Eric Stultz currently serves as a Principal and Design Director at Gensler’s LA offices. He’s worked on some epic buildings, such as the Shenbei Arena in Shanghai, Costa Rica’s Convention Center, and the proposed Farmers Field NFL Stadium in Los Angeles.

As Eric and Chris discuss, architecture is at something of a turning point. While films and games are always looking for something new, architects use tried and tested pipelines which incorporate building information management (BIM) software.

But Gensler is keen to explore new technology, such the world’s first 3D printed office, and Eric even envisages a constantly-changing building covered in video screens. As we move into an age where virtual real estate becomes more of a reality, an architect’s expertise is much needed, too.

The visual effects industry is packed with people from the field of architecture, including our own guru and podcast host Chris Nichols. But Andy Waisler is a rare exception: after beginning his career in architecture, he was hired by Digital Domain to apply his knowledge to movies such as The Grinch and The Time Machine. But then he returned to architecture to hone his skills.

He’s an incredible character, and in this revealing podcast he shares the similarities between architecture and visual effects, and how this is going to become particularly important in the world of VR. He also talks about how he’s made tiny bathrooms feel palatial, and the clever, story-oriented design of Bad Robot’s Santa Monica offices.

Herzog & de Meuron is an architecture firm best known for its incredible glass and steel structures such as the Beijing National Stadium, The Perez Art Museum in Miami, and the Allianz Arena in Munich. The Swiss company has also dramatically repurposed existing space to create London’s Tate Modern and Serpentine Gallery.

But within Chaos Group, the company is more famous for its exhilarating and enthusiastic presentation on VR at the Shape to Fabrication event in London earlier this year. The presenters, Steffen Riegas and Mikolaj Bazaczek, marked an exhilarating finish to what had already been a great day.

Of course, Herzog & de Meuron needs to stay on the cutting edge of technology to maintain its status as world-renowned architects, embracing a pipeline which includes 3ds Max, Sketchup and Rhino. In this podcast, which is every bit as enjoyable as their presentation, the team talks about an approach which involves everything from hand-cut cardboard models to a cutting edge pipeline including 3ds Max, Sketchup, Rhino - and V-Ray. Of course.

Corey Rubadue and Christopher Nichols talk to Shane Scranton about the work of VR in Architecture design. We talk about the work that is being done at IrisVR, a company that he help co-found. We also discuss how VR will change the design process and that different flavors of VR serve different needs of the design and presentation process.

Curious as to what goes on in our Baltimore office? We talk to Brian Russell, Fernando Rentas, and Ted Vitale about the many ways that V-Ray has helped the design market: from Architecture design, building information modeling (BIM), industrial and product design, and more.

Lon Grohs and I talk to Kim Baumann Larsen, a licensed Architect and 3D artist for 20 years from Norway, about his experience in Virtual Reality. Kim has been working in the VR space since the early 90s. So when the new wave of VR happened a few years ago, he was ready. With all three of us coming from architecture we decided to talk about where we see how VR fits in the architecture world. We talk about all the challenges, different flavors, pitfalls, of this new medium..

My first real job out of Architecture School was at Gensler back in 1997. This year Gensler is celebrating it's 50th anniversary. I have very fond memories of my time there. This year, while at Siggraph, I ran into Scott DeWoody and Alan Robles who are now looking at a lot of new technology within the company. I figured it would be a great time to see what they are doing and help me see what has changed at Gensler since I left 14 years ago. We discuss VR, cloud rendering, real time raytracing, and a lot more.