Wondering whether innovative technology can upgrade the architectural design process? The answer is it can. In what ways? Find out further in this article.
Technology has transformed almost everything in terms of the way that humans live and operate in society. From tablets to the IoT, technology has modified the surrounding in simply a couple of decades period. For architecture specialists and home designers/builders, technology has been a leader in the practice of designing a structure. Throughout the entire architectural design process, technology influences the way that architects develop edifices or other structures and even the way that customers interpret the design process.
Technology can speed up the architectural design experience, optimizing building effectiveness/durability and allowing architects to more scrupulously render a structure design.
Want to get more about the occupation of an architect? You will understand much about what is architect after reading the article.
How Technology Started Optimizing Architecture: Several Historic Facts
The increasing technology influence on contemporary architectural design process originated in the innovation phase of the Industrial Revolution. That began with the introduction of reinforced concrete, steel, elevators, etc. This widened the capabilities of contemporary architectural concepts applying the benefits of the industrial revolution. Nowadays, the technology ensures even more powerful capability for realizations, particularly with the help of digital data and communication modes utilizing techniques and procedures appropriate and integrable to engineering specialists dealing with the industry.
CATIA is still the most popular advanced technology for architectural design, founded by IBM in the 80s. It has been widely applied even in 2022 to speed up the design process. It was CATIA that made it possible for architects to gain tectonic construction in the Guggenheim museum that was impossible for Gothic or other epoch architects. This museum is considered the key architectural solution of our period.
The innovative nature of technology has widened its boundaries in architecture over the years. Currently, architects benefit from having CAD, BIM, VR, AR, and 3D printing. They enjoy technology-supported contracts, such as Geographic data platform mapping software, Integrated Project Delivery, AI and Machine learning. It has become extremely inspiring and essential to witness that those advanced technologies are being implemented in the architectural design process. They greatly enrich capabilities to speed up the design process.
As far as technology offers numerous advantages in the Architecture niche, it has also modified the role of architectural professionals to become more efficient and unite the construction industry with other industries preserving its value.
Occupations, such as green architects, sustainability consultants, building platform designers, and visualization experts have appeared thanks to technology. Data, as well as efficiency, can be relevantly used with technology alongside creativity and professional intuition in the design process. That is essential to construct the next-gen edifices that can perfectly cope with core challenges, such as sustainability.
There is a point of view that progress in technology can assist architectural specialists in selling their talents better. The latest graphics and visualization solutions, such as AR or VR upgrade communication as well as support integrating the vision of an architect into reality.
The presentation skills of the architect have become strongly optimized to encourage clients/investors to implement a project. Data-run design with technology has ensured edifices to be constructed to acquire efficiency metrics, thus CAWs can be realized by applying such metrics as recommendations.
You see, technology has big power in the world of architecture. Now, let’s go deeper into the topic to see how technology can optimize/speed up the architectural design process.
How Technology Helps Architects to Design
The achievements in technology are affecting architectural design processes, including such its steps, as assessment, investigation, and construction. Technology determines the ways architects and clients evaluate, collaborate, prototype, and design architectural projects. Let’s now see how technology optimizes every phase of the architectural design process.
Assessment
The quality of aerial photography has grown significantly in the recent decade with the opportunity of high-resolution pictures as well as the availability to apply instruments, such as street views for performing a preliminary walk within sites. Additionally, the ability to see historical images enables architects to realize the modifications inside and outside the location.
Software for site analysis and inventory surveys enriches architects with instruments/templates to collect relevant info effortlessly shared with engineering teams, customers, and architectural contractors. The utilization of software has dramatically optimized the effectiveness of executing site and community surveys.
Currently, architects benefit from using tools for climate/weather evaluation, plant identification, scheduling data, and property info (scale, cost, etc.). Such tools allow architects to get data that earlier was expensive and time-consuming to get, whereas nowadays, it is available on Google.
The opportunity to execute 3D images by transforming them into 3D models by applying point cloud services empowers architects with the availability to review sites in the 3D mode. This practice speeds up the architectural design process as opposed to traditional sorting through dozens of site images to analyze the site because frequently elements can be out of the camera’s field of vision or missed.
Automobile-located cameras or drones enable designers to perform an assessment at eye and aerial levels (based on area policies). The captured images or videos allow architects to look at sites to get back and monitor the site to avert extra visits.
Sensors-run drones introduce an even higher level of versatility and detail that may help with territory modeling, asset authentication for local utilities, etc. These instruments are extremely helpful for both the architectural design process and project influence assessments.
Info in free access is transforming the method architects evaluate sites as well. A wide range of regions/cities/villages make it possible for architects to use open-source info, such as vehicle/pedestrian foot traffic, cyclist numbers, and so on enabling architects to see and interpret what is occurring within a site 24/7. For comparison, several decades ago, architects experienced restrictions to get the info they collected during a site walk.
Social media also allow architects to check the way humans interact with a certain location with the help of area tagging, hashtags, and common engagements within the site.
Concept Design and Partnership
Nowadays, there is a big variety of instruments available for partnership, such as mind mapping, Skype/Zoom conferencing, file sharing, sketching, team editing, and so on. Such instruments create efficient collaborations with design teams in the offices, sites, regions, and far away areas with a minimum of effort. Luckily, the times of files on USB/CD being delivered by courier are gone!
The possibility to partner and share data within groups has simplified the process of designing architectural concepts/ideas in real-time. The opportunity to integrate various images as well as sketch out architectural ideas enables designers to develop in a visual environment that is natural to the way architects feel and collaborate.
Lighting businesses, furniture providers, and others are delivering design instruments with AR-run applications to enable architects to put a certain item (table, lamp, etc.) in the space.
Design Creation
3D modeling in CAD or Sketchup provides architects with the ability to generate designs as well as test options during the architectural design process. Certain software can deliver dozens of variants for walls, corners, and paths depending on the parameters established.
The implementation of BIM has transformed the practice of partnering within design teams and contractors. Integrating engineering and architecture into a single organism upgrades the process of testing concepts as well as coping with any design challenges. Though the technology is not ideal, it assists architects in generating solutions to issues before preparing docs or setting up the construction process.
BIM/CAD plugins have also upgraded substantially because architects have created instruments for individual architectural design processes and distributed them to their colleagues. As more engineering professionals create various instruments for architects, the industry will witness the higher-level implementation of BIM software.
Construction Docs
Thanks to CAD/BIM software, architects enjoy the availability to use advanced 3D models and drawings instead of traditional blueprints. Architects’ possibility to apply a model to design more thorough prototypes and drawings optimizes performance and waste minimization.
Docs have also undergone transformations with the opportunity to assess design ideas in 3D printing/modeling. This guarantees the architect, customer, and contractors are confident that the solution will be as envisaged. Moreover, it can help to test truly challenging design ideas.
Building Process
Construction has been greatly modified with the introduction of detailed docs and models to minimize waste and optimize the interfaces and links between different construction aspects (engineering, architecture, lighting, and so on).
Nowadays, humans can monitor sites using smartphones and live streams, enabling the architect to observe progress far from afield. Additionally, it helps contractors to negotiate and approve design matters with colleagues via facetime or identical tools. Surely, the architectural design process still contains a practice of scheduled site inspections but less of visits to the site to cope with a certain issue that might be simply worked out with the video conference.
Preparing design reports on-site has become simpler with tablets and smartphones with tools/templates. Architects can make site images, include them in site reports and sketches, finalize them on-site, and deliver them for fixing. That speeds up the design process and decreases the backlog or potential requirement for expensive fixing. In the future, there will be even more tech achievements on the way with image recognition and AI that can even precisely measure distances and units.
Several Other Ways on How Technology Revolutionizes the Architectural Design Practice
In this article, it is also worth mentioning how technology impacts the architectural design process from the prism of customer focus and other factors.
Technology Improves Home Designs
In 2022, customers want to enjoy smart technology in their apartments and houses. Innovative technology is ideal for upgrading safety, adding comfort, and growing effectiveness in homes. Groundbreaking security solutions and HVAC or lighting systems create homes more gorgeous and intuitive. So, architects are introducing advanced technology to their design processes to satisfy client needs.
Regardless of older edifices being equipped with those novel smart solutions retrospectively, it can get problematic to harmoniously include technology in older construction. Note that technology operates well with novel structures as they were built with advanced technology in mind.
Enjoying Climate Modification Predictive Tools
Climate change influences the surrounding where edifices are located, and therefore, will have an impact on the way the edifices themselves operate. Innovative software enables architects to forecast the way that changes in climate could influence a structure before it is ever designed. That helps architects to build more responsive, long-life constructions. Applying specific software instruments, architects can generate edifices that will “live” for decades.
Creating More Realistic Models with VR
Previously, customers who partnered with an architect would hinge on traditional renderings and 3D models to look at the solution before it was constructed. Though those materials help get the job executed, there are restrictions. Renderings and 3D models can leave customers worrying about their completed solution.
In 2022, architects apply VR-based sets to provide customers with the chance to analyze a project to their tiniest detail. For instance, customers that use the architect’s support to design (or renovate) their homes, can utilize the VR headset to enter the door, walk down hallways, look out windows, open a wardrobe, and practice with their own eyes what it would be to live there.
VR Generates a Bright Picture of a Ready Solution
VR has transformed customer presentations and photo-realistic sketches have modified how architects interpret structures. Such sketches enable designers to produce ultra-realistic photos of edifices that are currently in a concept phase. This assists architects to make a more adequate representation of their solution and receive a more accurate capture of an idea before it is implemented.
Benefits of Applying Digital Architect Tools
Architecture businesses are using advanced technology (software and hardware) to stick to the high-level requirements of the contemporary architectural design process. What are the reasons for that?
From a historical perspective, architects utilized pencils and sketchbooks to create architectural designs, such as blueprints, construction models, and tier plans. Such designs were kept and demonstrated to customers physically. But problems, such as inaccurate measurements had designers searching for effective alternatives.
Architects progressively skipped to practicing digital technology. Currently, architecture businesses embrace dozens of digital architecture instruments (from development software to workflow supervision tools) to generate holistic architectural models with extreme accuracy. Such instruments also support control of the project workflow to guarantee zero delays.
So, in case you are an architect and want to digitalize your architectural design process, check the advantages of using digital tools for architects to speed up every design phase. The target is to make your architectural routine digitalized to economize time and optimize performance.
Economize Budget and Time
Applying common sketching and doc supervision approaches, such as tracing paper or mechanical pencil, takes a lot of time. Architects are to make designs on paper or sketchbooks and physically deliver them to customers.
Digital architectural instruments offer templates that are easy to customize according to your solution. Architects are free to choose any relevant option from a variety of structure design templates. As far as they are pre-developed, architects don’t need to begin creating from scratch, which economizes time. Additionally, all the design instruments are represented in one software set, so they don’t spend extra budget to buy separate instruments.
Regarding hardware, architects can apply equipment, such as 3D pencils to leave the traditional pencil-and-paper combo. Such a device empowers architects to generate a structure model without paper and on any surface. Similar to the earlier-mentioned software, it encourages saving money on buying numerous stationery things.
Avert Design Mistakes
Practicing digital architecture tools assist architects in communicating ideas better to customers and other parties involved in the project. Architects can make extremely flexible structure models with scrupulous specifications and geometric indicators. That allows contractors to visualize design concepts more qualitatively, resulting in quicker decision-making.
Furthermore, architects can reveal potential design mistakes that might end up with building hazards. Construction damages because of weather conditions are only a small part of potential threats owing to a poor architectural design.
Technology helps evaluate a structure design in detail to audit the links between numerous items of the edifice. As soon as you discover any design mistake, you tell the contractor about it before construction starts.
