Why BIM? Archives | Page 3 of 3 | Shoegnome Architects

Guest Blogger Shivang Rajvir: Top 9 BIM Myths in India

June 6, 2013

Jared’s Note: Shivang originally wrote this with his ArchiCAD students in India in mind. The issues are universal so I thought about shortening the title to just “Top 9 BIM Myths”, but I really like that the original title highlights that we’re all facing the same BIM implementation challenges all over the world. Whether Boston or Bangalore, we’re all fighting the same fight, trying to get everyone to see the

Digital over Paper Documents: This is Solvable

May 10, 2013

We need to move away from printed documents. Not to save the forests and not to save on money, though those are nice benefits. We need to evolve beyond what we’ve always done because paper documents are so dumb, so inflexible, so 20th Century. We can do better. Why do we cram as many sections or details as possible on a sheet? We do this to save paper, to go

Starting an Architecture Firm? Let’s Discuss Software and Hardware Costs

May 5, 2013

Priorities in the 21st Century Architecture Office When starting an architecture firm, you are confronted with a lot of expenses. How do you prioritize or justify where to spend your money? For the 21st Century Architecture Office, IT costs come before physical space costs. If you can’t afford the software you need to be successful, you shouldn’t be paying someone else for space. If you baulk at paying five, ten,

Skill vs Power: Learning BIM

April 9, 2013

If you have six minutes, please do yourself a favor and watch this video. But instead of thinking about video games, think about BIM adoption in firms. Specifically think about people learning ArchiCAD, Revit, or one of the other BIM authoring tools out there. Here’s the best analogy from the video, or an approximation at least. If you’re under 40, you’ve probably played Street Fighter II. Or something very similar.

The Number One Reason for designers to learn BIM

March 20, 2013

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

Why you failed at BIM (you were impatient)

January 29, 2013

While writing a post about a former coworker, I paused to create a few diagrams explaining why others in his position often fail to make the switch to ArchiCAD and BIM. These three diagrams help illustrate what causes people to panic during their early adventures with a new way of working. A note about the fail line. People who give up at this point typically keep spinning their wheels without

The best designs lie ahead of us

January 2, 2013

If you’re an optimist, then you’ll have to agree that the best architecture awaits us in the future. I’m an optimist. I’m a romantic too, so I’ll always dream of and love the great buildings of our forefathers. My three favorite buildings are probably the Kimbell Art Museum, the Library at Phillips Exeter Academy (both by Louis Kahn, obviously), and the Sainte-GeneviÃ¨ve Library in Paris byÂ Henri Labrouste. Well they are in

How BIM can Bankrupt Your Firm

October 15, 2012

Why do some firms embrace BIM and rave about its benefits while other firms try BIM and fail miserably? We all know this diagram: But here’s another diagram. This is the one that describes firms that panic, firms that succumb to Fear, Uncertainty, and Dread (FUD), firms that after one or two attempts let their boxes of Revit 2010 get dusty on the shelves or backslide into using ArchiCAD 12

BIM during early Design

October 10, 2012

This post on Stefan Boeykens’ blog is a must read for all of us interested in BIM. It’s a great list of 10 tips for using BIM during the early phases of projects. Think about it. We’ve all seen the diagram below. It’s that first part where we architects have the most say, have the most fun, and can do the most good. What’s my favorite tip? What’s the clear proof

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