Response to AIA Report on Integrated Practice:
BIM software has further pushed the discipline of
architecture, engineering, and allied fields into the future. It is a necessary
tool to know and from experience, no architecture firm seems to be hiring
without it.
The software has become necessary because of its
collaborative effects. The author of the article states that, “an important
result of modeling all the construction systems in a building is that
coordination among the different building trades becomes much simpler than it
is currently.” Subcontractors, engineers, architects, and interior designers
are able to simultaneously edit and change one model. It allows the kinks and
pitfalls of collaboration to come out before ground is ever broken. In later
versions of BIM, there won’t be a need for mistakes because the building has
already been built and tested in a virtual space. Chuck Eastman recognizes this
by stating, “On-site work is then much quicker, with greater quality control.”
The model tells the whole story from the piping in the mechanical equipment to
the detailing of the truss. This is what is pushing the field forward.
However, at the end of the article, Eastman brings up a
great vulnerability of the product. “I will not be surprised to see ‘signature
component’ designs for kitchens and bathrooms, [such as] the Julia Child
Kitchen, the Britney Spears Necessarium…”. Eventually, everything is the world
can be modeled and cataloged in BIM software. By creating continuous
streamlined design and ‘standard components’, such as a kitchen or bathroom,
the software begins to take design decisions away from the architect. With the
ability to drag and drop any object or space into your model, you are
effectively relieving yourself of any creative decision. At that point, you
aren’t designing, you are shopping at Wal-Mart. It takes trial and error,
thought, and long nights to create Architecture, and it could be a sad day for
the field if we ever get to the point of ‘signature spaces or components’. We
don’t need streamlined, ‘lazy’ architecture; we need a collaborative Architecture.
Overall, I look forward to the future of BIM. It aids in
quality control and promotes collaboration amongst the disciplines to give only
a few examples. It promotes a collaborative Architecture, one where many
professions can provide input and designs can be tested in a virtual space. It
also can promote a lazy architecture as well. With streamlined components and ‘signature
spaces’, design becomes less educated and moves closer to the great strip malls
of America. By dragging and dropping any space into your model, the designer is
stripped of design. Only time can tell which side the field is pushed towards.
