There is now an official press release.

Autodesk Gallery at One Market Opens in San Francisco, Showcasing Design Process

For images and more information about the Autodesk Gallery, visit http://www.autodesk.com/thegallery.

The Autodesk Gallery at One Market

Now I can show the photos I took and discuss the Autodesk Gallery from my perspective. I also heard it called the Autodesk Design Gallery and I liked that name better as it highlights Design which I got a sense of while there.

I was at the One Market office and now including a new Autodesk Gallery located along the Embarcadero looking directly at the historic landmark San Francisco Ferry Terminal with stellar head on view. We have many of our offices and teams located in the same One Market building. I was there for a customer design validation event looking at the future of AutoCAD and getting the customer feedback with the AutoCAD Product Design Team that was held in the new Autodesk Gallery in the most high tech training room I have ever seen. We had high tech walls and even 4 high definition projectors.  The view looking out the front windows is priceless and beautiful. You can see down the waterfront, the Ferry Terminal, and the Bay Bridge all from the location of the Design Gallery. The Gallery has also been has been submitted for a LEED Platinum CI certification. I even bumped into Autodesk CEO Carl Bass while there but he was quite busy getting ready for the grand opening of the Gallery.

Design has never played a more important role in turning change into opportunity. Everyday, Autodesk customers are recreating the world around us and how we experience it – new and innovative processes to things never before seen. This gallery showcases some of that daring work and illustrates the ways an idea can become real.

The Design Gallery showcases many great products and projects from architecture, auto design, to the large Bay Bridge new span. Immediately as you step off the elevator you are presented with a large airplane turbo prop engine. The architecture of the space is modern yet relaxed like that of a gallery. Each area has information and nice pullout information drawer panels to see more about the projects. It was excellent to see that we have taken the high road and list all design software used in the projects not just Autodesk. Most anyone realizes that when a claim that a large product or project was done completely in one design software is stretching real world reality.

Jason Medal-Katz was the circus leader to put this all together and he did a fantastic job. Some of the products and Projects A large LEGO sculpture (62,000), The Bay Bridge Model including models of the rebar and tension cable which combine many smaller cables, a Ford Shelby GT 500 yes a car on the second floor instead of on the road. I tried to sneak the GT 500 down the elevator but it was too heavy and would not fit. I even got to use the One Laptop per Child laptop. There was also a model Chrysler Super Bee Concept Car in the Gallery.

Here is the complete list of items represented in the Gallery:

• Ford Motor Company – Shelby GT500
• The LEGO Group – LEGOLAND Mega Model
• Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Arup, Stantec Architecture, SWA – California Academy of Sciences
• FIRST Robotics – FIRST Robotics Competition
• 42 Surfboards – Hollow-Body Surfboard
• Yves Behar/fuseproject – One Laptop per Child
• Virtual Cinematography – Intersense and Autodesk
• California Department of Transportation; Bay Area Toll Authority; California Transportation Commission; Parsons Brinckerhoff; T. Y. Lin/Moffat & Nichol A Joint Venture – Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP – Cathedral of Christ the Light
• The Permasteelisa Group – Double Skin Facades
• ADEPT Airmotive – Airplane Engine
• Black Diamond – Cobra Ice Axe
• Herman Miller – the Mirra Chair
• Chrysler – Super Bee Concept Car
• SHoP Architects – 290 Mulberry
• Vandenberg Air Force Base/Digital Globe – WorldView1 Satellite Launch
• Bruce Beasley – GS022 (Sculpture)
• Robert Michael Smith – Paradise Bird Burlesque (Sculpture)
• Keith Kottingham – 3D print artist
• Jason Salavon – Print artist, US Census Bureau data
• Spark Design Awards – Various
• Technology lab includes: FARO 3D scanning equipment; Dimension Printing 3D printer; Perceptive Pixel multi-touch wall; Augmented Reality display

There is technology everywhere from the high definition visual displays on walls to the audio all run by high tech computer system behind the scenes that allows full control of the video and audio to the different sections of the Gallery. Some of the walls are high tech as well and fold up up into themselves changing the spaces.

I was in awe of the Gallery and I had only one minor complaint. As a photographer/shutterbug traveling without a tripod or external lamps with me, the lighting was difficult to take photos in due to the bright sunlight coming in from the big windows and the dimly lit interior to best show the exhibits on display. I said minor as most are interested in the exhibits themselves, not the white balance of the location required to take a photo without a tripod. :-)

The Autodesk Gallery will be open starting October 1, 2008, the first Wednesday of each month from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. to the public. If you are in San Francisco down by the waterfront, stop on in.

More of my photos of the Autodesk Gallery are located on my Flickr Photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/ or Autodesk Gallery tagged photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/btl/tags/autodeskgallery/

Cheers,
Shaan