Create Photorealistic 3d Models by Taking Pictures

I've first seen it at Ted Conference. They were just demonstrating it at that time. Now it's open to public for free. You can both create your own Photosynths and play around with the ones created by others.

Photosynth was born of a collaboration between Microsoft Research and the University of Washington, based on the research of Steve Seitz (UW), Noah Snavely (UW) and Richard Szeliski (MR)

Photosynth is an entirely new Visual Medium. The system analyzes each photograph for similarities in textures, and builds a model based on where the photos were taken. The program then models the environment and uses that as a canvas on which to display the photos.

This modeling behavior is what makes it superior to photo stitching which is widely used in the architecture practice.

First of all you don't have to be as precise while taking photos as you do for photo stitching.
Only this property by itself opens up a lot of new opportunities.
For example you can model places by collecting photos from the internet even without laying a foot on the site. A group/class of people can share their photos to build a model of the site..

After all raster modeling based on the point of shoot is a smart new idea and we'll be seeing a lot of smart ways to use this new medium.

Try it at Photosynth.net


Associative Design

There will be no input values but parameters in the near future.
Watch the video. It features the very interesting work of Architect Mazlin Ghazali from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The way the video has been put together is also amazing. It's like an AI computer giving you a full report on a process in another planet.

Here's Mr. Ghazali's blog.

Amazing Fallingwater Animation

Fallingwater from Cristóbal Vila on Vimeo.


Blogger banned in Turkey

I came back from vacation and found out that they've banned
Blogger.com this time.

Taskisla.com has very little traffic generated by Serious Architecture
& Design OTAKUs.

We can't reach our control panel from Turkey so technically WE ARE

Writing any entry to this main streamly boring web site would be in a
sense bending or breaking the law?
No one knows...

Bad bad architectural THINKING...


An Architect Unshackled by Limits of the Real World

“Berlin Free-Zone 3-2,” a 1990 proposal by Lebbeus Woods for an abandoned government building in reunified Berlin. The structure, more theoretical than practical, has no assigned purpose.

From The New York Times' article about the architect. Lebbeus Woods.









Here's The New York Times' full article about the architect. Lebbeus Woods.


Letting Dead People Do Your Work for You

Letting Dead People Do Your Work for You..
This definition of "Scientific Approach" by Robert Lang is the far smartest I've heard of..

Robert Lang is a pioneer of the newest kind of origami -- using math and engineering principles to fold mind-blowingly intricate designs that are beautiful and, sometimes, very useful.


A Skeptic's Guide to being Religious

Reed Kroloff on Modern and Romantic Architecture

I'll write soon..

Shop Architects


I'll be writing less

I'll be writing less from now on..
We are moving to our new home and I'll be completing my military obligation..

Thanks for your understanding..


Pritzker Prize Buddies

A discussion with Pritzker Prize Winners Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Renzo Piano.


Space Navigator

Space Navigator from 3dconnexion changes the way you navigate in 3d programs.

Imagine the sensation of reaching into your display and grasping your 3D model. Or flying through three dimensional scenes. Whether you're creating dazzling 3D models or exploring virtual worlds, a 3D mouse enhances your digital life and sets your imagination free.

Enhances sh*t I say: (Review added 29 Aug. 2008)

You'll see many (paid) reviews saying it's a steal for $50. Let me tell you my story of getting this device.

Bullsh*t #1: I've checked their website and contacted their dealers in Turkey. The people I've talked in both firms didn't even know they had such a device. In the second firm they hopefully found someone that remembered that they were a distributor.

Bullsh*t #2: I've found out that these firms were in fact solidworks retailers. They had no intention in selling Space Navigator. When a client asks for a discount they give one as a gift instead. But they didn't hold themselves from charging me $100 + %18 = $118. (I'm still getting spam from the program that comes with the navigator to upgrade my $50 licence to $100 licence. Suckers! I've paid $118 so give me the licence and refund my $18. Or stop bugging me!)

Bullsh*t #3: To be fair I've waited more than a month to write a review. It's NOT faster NOR more accurate than the middle mouse click and ALT, CTRL or SHIFT (what ever the program uses). PERIOD. It's only more fluent in the movement. So only possible reason a Power User needs a Space Navigator would be for a presentation purpose only. You know.. You can navigate as fast as you want but a spectator will have a sea sickness watching the same screen. I like this gadget. But I'm some sort a geek and like most of the gadgets anyway.

Bullsh*t #4: Biggest bullsh*t of them all! Do you know why 3dconnexion sells this device for $50?

You expect from a company who markets a CAD device for such a low price, to work hard on bringing better drivers and supporting the wishes of their users. Can you believe that the only generic driver for this gadget is written by a USER and you can only find it somewhere in their forum? And ofcourse 3dconnexion doesn't support this driver. Well they have another strategy in their minds.They have other models with the exact same parts of the Space Navigator and some additional buttons or a screen for $300 and $400. For selling these highly overpriced devices they want the CAD software companies and Microsoft to recognize them! They want their own standart, category.. what so ever!

For this reason they're flooding the market with the $50 toy and the advertisements of how this thing "enhances your digital life and sets your imagination free". And whenever a user asks for something they're redirecting them to the CAD companies telling them there's nothing they can do. (Remember a user in their forum can, but they can't.)

Their toy sure did set their imagination free!

Space Navigator used in Sketch Up:


Quote of the Day

I'm at the center of the universe.
I'm a point.
Every direction is a way for me..

Mustafa Alpay YILDIZ

Nasreddin Hodja had a similar saying.
One of my best buddies upgraded that unintentionally in a daily chat..


Near Death Experience Architecture

Frank Lloyd Wright, Hilla Rebay, Solomon Guggenheim
at the unveiling of the model for the Guggenheim Museum, August, 1945

Ol' Frankie (Frank Lloyd Wright) once said:
"The space within becomes the reality of the building"
"Space is the breath of art"

He was an exaggerator, a provocateur and an arrogant.
He's the most hated one by his colleagues. Architects try to silently underestimate Ol' Frankie when ever they can. But thank god none has the pingpongs to do so boldly!

To tell the truth I'm not a die heart fan of most of his works either. But I know to appreciate him, as The Architect. His courage, his self esteem, his vision..

There was this hatred going on around him when he was alive too. He had to run away from cops once just because he fell in love.
The architects declared their hate for him late his career and our Ol' Frankie Shut 'em Down with his Guggenheim N.Y.

Now that building to me is The Ninth Symphony Presto composed in concrete.
(You kick a fallen man with the rest just for the fun of it. And that fallen guy changes your chemistry by his creation. He's infact a giant leap for mankind.)

This is why haters today should endure in silence. Because he can kick bottoms no matter if he's dead or alive.

Weapons of Mass Deception won't suffice for such a Statement!

Today we have this mediocre, this magazine architecture.
Starchitect wanna be's are after creating buildings that can give one or two good photos. This became the way of drawing attention.
Not the quality of space. Infact no one talks about the space anymore.

Can you imagine any architect today, who's just been asked for a house by a waterfall, persuading the client to a deeper understanding of human and nature?

When I was in high school they used to teach us Space as the ultimate emptiness that surrounds all the planets and stars.
Today Physicists say that with all the strings wiggling and the spacetime woven in it's fabric, Space is far from emptiness. Infact there's more going on in the space than what's happening in the stars and planets!

Sounds like Ol' Frankie? Wright?

A good architecture is drawing a movie. A movie that defines a living within.
You put all the ingredient into the project to kick start life.
Good architecture seeks this mystery. Not a beautiful corpse that looks good in magazines.

Both scientifically and architecturally, Space is the habitat of life.
Easy to say. Hard to swallow.
Some are aware of it, some become after a near death experience, some just can't..


15 minutes of Architectural Fame

Read the original article on Eikongraphia here first!

With all the nonsenses such as Starchitecture-fame-celebrity,
the idea of pop hit the architecture scene.




New Age Land Art - Biggest Drawing in the World

The idea is simple:

For more info on this project visit artist's website


Happy birthday Walter Gropius



--text added--


Both faithfuls Nazis and Bauhaus believed in the same thing.

Same faith, different faithful huh?

Happy birthday Walt! We love you!


C.A.D. Computer Aided Delusion


Rethinking what we belive to be the only way?

Just asking myself.....

Someone who can't think for themselves.
Someone who tries too hard. A poser.



Skateboarding to Architecture

At last I've found another SKATEBOARDER ARCHITECT!

This will make you look at the questions like:
What is culture?
What is a living design?
What does life in Urban Environment mean?
What is the influence of an architect on people's lifes?
in a different and wider perspective!

"two hundred years of
american technology
has unwittingly created
a massive cement
playground of
unlimited potential.
but it was the minds of
11 year olds that could see
that potential."
craig stecyk 1975

"skaters by their very
nature are urban guerillas:
they make everyday use of the
useless artifacts of the
technological burden, and
employ the handiwork of the
government / corporate
structure in a thousand ways
that the original architects
could never dream of"
craig stecyk 1976

Dr. Iain Borden

Want to find out more about Biomimicry?




You can also reach my original post here.


Remperor builds Deathstar!!!


Dead Star designs Death Star!
Remperor designs Death Star!


But the approach will not be easy!
The target area is only two meters wide.
The shaft leads directly to the reactor system.
Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction.

Getting G33K with Autodesk

Autodesk Flip Flops

Autodesk Dog Biscuit

Architects remembering what Architects do

We were thinking we progressed alot. We needed specialization.
Every job needs a Leader.




The Harvard Dean Mohsen Mostafavi calls it Architecture & Urbanism.
He explains Urbanism to The Boston Globe as:

Architects remembering their city planning duties. Their Social Duties!



Best Place to Learn and Improve Revit

The first site you should visit is www.revitzone.com



QR Code





macroScript UVW_BOX
toolTip:"UVW BOX"

polat = selection as array
for d = 1 to polat.count do
select polat[d]
modPanel.addModToSelection (Uvwmap ()) ui:on

Select by Colour



macroScript S_By_Colour
toolTip:"Select By Colour"
max select by color

Boxmode Toggle



macroScript Box_Toggle
toolTip:"Boxmode Toggle"
polat = selection as array
for d = 1 to polat.count do

if polat[d].boxmode == true then
polat[d].boxmode = false
print polat[d].boxmode
polat[d].boxmode = true
print polat[d].boxmode


Hearst Tower


National Stadium Beijing by Herzog & de Muron

National Stadium

National Aquatics Center Beijing

The Water Cube.
The new National Aquatics Center in Beijing by PTW Architects.

A White Rose For Mrs. Disney

A short documentary by Irit Krygier on Frank Gehry's Disney Hall.

Nature’s R&D: Biomimicry Basics for Architects


Press Play to listen to the Podcast:

Related Links:
Norbert Hoeller Blog: Clippings
Biomimicry Institude
Biomimicry Guild
Green Chemistry Institude
Center for Green Chemistry


Thank You Blog of The Day Crew!!



Taskisla Links

Here I'll add the links related to TAŞKIŞLA.
You can push CTRL and F keys together to search the list.
If there is a website that you think should be in the list please leave a comment.
Please comment any wrong/broken link.

Taskisla Websites:
now you are here
taşkışla iletişim (TURKISH)
former taskisla.net I guess..
taskisla.org (TURKISH)
Taşkışla Eğitim ve Kültür Derneği

Taskisla Blogs:
uykusuz taşkışla (TURKISH)
A nice blog..

Taskisla Groups:
Last.fm Group
deviantART Group


Architecture Websites

Here I'll add the links related to architecture.
If there is a website that you think should be in the list please leave a comment (web address and the category).
Please comment any wrong/broken link.

Architect Websites:
Aalto, Alvar

Foundation Website
Calatrava, Santiago
Official Website
Le Corbusier (Charles Édouard Jeanneret Gris)
Foundation Website
Foster, Norman
Official Website
Gehry, Frank
Official Website
Hadid, Zaha
Official Website
Libeskind, Daniel
Official Website
Nouvel, Jean
Official Website
Pei, Ieoh Ming
Official Website
Pelli, César
Official Website
Piano, Renzo
Official Website
Wright, Frank Lloyd
Foundation Website

Architecture Blogs & Websites:
Architecture Website

BIM Websites:

Revit City
AutoDesk Revit related Website
Revit Zone
The Best AutoDesk Revit related Website

Chambers & Institutes:
The American Institute of Architects
Aga Khan
Award for Architecture
The Chamber of Architects of Turkey
Royal Institute of British Architects

Archi Atlas
Catalog of World Architecture
International Architecture Database
International Contemporary Architecture Database
Architecture Museum
Museum of Architecture
Great Buildings Online
Building Database

İstanbul Technical University

Are Forum
Architecture Forum
Architecture Forum

FUN Stuff:
Notes on Becoming a Famous Architect
Humor can be educational :)
The Cool Hunter / Architecture
Cool chasers from U.K.

Graphics File Share:
(Mind copyrights!)
BD Share
Graphics Forum
Docs De Arquitectura Online!
Architecture Books

News & Magazines:
Architect Online
Architecture Magazine
Architectural Record Magazine
Architecture Magazine
Architecture Week
Architecture Magazine
Death by Architecture
Competition News
Detail Magazine
Architecture Magazine
Dwell Magazine
Architecture Magazine
Metropolis Magazine
Architecture Magazine
World Architecture News
Architecture News

Architecture Studio from DENMARK


Architecture Studio from

A 2 RC
Architecture Studio from BELGIUM
Anderson Brulé Architects
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architects Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker

Architecture Studio from
Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
AGC Design
Architecture Studio from HONG KONG
Aleks Istanbullu Architects
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Anthony J. Lumsden & Associates
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Allies and Morrison
Architecture Studio from U.K.
Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekten (GERMAN)
Architecture Studio from GERMANY
Altiplan Architects
Architecture Studio from BELGIUM
Ancher Mortlock Wolley
Architecture Studio from AUSTRALIA
Anderson & Anderson
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Anshen + Allen
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architecture Project
Architecture Studio from U.K.
APA Wojciechowski
Architecture Studio from POLAND
Appleton & Associates
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architect Kamin Associates
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.
Architecture Studio from U.S.A.





Blue Man Group on Global Warming

Blue Man Group (Blue Man, BMG) is a creative organization founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink, and Matt Goldman; it is centered on a trio of mute performers, called Blue Men, who present themselves in blue grease paint and wear latex bald caps and black clothing.
Blue Man Group's theatrical acts incorporate rock music (with an emphasis on percussion), odd props, audience participation, sophisticated lighting, and large amounts of paper.
It is also noted for having a "poncho section" of the audience; in the front rows, audience members are provided with plastic ponchos in order to protect them from various food, substances, paints, and so on, which are thrown, ejected, or sprayed from the stage.
The shows are family-oriented, humorous, energetic and often employ thought-provoking satire on modern life.
Some of the humor breaks the fourth wall, for example, interrupting the show to ridicule latecomers in the audience.


Autodesk AutoCAD 2009 meets End-Users

Yes you've read the news months ago. But in these days it's getting into the End-Users Program Files Folders.

Cad Managers love it as usual. I wonder what power-users gonna say..


"This is the WAY" Art Movement

I was watching "The Pink Floyd Story: Which one is Pink?" documentary broadcasted by BBC1.

The documentary features extensive archive footage, some of it rarely or never seen, alongside original interviews with the four surviving members of Pink Floyd: David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Richard Wright and Nick Mason.
It "traces the journey of a band that has only ever had five members, three of whom have lead the band at different stages of its evolution".

It was nice to watch experimentations that made the band hit the mainstream, and the evolution of the band by the atmosphere of the changing times.

This documentary made me think about the mainstream today.
No one experiments. No one is encouraged to do so..
Contrary to the speed things are changing in our age, there's nothing new in the mainstream art scene!
No one that has something to say can make it to the mainstream.
There's no your way to do so. There is only the way!
"This is the way" is also strongly propagandized!
All you have to be is a pretty white boy/girl. Or lets say a black boy/girl with a sense of rhythm. Or an architect drawing some amorphous sketches!
No special skills that make you different from the rest of the %90.
You earn millions! and millions love you! You just party and enjoy the heaven on earth.
You're mentally and probably physically the slave of the producer and/or who choose you to be in the mainstream. But it's just a minor detail never need to be mentioned!

Of course Pink Floyd had a similar relationship with EMI. But it was more like a mutual symbiosis.
When you produce ordinary, you can keep it on a thighter leash!

Off the top of my head, I see two reasons why:
1) Media Empire doesn't want an individual or a collective work that has a personality, that may grow on people and gain political power.
Political Power held by a non super rich always meant trouble for them in history.
2) SLUMBER. People love to protest anything that has no significance in their daily lifes.
But when it comes to their major problems, they choose a deep sleep.

Don't get me wrong. For the present time I'm no different from the rest of the herd.
As an architect I'd love to see the super rich as clients! And also I admire their intelligence and their hard work on finding innovative ways to control herds!
It's just that I'm aware! As an Architect I recognize a plan when I see one!

It's hard to name a period when you're living in it. We usually leave this task to the future historians.
Here is my humble attempt:
Welcome to the era of "This is the WAY" Art Movement!

Tell your grandsons and granddaughters the good ol' days when you had no significance and had nothing that belongs to you in your mind!


Norman Foster: Building on The Green Agenda



"Gender of Angels" Byzantine Argument Part II

I'm not sure if it really happened. It's an often referenced story that "The elite of Byzantine were still arguing about the gender of angels, while Sultan Mehmet II the Conqueror was imposing a siege upon their Capital."

After 555 years later we have the second episode of the Byzantine Argument! Same place, different topic. And this time it's pretty real!

What's the Major Problem of Higher Education in Turkey? Clothing? Secularity?

As I'm the namesake of The Great Conqueror Mehmet, I'll try to be scientific as he was, to bring a different perspective..

Here are some world maps scaled by statics:
(Click on to see larger image)

Absolute Wealth 2002
This wealth map shows which territories have the greatest wealth when Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is compared using currency exchange rates. This indicates international purchasing power.
Turkey isn't as poor as it's assumed to be.

Research and Development Employees
Is Turkey smaller than African countries? Still not bad..

Royalty Fees Received
Royalty fees are the payments received from someone who wants to use an idea, invention or artistic creation that legally belongs to you.
Everyone talks the talk on the importance of producing knowledge and science, but doesn't walk the walk as clearly seen on the map!

Commenting on anything about this "gender of angels battle" makes me a side which I have no time and absolutely no desire for.

I just wanted to remind that when you analyze your problems scientifically you get self explanatory results.


Autodesk can't decide what to do with Impression

Autodesk Impression is a brilliant application for generating presentation ready raster images directly from *.dwg and *.dwf files.

What differentiates Impression from the competitors is its easy to use interface.
It imports cad files preserving the layer structure so you can easily assign styles to layers.
It also recognizes blocks. For instance if you have same tree block all around the drawing in different scales, you can manipulate all of them by assigning a raster for the particular block.

Cons: It has major bug problems resulting in crashes. Especially occurs when you assign styles to individual objects. Also needs some optimization as it slows to a halt when working on 3d cad files and/or big size files.

How will this promising software commercially available?
Autodesk Impression free 40-hour runtime trial is available for most countries.

First it was said to be retailed around $400-500. It would be an affordable tool, most people would like to have in their arsenals.
But now Autodesk says it would be a free download for the Subscribed Users.
Free sounds good at first, but it also means "Demo Forever".
Autodesk Subscription, as all know, is an other story..

Seems like Autodesk doesn't want to market anything that isn't priced in grands..


Timer Alternative for Canon 300D 350D 400D 450D Rebel

For the second Jury of my "Sali Pazari" Project I wanted to make a time lapsed video.
There's a die for gadget for this purpose. Canon TC-80N3 Timer Remote Control.

But as usual, there were problems ahead of me:

1) It's not compatible with my Canon 400D or known as Rebel XTI.

I've searched for the input values(V,I) of my camera. It's compatible with the Canon TC-80N3 output but the socket needed to be changed with a 3/32" connector.
With the chart below doing some soldering seemed to work for me..

2) Expensive for a one time project. $140 + s&h from US and nearly €160 retailed here.

I've found the Chinese Vendor Aputure which produces imitation of TC-80N3. Contacted them if they could build me one with the specified connection.
The answer was yes!(Now they also sell it this way)
Solving both my problems for $29.99 + s&h!!!

Tested and it works like a CHARM!!! Now all I need is a shiny sky at 5:30 am on this Friday!!
I see this article gets a lot of attention. If there is anything you want to ask about this gadget, just shoot in the comments. And I'll be answering all..
Thanks again for reading!