From CAD software to a whole idea about designing anything – and the difficulties of explaining it. The CATIA conundrum. From one tool to the standard One of the most significant long-term breakthroughs in the world of design for highly complex manufacturing is a multi-platform software suite from Dassault Systèmes in France, dubbed CATIA (an acronym of computer aided three-dimensional interactive application). CATIA is used for computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided...

It’s easy to be impressed or even gobsmacked by Fallen Furniture. But impressive isn’t the same as innovative … Furniture from scrap A luxury furniture firm from the UK reminded me how crucial it is to differentiate between natural drooling over a company’s products and thinking that there’s any “rethinking” actually involved. Fallen Furniture takes scrap parts – wheels, engine cowlings, wings and even bomb...