“Working with SOM to implement our building information modeling platform and collaboration services on a project of this stature and complexity helps us to discover new and better ways to serve businesses across the construction industry,” says Phil Bernstein, FAIA, vp of Autodesk’s Building Solutions Division.

Another way the entertainment industry has enhanced architectural design is through the fusion of gaming technology with design visualization. A perfect example of this is the new Fulton Street Transit Center complex in Lower Manhattan. The central entrance, a newly engineered structure along Broadway between Fulton and John Streets, will provide Lower Manhattan commuters, residents and visitors with an identifiable improvement to the transportation system and urban environment.

The global design firm of Arup, which has designed such varied structures as the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank, Allianz Stadum in Munich, Beijing National Stadium and facilities at London’s Heathrow Airport, is the lead consultant for the project. According to project director David Palmer of Arup, “The designs for the new transit center will enhance both the transit system and urban life for Lower Manhattan, bring 21st century amenities and preserve the heritage at the site. The FSTC [Fulton Station Transit Center] complex as a whole will play a major part in making Downtown one of the most accessible business districts in the world and one of the best places to work, visit and live in New York City.”

Jeffrey Holmes, senior designer on the Freedom Tower and an associate partner at SOM, finds that Autodesk allows his team to work simultaneously in a 3D realtime environment. Courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.

One of the busiest underground interchanges in New York City, the Center’s six interlinked stations now serve nine subway lines. The design reworks the existing system into one streamlined Transit Center serving 12 subway lines for more than 100 million annual riders, providing access to and from the core of Lower Manhattan. As part of the presentation to their clients, Arup designers took another page from the entertainment industry and went realtime.

Campbell notes how they cross-pollinated technology between different markets. “They used the Criterion engine, which is a games engine used for such games as Grand Theft Auto 3 and other popular titles. They used that engine to actually do the visualization, and they were able to deliver that to the client so the client could then use a very interactive game play style approach to walking around the plan. They could even jump on a train and go to the next station. And because it’s in a realtime environment like a game, they were able to do it at their own leisure and take a close look at every aspect of the design. It’s a very exciting development for the architectural world because it’s realtime visualization. That’s what I like to call it.”

One other interesting aspect of all this is the way designers and engineers at firms such as Arup that are involved in the designing of auditoriums can use the special capabilities of 3ds max for sub-object animation in order to analyze other aspects of building design. For example, they can used max’s sub-object animation feature in to see how sound particles propagate in an auditorium that’s being designed for a symphony orchestra. It allows them to actually visualize the way an acoustics phenomenon performs.

So, from computer-generated animation to gaming technology, the entertainment industry’s hunger for innovation and quality has certainly improved the way architects and their clients do business and put projects such as the Freedom Tower and the Fulton Street Transit Center on a fast-track to completion. No doubt further strides in entertainment technology will have a pronounced effect on product designers in all fields as they come to rely on their mouse pads even more than their sketchpads.

J. Paul Peszko is a freelance writer and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He writes various features and reviews as well as short fiction. He has a feature comedy in development and has just completed his second novel. When he isn’t writing, he teaches communications courses.