The Number One Reason for designers to learn BIM
Okay so perhaps if you’re 100% going to retire in the next few years this doesn’t apply to you. But if you plan on working for sometime yet, you need to get with the latest technology, you need to accept that our profession involves and REQUIRES a mastery of technology.
Here’s a great quote from Thomas Krowka, written on February 22, 2013 as part of my favorite LinkedIn thread:
“Of course, there are the old school guys who can’t be bothered; they are the architects that sketch it up and give it to the cad monkeys to do the drafting. In my opinion, lots of opportunity for design is lost as a lot of creativity goes in the work between the sketch phase and the CD phase.”
There’s so much I love about that quote. But let’s focus on one point in particular. How much longer will we have CAD monkeys? Everyday the interns need the lead designers less and less. All the good interns become architects. They will replace their elders. The difference between young and old isn’t ability, it’s experience. The typical design architect isn’t more talented than the average intern or CAD monkey, he’s just more experienced.
When today’s interns have the experience they won’t need the person above or below them. So what happens to the designer who still needs to hand off work, or can’t be involved in the BIM throughout the life of the project? They aren’t that useful anymore. To put it bluntly, they are obsolete.
What’s that sound? The sound of Doom.
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Patrick May
I don’t know if there is room for a CAD monkey or intern in a true BIM process. Even on large projects there are small design decisions that are made and need to be made; usually without bothering a project architect. I work largely on small BIM projects, so I make all the decisions, but the same applies to my role in a design team on larger projects.
This is also one of the advantages of collaborative BIM, when I send my changes and the project manager or project architect doesn’t like something I know about it immediately. No CAD monkeys, just junior collaborators.
Jared Banks
well said!
James
I think we’ve all had our share of doing cad monkey-ness in our lifetimes. When I had to use Autocad to update a masterplan, I was really just going through the motions – I knew in my head what I wanted, but I had to think like that programme and really turn off one side of the brain. Maybe it was due to a longer history and experience in ArchiCAD, and that i really didn’t fully understand all the shortcuts/codes in CAD. But anyway, with BIM, it’s way more enjoyable and responsive to more senses, so I think it’d be harder to find these type of people after migrating to BIM 🙂 though emergency stair or toilet details still need to be made…
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