Martin G. Santini, AIA, Ecoplan Architects, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
I am particularly impressed by the Revit display (1342) in the High Technology Pavilion. It's innovative and offers what I feel is a new CAD alternative for architects. They've become leaders in their field by helping us to partner on projects. I like the exhibit itself because it is open. The Revit people have an instructive approach; not a hard sell. Their technology and the way they are exhibiting it are so advanced that they make absorbing the information and using the system very simple. They're going to revolutionize the CAD industry. In our office, we have Autocad and just recently got a Revit station. Our new workstation is interesting because it is helping the people who are not really CAD-savvy to understand what the product is all about, which eliminates their fear of technology.

Fani Danadjieva Hansen, AIA, Hansen Associates, Tiburon, Calif.
I liked the Häfele Dialock system (550). They can electronically preprogram a transponder key so your master key system is digital. Instead of having to keep track of thousands of keys, you can program each transponder to open a particular door or set of doors. We used a Häfele system on our Pittsburg, Calif., Civic Center.

Robert Traynham Coles, FAIA, Buffalo, N.Y.
We're working on the centennial of the 1901 Pan-American Exposition [the site of President McKinley's assassination] in Buffalo, and were looking for a good lighting system to accent the buildings that were standing in 1901. This is working on the City of Light concept, from Lauren Belfer's popular book. So, by going to the Kim Lighting booth (756), I got a lot of information on what their capabilities are.

Another exhibitor I found particularly interesting is Dawson Doors (936). We're doing the African American Library in Buffalo—we're already into construction documents—and needed some unusual doors. Dawson is apparently able to do custom doors in keeping with what we want. The library, which is scheduled for completion in 2003, is going to look like an African village, and we needed something with a unique design for that concept.

Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.