BIM had become the main communication vehicle for AEC. Yet it is a language that only a small percentage of the industry speaks. Now, many in the industry will be quick to dispute the first claim. After all, most construction contracts are still based on drawings and there is a belief that ‘we build off drawings’. Yet it is undisputable, that a large percentage of those drawings are created in a model-based software. For better or worse, most of building related data lives in model-based environments. And the majority of the stakeholders can only access this data via PDFs or printed off drawin ..read more

 It’s been ages since I last wrote in here. Who writes/reads blogs anymore, anyway? You want your message heard, you need to be short, snappy and all over the place. Preferably video based – so no effort needed for reading.   But Graphisoft is 40, a worthy cause to dig out the old blog and fire it up. When I started with ArchiCAD some 27 years ago, I did not think we’d grow old together. Yet we had. At the time, paid the price of half a new Audi car for the software/hardware package – come to think of it, it was about half of my annual salary. I learned to use the blimming thing and ..read more

Building project clients come in all shapes and sizes. From the very small, ‘let’s build a garage’ or ‘renovate the kitchen’ types, to gigantic institutional owners of city-size developments. To create their projects, apart from the staunch DIYers, most draw on a plethora of advisors and consultants for assistance.   BIM advocacy rarely makes their list. Sure, ‘digital approaches’ do get thrown around by various participants of the servicing pool, most of the time packaged as ways of working smarter, while, a poor cover for an additional fee grab. Some providers are BIM specialist with ge ..read more

 I’ve never been happy with the name of my (possibly) most essentials of tools. Not even 30 years ago when I first started associating with it, even though at the time both the Arch part and the CAD part were positive terms. Just did not have the right ring. Sure, names are such subjective things, aren’t they? And who am I to criticize a name, having burdened one of my children with one that is unpronounceable by most of the population she comes across? And does it matter that the town I come from and the country I now call home are known as a ‘new something’ rather than have a more disti ..read more

Construction Clients: Who is the conductor of your project orchestra? As a career starting architect, some 30 years ago, I considered Jørn  Utzon as one of my top 5 hero architects to look up to. Even in the pre-internet era, I searched internationally for related material and read everything I could get to, regarding his life, work and projects. While how the Sydney Opera House came to life, and to large extent Utzon’s role in it, was then and still is a controversial topic, for me, he is an excellent example of ‘an architect’.   The type of architect, that no longer exist ..read more

There is one type of BIM, that I call the Bully BIM. It is a bit of a ‘below-the-belt punch’ kind of BIM approach. It is called ‘Clash Detection’. At its essence, it is a well-intended concept. Unforeseen clashes of building elements cause a lot of trouble when discovered during construction and subsequently slow progress down, result in abortive works, extra materials, labor cost and lengthened programs. Using technology to eliminate (or at least minimize) such issues on the construction site makes sense. And it doesn’t. At its premise is the idea, that following semi-independent work done ..read more

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I don’t think BIM is the ‘thing’ that will be the savor of the post-pandemic AEC industry. I don’t think BIM (as in a ‘way of managing info in AEC projects’) is in that great a shape all together, period. But, apart from a conscious revitalization of an approach that does have 30 years of trial/error behind it, I can only think of one method that could give the industry a boost towards recovery. That method is of establishing a highly centralized, closely controlled industry that will manage its risks and rewards in a largely different way th ..read more

‘We are experiencing unprecedented times’- flows from every tap I turn on in my miniature home. Digital and otherwise. No-one knows what’s on the other side. One thing is almost certain, there will continue to be some need for building/construction for whoever survives. It will be tough times, so the survivors will have to do their best to make the most of resources, natural, building, human and digital at hand. Global uptake of BIM will rise, companies will see the opportunity to clean up their operations under this ‘rebirthing’ and work smarter. Maybe. Maybe not. As often is with ..read more

There are so many lockd-own diaries out there, no point in me trying to compete. I’ll do my postings weekly though as I understand some people are trying the paperfree detox – so I’ll compile some tips for the end of the working week. Until then, here is a little (strangely relevant) something I posted almost 10 years ago: http://debunkthebim.blogspot.com/2011/11/wash-your-hands-or-modelling-purely-for.html ..read more