Software: Tableau and Microsoft Power BI

Data literacy—the ability to generate, understand, and use data—is a central challenge of design education in the twenty-first century. It is vital to the development of an informed and empowered citizenry, as it provides a strong foundation for analysis and critical thinking in a post-truth era. Data literacy is also essential for critical design practice. Increasingly, architectural design and research are supported by an ever-growing availability and diversity of data sources—from urban analytics and block-level demographic surveys to the high-resolution stream of data from weather stations, microclimate sensor deployments, energy models, cost estimates, and parametric operations within design software. As the broad relevance of data-informed design has become abundantly clear, the fundamental means and methods of critically working with data— both big data and little data alike—have received far less attention than visual scripting languages and software plugs-ins. Architecture is not the only industry grappling with the challenges and potential of fully embracing data analysis as essential to critical practice and the corresponding need to broadly increase data literacy. The business community has recognized the potential of using data to inform decision-making and has pioneered easy-to-use tools to help analyze and visualize complex datasets—tools that architects can adopt to iteratively interrogate data and perform complex analysis without having to learn scripting languages or write code. The term business intelligence was first introduced in the 1958 paper “A Business Intelligence System,” published by computer scientist H.P. Luhn. Even in the 1950s, Luhn foresaw the power that real-time data analysis and data mining could play in supporting business decisions. As the corporate world invested heavily in data analytics in the following decades, along with the broad rise of computing services, executives became accustomed to having pertinent information at their fingertips that was clear, trustworthy, and capable of being manipulated to answer Centre in Prince George, British Columbia, couples an innovative structural system— feasible for buildings up to thirty stories tall—with the aesthetic qualities of exposed wood surfaces (124–133). Lastly, the LCT One office tower in Dornbirn, Austria, by Architekten Hermann Kaufmann skillfully demonstrates a highly optimized approach for combining wood and concrete into detailed prefabricated building components, resulting in an outstanding example of contemporary craftsmanship (142–151). Each case study is thoroughly documented with the expected photographs, floor plans, sections, and a detailed written description. What stands out, though, are the numerous construction photos as well as the many drawings and diagrams that have been specially prepared for this book employing a consistent graphic style. The axonometric illustrations, in particular, offer a successful visual account of various concepts including connection details, component prefabrication, and on-site construction sequences. Many of the large-scale wall sections, however, remain somewhat diagrammatic. For the expert with a keen interest in understanding the details of how buildings go together, it would have been helpful if these drawings provided more information. The book concludes with a final overview profiling several new high-rise projects that are either under construction, on the boards and ready to be constructed, or are ambitious concepts that propose towers up to eighty stories tall—providing a vision of what is to come. As wood construction continues to reach new heights, Tall Wood Buildings presents a collection of concepts and projects that allow readers to advance their understanding of how new mass timber technologies will facilitate the future. Green and Taggart’s publication is notable for its comprehensive introduction to this emerging tectonic strategy, featuring a carefully selected cross section of built examples from around the globe and many clearly presented technical details. Its contributions will help usher in a progressive new approach for constructing safe and environmentally sustainable tall buildings. The recent acquisition of MGA | Michael Green Architecture by Katerra, one of the largest commercial residential construction firms in the country, signals a significant endorsement of these efforts. Backed by a capital investment of over one billion dollars so far, Katerra’s objectives—to reduce cost, build faster, and increase quality by using mass timber construction—promise to disrupt conventional building processes going forward.