This is part 3 of a series of posts

This series of posts started in December 2012 and talked about different aspects of documentation during BIM implementation within a firm. Changes during the documentation process because of BIM is a huge topic, one that often gets overshadowed in the bigger discussions of BIM. And this isn’t even bringing up the idea that the ‘documentation phase’ doesn’t necessarily exist anymore.

Part 1: I want to See Your Plan printed Out and Soon
Part 2: BIM Creates Different Types of Graphic Errors

I am aware that yesterday’s post was titled: Printing Architectural Documents is a Waste of Your Time. And that directly contradicts the title of Part 1.

These posts are all reconcilable. Probably with just a few word changes, and accepting that my views have evolved a bit since the end of 2012. Maybe just one word really needs altering. Turn the word print to publish and everything jives. In light of yesterday’s post and the discussion on giant monitors (see yesterday’s post above), the reviewing discussed in Parts 1 and 2 could just as easily happen digitally. We’ll talk more about why it probably SHOULD be happening digitally; the switch from printed to digital review dovetails perfectly with all three of those posts (and the post from Monday on skeuomorphs). So expect a future post digging into that.

More on the Educational Process of moving to BIM

I got some great feedback from the first two posts (and this week’s posts, but I’m still digesting those thoughts). Some of the comments spurred further pondering on the subject of 2D output from BIM. Specifically a comment from Eric MacInerny, AIA of Heimsath Architects. Here’s the comment:

“It is an interesting issue that can go deeper than what your colleagues think. What it comes down to is that in traditional 2D drafting, you have to choose to draw a line and if you did then it must mean something. In BIM, especially in sections, you get all the lines to show, whether they are meaningful or not… Of course, better experience=better models=better drawings, but in the meantime we do need to educate all those who come into contact with the BIM model products.”

Well said Eric. The above comment points to an issue which is a big shift with the move to BIM. In the land of 2D, every line was intentional. In BIM every line (in an ideal all 3D generated view) is an extrapolation of a 3D element. ArchiCAD, Revit, or whatever program you’re using is projecting that element and giving you a 2D view of it. What that means is you’re not drawing every line. And that’s great. We shouldn’t have to draw every line. We’ve got more important things to do than draw and trace individual lines and circles. But just because you can show everything, doesn’t mean there’s value in doing that, or that you should be showing it all. Curation of the data still needs to occur. You need to understand what you’re automating, and why.

I Didn’t Mean to Show that vs I don’t Know what I just Drew

This leads to one of the the big dangers in automation. With 2D production, interns can draw lines and do things accidentally correct. They don’t need to know what they are doing, as long as they know how to get their work to graphically show correctly. That’s not ideal, but it means employees with limited skills and knowledge can be easily utilized. How many interns have spent all day drawing two or three parallel lines on interior elevation after interior elevation not really knowing what those lines represent. I’ll be honest. I know I did that on a few projects when I was a summer intern. And probably later during my first job or two. It didn’t matter though. Someone showed me what to do and I was acing the graphic representation part-the 2D communication part which was all that really mattered. I was merely a young, inexperienced tool churning out what someone else understood. I didn’t need to have much situational awareness.

That doesn’t work in BIM. With BIM if you don’t know what real world things you’re documenting, if you don’t know how those elements really go together (or at least have an awareness that you don’t know), trouble will ensue. If you don’t get that what you’re modeling for View 1 may show up in Views 2-100, you are potentially going to be sharing a lot of cluttered, incorrect, misleading, and/or costly information. So like I mentioned in Post 2, the issues you’re going to face are more “I didn’t mean to show that” rather than “I don’t know what I just drew”. The way to ameliorate all these colliding pressures, changes, and pitfalls is EDUCATION. We all-Interns, Architects, Managers, Clients, Consultants-need to be educated in the new ways of architectural processes: production, review, design, discourse, collaboration…

How are your coworkers handling BIM? Specifically what do the ones with the least and most experience have to say? Share your thoughts with Shoegnome on Facebook and Twitter. And in the comments below.