, then converts them to information -- "height, radius, angle"--for fabrication. It links them to those plaster models of mathematical equations Hiroshi Sugimoto photographed.] He talks about the organizational behavior challenges of architectural practice; when someone instrumental to such far-reaching changes on the profession talks about collaboration vs competition, architects around the world should perk up their ears.
Unfortunately, even the title of the article tells me Smith's message is not gonna get through to large swaths of stratifying, pigeonholing, black-framed eyeglasses-wearing divas.
The Engineer Supporting Serraís Sculptures [metropolismag.com]
