Virtual Build Team
About us
Virtual Build Team, originally C-Cubed Virtual Architecture, was founded in 1991 by Rick Smith, who began working with three-dimensional
computer graphic systems in the 1970s. With over a decade of experience working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and IBM, Rick helped develop
advanced computer modeling software and techniques for a rapidly evolving aerospace industry. In 1991, Virtual Build Team was contacted by
Frank O. Gehry & Associates who were seeking a way to modernize their current in-house design processes, which relied heavily upon antiquated
methods, and to digitally define a new direction for Mr. Gehry's challenging designs.
Beginning with the Fish Sculpture for the 1992 Olympics and concluding with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, Virtual Build
Team grew to become ten highly skilled designers working with Mr. Gehry’s staff for over a twelve year period. Virtual Build Team, along with key
members of Gehry's staff, supported, managed and maintained the digital master models for all Gehry projects up to the completion of the
modeling for the Ray & Maria Stata Center on the Massachusetts Instituted of Technology campus in Cambridge, MA. Virtual Build Team’s Virtual
Build process and tools played a significant role in revolutionizing Mr. Gehry's overall design processes, helping to make his office one of the most
technologically advanced architectural design studios in our lifetime.
computer graphic systems in the 1970s. With over a decade of experience working at Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and IBM, Rick helped develop
advanced computer modeling software and techniques for a rapidly evolving aerospace industry. In 1991, Virtual Build Team was contacted by
Frank O. Gehry & Associates who were seeking a way to modernize their current in-house design processes, which relied heavily upon antiquated
methods, and to digitally define a new direction for Mr. Gehry's challenging designs.
Beginning with the Fish Sculpture for the 1992 Olympics and concluding with the Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, Virtual Build
Team grew to become ten highly skilled designers working with Mr. Gehry’s staff for over a twelve year period. Virtual Build Team, along with key
members of Gehry's staff, supported, managed and maintained the digital master models for all Gehry projects up to the completion of the
modeling for the Ray & Maria Stata Center on the Massachusetts Instituted of Technology campus in Cambridge, MA. Virtual Build Team’s Virtual
Build process and tools played a significant role in revolutionizing Mr. Gehry's overall design processes, helping to make his office one of the most
technologically advanced architectural design studios in our lifetime.
Virtual Build Team has since expanded the use of our
Virtual Build process and technology on other architectural
projects:
Virtual Build process and technology on other architectural
projects:
Steven Ehrlich - Beverly Hills Library, Beverly Hills, CA
Cesar Pelli - The Overture Center for the Performing Arts, Madison, WI
Randall Stout - Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
Moshe Safdie - Kansas City Performing Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
The United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC
The Philadelphia Public Library, Philadelphia, PA
Cesar Pelli - The Overture Center for the Performing Arts, Madison, WI
Randall Stout - Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN
Moshe Safdie - Kansas City Performing Arts Center, Kansas City, MO
The United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC
The Philadelphia Public Library, Philadelphia, PA
Using CATIA, a state of the art computer system and the backbone of our tools, we can accept information from many sources to build the initial
Virtual Build model; scanned data, digitized data, paper drawings, translations from many other CAD systems such as AutoCAD, REVIT, and Rhino.
The level of detail we can build into the Virtual Build model is exacting enough to enable the extraction of fully coordinated inter-disciplinary design
information, significantly reducing common errors and omissions that normally occur with legacy design-build processes. The Virtual Build model
proves invaluable as a reliably accessible database for information such as bill of materials, cost estimating and design/construction management
tasks. In support of the General Contractor and their designated subcontractors, the Virtual Build model can be utilized to extract any
two-dimensional or three-dimensional information necessary for shop drawings, layouts, fabricating information, Computer Numerical Control, digital
survey data, and dimensional control.
Virtual Build model; scanned data, digitized data, paper drawings, translations from many other CAD systems such as AutoCAD, REVIT, and Rhino.
The level of detail we can build into the Virtual Build model is exacting enough to enable the extraction of fully coordinated inter-disciplinary design
information, significantly reducing common errors and omissions that normally occur with legacy design-build processes. The Virtual Build model
proves invaluable as a reliably accessible database for information such as bill of materials, cost estimating and design/construction management
tasks. In support of the General Contractor and their designated subcontractors, the Virtual Build model can be utilized to extract any
two-dimensional or three-dimensional information necessary for shop drawings, layouts, fabricating information, Computer Numerical Control, digital
survey data, and dimensional control.
Principle Bios
Hunter Museum of American Art
| Hunter Museum in CATIA |