PAYETTE Building Scientist Chris Mackey just returned from the 2017 Design Modeling Symposium, where he presented a 40-minute lecture entitled “The Tool vs. The Toolkit” to an audience of hundreds who are furthering the cause of computational design. Using examples from both PAYETTE projects and other work with the Ladybug Tools plugin, Chris demonstrated the importance of building connections between software tools rather than only building individual tools themselves. Laying out 5 “Principles of the Toolkit,” the lecture gave guidance on how to identify software that is aiming to be a part of a “kit,” such that designers can reap the benefits of such software in their workflows.
View the full The Tool vs. the Toolkit presentation.
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.