UMDarchBIM2013McCartney: July 2013

A Disruption In the Paving

AIA Report on Integrated Practice

“Paving the Cowpath” and “A Healthy Disruption”

Bedrick and Rinella make a great point to start this report off. The old practices that the architects of today still do are like “paving the cowpath.” The old method took a developed process and broke it down in order for the next person to build it back up again. The process went from 3d to 2D, elapsed time in the middle, back to 3D and back to 2D again. With the process being taken apart and rebuilt every time it passed between architects, engineers, or construction workers.

With BIM this process is eliminated due to the fact that it can do everything faster and cheaper. BIM gives you the ability to calculate construction/material cost, test loads, and understand the all aspects at once. It makes the “cowpath” obsolete.

So the article basically says that BIM creates its own process, one that is faster and less messy then the old process.

Jordani article supports the things Bedrick and Rinella or saying by even putting a good spin on disruption. He says that BIM should be viewed as a disruption that will start to put a fragment industry back together. It will not only change the process but it will change the business side. It will allow for the different part of the construction industry to work closer, maybe even under the same roof. It will boost the need for the technology and the need for even better technology.

He does state that this won’t completely fix this problem, but it will generate the ignition needed to fuel the fire. It will take the implementation of it in schools to help further the growth of BIM in the industry.

So why can’t parts of the industry the benefits of BIM and the deficiency of the old process?

Mayne and Eastman Reading

AIA Reports on Integrated Practice

“Change or Parish”

Radical is a word that comes to mind when one hears him talk. Yes, in order to survive we must adapt. Manyne says, “The tools we now utilize simplify these potentialities and make them logical, allowing us to produce spaces that even ten years ago would have been difficult to conceive, much less build.” In order for us to keep up with the growing difficulty of design we must, as a group, change our thinking toward a BIM world. An example of this is the recent changes that School of Architecture at the University of Maryland are making, shifting from a highly emphasized drawing school to a more integrated technological/drawing community.

We also must think that radical change is not always good. As technology comes more and more advanced it is easier to think, we can do things faster, quicker and more efficient, but usually that comes with some consequences. One example is a false perspective, a perspective that shows something that isn’t necessarily true to the actual design. As the technology advances closer to reality some error are sure to be made. A program/technology is not always perfect.

We should shift more to using BIM programs as a way to create architecture, but physically drawing and conceptualizing still should be done. It really should be an integration of both, with the amount of utilization depending on the position in the process. It is hard for me to agree with the statement to drop everything and just accept this new way, and only this new way.

Eastman does agree with Mayne on the shift to using BIM. However, he does say that the system isn’t perfect. Also, that in order for architects to move forward the rest of the adjoining fields must be ready to move forward.

There is a great understanding of the program by Eastman. He breaks down how BIM actually works and how it will influence the work of the architect. Also, how it will it could influence us in the future. BIM allows the client to see more clearly what is conceptualized in an architects head. As BIM catches on or forces it way into architects lives, it will influence are way of thinking how building objects react with one another and how complex we can make those interactions.

Architecture must adapt to the changing world in order to keep up.