sometimes I get giddy

As many of you know I recently changed cities, changed jobs and changed drafting platforms. It’s been a very stressful and challenging few months. So it’s no surprise that in all of this change the strangest things make me just….well, giddy. Like a little school girl. Giddy.

In learning Vectorworks and BIM it’s been a turbulent road. The learning curve is not constant. There are sharp rises, very low valleys and some long plateaus in between. It certainly makes each day interesting and recently (about 2 minutes ago, thus prompting this blog post) I discovered a new tool which I wasn’t sure was going to work the way I needed it to, but actually turned out to be a saving grace.

Bring on the giddy, school girl squealing and screeching.

image by: haiiro-no-tenshi.deviantart.com

The tool - 3D Extract

Oh what a wondrous invention on the programmers part. But first a little backstory is needed. For our office we purchased just the Vectorworks Architect software. We didn’t go for the extra bells and whistles with Renderworks which would have made this whole post moot, but that’s another story. Without Renderworks you can’t assign textures which makes rendering impossible and elevations…..difficult. But we make do with what we have.

So, after trudging along in 3D long enough it was time to begin setting up plan and elevation sheets for the client to really start moving forward. This is where one of those sharp rises on the learning curve come in. Plan, no problem. Elevations, no problem. Annotating notes, no problem. Assigning hatch patterns and rendering materials, big problem. At first I discovered that I was most likely going to have to hatch each 2D elevation on the sheet. This was upsetting.

But, now after about a month I’ve finally figured out the 3D extract tool, which is a savior. It allows you to select individual wall faces (or any object face for that matter) and basically create a copy at it’s present location. You can then assign a hatch, color, whatever, to that surface in 3D space. This will then translate to your 2D viewports on your sheet files, so you don’t have to hatch each and every elevation in annotation mode.

Hallelujah!

In addition to this, and I’m sure I’ll find this valuable in the future, you can also extract 3D Loci (3D points) that can be snapped to when you need to draw objects in 3D space and can’t snap. And there are some other functions that I’ll learn as I go, but these two are the most beneficial right now.

Vectorworks is really a sweet tool. It has it’s limitations like any other platform, 2D or 3D, but the amount of productivity you can squeeze into a very short period of time once you understand some basic tools is beyond amazing. How BIM hasn’t taken off decades before now I’ll never know. But it’s here, and I am grateful!

architecture and construction

The further along I get in practice and the more projects I’m involved in that actually get built – this is more rare than you might think – the more I see a disconnect in the profession between the process and practice of architecture and the realities of construction. And while there are many reasons for this, there are two that I see as having a big impact on this phenomenon: technology and contracts.

yep. revision cloud. makes total sense.

Technology, since the dawn of time, has allowed us to further the cause of human existence first with the invention of cutting tools that allowed us to build the first post and beam structures and lean-tos to the modern tools and conveniences we have today that allow us to build monuments like the Freedom Tower, Taipei I and II, and so on. But with increasing technology, I think, has come a decrease in construction knowledge on the part of the architect. And unfortunately this trend begins in school.

The last crit that I sat in on I continually asked the questions “what is that material?”, or “what do these lines represent?”. And more often than not I got blank stares or vague archi-speak answers that made little sense and gave no concrete answers to the original question asked. In practice buildings really do have to stand up, because if they don’t they will fall down. And that’s bad.

Boy, sure wish someone would have caught that one….

The obvious answer to this should be more comprehensive education in construction and detailing, but I don’t see this happening anytime soon. A friend of mine is trying to push just this issue over at InSB. You should check it out.

The second issue is contracts. Ah, contracts, how I love thee. Let me count the….never mind. Contracts, as most of us know (or should) define our roles and responsibilities on a given project. Increasingly I am noticing the Architect and designer being completely phased out of the construction process. I’ve talked about this before and I’ll say it again here – during construction is when you NEED your architect or designer on site to make sure that the contractors are constructing the building as designed. A good design, quite frankly, is easy. Any of us can make something look good on paper. It’s in execution and the coordination of all the pieces and parts that make a truly successful building. Your architects is the one who is supposed to help make that happen for you.

By cutting your architect out of the construction process you do two things: First you give complete control over to the contractor to build as he sees fit. Building codes and construction standards outline a MINIMUM to maintain the Health Safety and Welfare of the public. Most architects do not design to a minimum standard (not if they can help it). They design to YOUR standard and it’s a part of the architect’s responsibility to ensure compliance with the standard as designed. The second thing you do by taking the architect out of the construction process is you devalue your building. All the fees that you paid your architect in the beginning to give you that set of pretty pictures are worth less than what you paid if the architect is not also in charge of monitoring the outcome during construction.

Sometimes they just CAN’T WAIT to put those windows in….they’re so excited! O_o

So, this writing out of the architect during construction has led to less architects fighting to stay involved with their clients and their projects through to construction, thereby making it harder for the architect to keep up with construction standards, practices, materials and methods. This in turn makes it more difficult for architect to convince future clients to keep them on through to construction and project completion.

It’s a Catch 22. One doesn’t come without the other.

So what is a practical solution? In an economy where every project we can scrape together matters and every billable hour is crucial, do we have the luxury to DEMAND that we be kept on through the construction process? I say yes. But why would a client reasonably go for that, you ask? Because we’ve expressed to the client in no uncertain terms that we’re worth it.

Daily Prompt: Teachable Moment

Today’s subject is essentially “how do you learn?” When learning a new skill do you prefer to read about it, hear it from someone else, watch someone else or just do it yourself?

This is an interesting topic for me right now because, as it happens, I am learning a new skill – Vectorworks Architect 2013 (BIM). Our office made the switch by first purchasing two seats – one for me and one for our other intern – a couple of weeks ago. We decided that we would take two new projects and start them in Vectorworks rather than trying to start in our old software and move after.

Now, learning BIM is not quite like learning a completely new skill where you’re starting from nothing and working up. I’ve been a practicing Intern for about 9 years. I’ve worked in multiple cad platforms, some with 3D capability and some that are purely 2D, so my experience is fairly wide. But BIM is a true shift in thinking from conventional drafting so I’ve had to alter my learning style some in order to keep my momentum moving forward rather than getting bogged down in the minutia of the various tools.

I’m typically a “learn from doing” kind of guy with a little “point me in the right direction” thrown in for good measure. With Vectorworks, and BIM in general, I’ve taken the “everything under the sun” approach to learning. I’ve downloaded and bought books, watched nearly every video posted to the Vectorworks support site, combed through the community forums, watched youtube videos, asked for help from other architect users and I continue to push through on my own as I’m actively designing and detailing two residential projects. It’s been……interesting, to say the least.

Some days I feel like I’m doing ok, and then others I feel like there’s still so much to learn that I’m never going to really get it. Somewhere in between those days I know that I’m getting it little by little and, luckily, there are MANY tools and resources out there for me to use in order to find my way.

So, whatever your personal learning style and no matter what you’re learning, remember that no matter how you think you learn the best, there’s always something you can learn from some other source. Don’t limit your learning. Use whatever and do whatever it takes to master “it” and achieve your goals.

Daily Prompt – Sliced Bread

We’ve all heard the expression “this is the greatest thing since sliced bread”, so today we’re wondering “what really is the greatest thing since sliced bread”?

For Architecture, 30 years ago, it was CAD or Computer Aided Drafting. That’s right, 30 years and not much changed. Really not much changed from the drawing board to the computer. You still created lines on a sheet of paper in 2 dimensions that represent an eventual 3 dimensional reality. This was not really a paradigm shift by any stretch. It really just made mistakes easier and less time consuming to correct. If you’ve ever tried erasing ink on vellum you know exactly what I’m talking about.

But now we are in full swing with BIM or Building Information Modeling. BIM, unlike traditional CAD, is a true paradigm shift in thinking because you approach design and documentation from a 3 dimensional perspective rather than 2 dimensional. This means from the very beginning you’re thinking about grades and site positioning and views and roof profiles and elevations and wall sections and basic construction detailing. Not to mention the benefits of collision detection when coordinating consultant information for other trades, etc.

In my mind this is technology that should have been embraced a decade ago, but now that we are finally pushing in that direction as an industry, BIM truly is the best thing since sliced bread.

“a quick cad drawing”

this is why you hire qualified people to draw, detail and oversee construction.

I’m going to go off on a little rant for a moment. Please stay with me. I have officially had it with hearing the phrase/question “you can do that real quick in cad, right?” From potential clients, employers, consultants and contractors alike, this gets under my skin like the plague and just festers and rots inside until it finally comes boiling out of my eyes and ears like a rancid explosion of bile.

First, NO, I can not do it “real quick” in autocad. Why? Because autocad is a tool, a specialized tool used by professionals trained in architecture/engineering in order to properly detail a building that PEOPLE will occupy. If I do it “real quick” more than likely something will get screwed up and people could die. Ok, probably not but still… So in order to properly draft and detail said building I need to research building codes and look at the site and the existing conditions, the surroundings, neighborhood, zoning codes, etc. I need to look at what the most appropriate materials will be for the project and how does that get detailed in a wall section or elevation.

Second, if it was so friggin easy and “quick” don’t you think everyone would be able to do it thus making me obsolete? Again, I’m a professional using a set of tools in order to create a set of documents that a contractor will use to build your home/office/taco stand/whatever. Do you want it “real quick” or do you want it done right by someone who is paying attention to the details required to ensure that you and your family/community are safe?

If you want it “real quick” there are 10,000,000 people in foreign countries all over the world who will happily take your money and give you something slightly resembling a drawing that one day someone MIGHT be able to decipher into additional documents so that you can get a permit.

If you want it done right and constructed in a manner that is safe, secure and will last beyond the life of your ownership, hire me or one of the thousands of trained architects and designers who will take your ideas and your dreams and make them reality. Just be willing to pay for it. All this good stuff ain’t free and it ain’t cheap neither.

the bummer of BIM

I may have mentioned this before, but some of you know I’ve been working on taking my practice into the 21st Century and the wonderful world of BIM. It should also come as no surprise to many of you that I am not a huge fan of Autodesk, having been a Autocad user for the last 13+ years I’ve seen many ups and downs…mostly downs. But now that BIM is taking the world by storm I figure it’s time to at least get up to the curve, if not completely ahead of it.

In this quest to find the best BIM platform for my practice I’ve spent way more hours scouring the internet for web articles and comparison reviews than I care to admit to. The three giants of the BIM world, in my opinion are Revit, Archicad, and Vectorworks. The overwhelming consensus that I’ve found seems to be that there is no “right answer” when it comes to BIM software, but rather it comes down to several factors.

1. the types of projects you create – i.e. large commercial and institutional projects or single family residences or renovations and tenant improvements or government work, etc.

2. the size of your practice – i.e. 1-2 people versus multiple teams across multiple disciplines working in conjunction.

3. how you practice – do you plan to work 100% BIM or keep a large portion of your detailing and production work in 2D

While any software comes with its limitations and benefits, what I’m finding is that the majority of the big names out there are relatively uniform. Personally, from what I’ve gathered in my reading and my very limited experience, Archicad is the choice over Revit for those more interested in design and production in 3D. Revit, from what I can gather, can be rather clunky and is geared more towards larger projects that are more heavily engineered than designed (this is a gross generalization based solely on the opinions of others). This has really always been true of Autodesk, even with ADT, now Autocad Architecture – it’s more “BIM Production” rather than “BIM Design”. I’m sure my bias is showing *blushes*, but to me Archicad seems a more sexy design tool as well as a production powerhouse. Not to mention with new IFC exporting protocols you can share across almost any platform you want to. So, the idea of not being able to collaborate with other BIM platforms or other disciplines is out the window for any of the above mentioned platforms.

in-progress screen shot of a bungalow I’m designing in Archicad 14

At the end of the day the only real bummer of BIM is that it’s taken so long to be popular in the industry. When Graphisoft came out with their first release of Archicad nearly 30 years ago, it should have been the beginning of a new frontier for architectural design and production. Instead it was pushed out in favor of Autocad which was nothing more than fancy hand drafting on a computer.

So, lesson learned. BIM is here. It’s here to stay and if you think that it’s not for you or not for your practice…well, either you don’t plan on practicing much longer or….yeah, I got nothin else.

BIM. It’s what’s for dinner. Or something.

live. work. sketch.

As someone who hasn’t been out of school all that long (only about 9 years) and teaches Autocad and hand drafting at a local community college, I’d like to revisit WHY sketching and hand drafting are still so very important to our profession and why these skills should not be cast aside in favor of greater exposure to digital modeling and design. I came across an article in the Yale Daily News that talks about just this subject.

Yale Daily News

The above article talks about the Yale School of Architecture and a recent symposium they held title “Is Hand Drawing Dead?” The symposium, as you can imagine, drew massive attention and debate on both sides of the aisle. Architectural education has, for so very long, been centered around a foundation of drawing as both a technical skill and artistic expression. My own architectural education began with hand drafting, day one, class one. And, even though we always had access to the latest digital technology and even a rendering farm, hand drafting and sketching were skills we all used regularly.

The consensus of the article is that both professor and student agree that hand drawing and sketching will always be necessary pieces in an architects tool box. But I’m more interested in what you all have to say. Is hand drafting and sketching going the way of the do-do bird? Are these skills even necessary in a modern architectural education? Is the future of our profession really all about the latest and greatest modeling/rendering/BIM tools?

What say you?

old (-ish) dogs, new tricks

My first internship was, by all accounts, a dream job. Not only was it with the oldest firm in Florida (their corporate license # is A000001), but they were one of the first firms to make the switch to Autocad in the 80s and were even published in an early edition of Arch Record for a 3D model done of the Jacksonville Airport. They continued, and continue, to stay on the cutting edge of technology. While I was with them we always had the latest version of Autocad and once I moved up a little, I was allowed to get in on Beta testing for Autodesk, which means we got the latest versions before they were commercially available.

BOOOYAH! Yeah Baby.

It was, to say the least, an amazing learning experience to work with other architects and designers that had such a wealth of knowledge about the technology available to us and it’s practical use in the profession. Unfortunately this has not been my experience since leaving that firm.

In the first few years after leaving this firm it was easy to stay on top of new developments because I was actively in IDP and a bit of a pain in the ass when it came to getting experience. So, I was always looking for new ways to make my life easier in the world of cad production.

In my current position….let’s just say I feel as though my ears are continually leaking valuable information out of my brain that I will perhaps never get back as I drum through the day on one redline task after another on a 4 year old platform of Autocad Architecture. Suffice it to say I’m behind the curve at this point when I used to be ahead of it.

So there’s the question – is it ever too late for a architect/designer to learn new tricks?

I ask because, knowing that I am woefully behind the AEC technology curve, I’m endeavoring to teach myself BIM and IPD, starting with Archicad. Being a teacher at a local state college has it’s perks. I have a fully licensed copy of the educational version and access to a ton of tutorials and videos and other teaching aids. It’s awesome, but slow going. Other than SketchUp I haven’t had to teach myself anything new in more years than I care to admit.

Does anyone else have any experience with this kind of professional shift – moving from one way of doing things to a completely new way and changing technologies all at the same time? Have you had successes, failures, or was it a seamless process? What do we think are some keys to success when dealing with new technology, new techniques and new tools? Is it simply a matter of attitude or is there some other trait that keeps us moving forward, striving to stay at least near the top of the curve? I hope everyone will share their own thoughts, experiences and opinions.

Mobile Architecture

My last post on the architect’s staff meeting was so popular I decided to follow up with another provocative question about the practice of architecture.  The practice of architecture, and all things that can even be remotely associated with it, are of constant interest to me as I continue to learn and grow as an architectural professional.  And that should be the task of all architects and designers, even those who maybe do not “call the shots”, so to speak.  If we’re not constantly trying to improve ourselves as architects, as designers and as professionals then eventually we will fall behind and we will fail.  This is why I continue to ask questions and challenge time tested ideas for new solutions and new possibilities.  Most people find that really annoying about me, but that’s a different story.

So, the question is:

Can architecture be mobile?

More specifically, I’m wondering, can a practice be mobile?  Can a successful architectural studio have no studio?  Instead of employees stumbling into a shiny new office 5 days a week, could those same employees instead be spread out over, say, the continental US, meeting instead via a digital office, an office “in the cloud” as the catchy commercials whisper?

As the economy continues to slump down the road at a snails pace and more and more architects and designers are either hopelessly unemployed or striking out on their own scraping together all the cast off projects others don’t want, could the firm of the future be simply a collaborative effort of many individuals working together for the cause of architecture rather than the cause of money?

I believe all of these things are possible and more.  Imagine small firms and sole practitioners banding together across the country, and even across the world, to pool the best talents to produce the best work for the client and the end users.  Is this just a foolish utopian ideal?  Am I dreaming with my head too far up my own ass?  Can architects and designers finally start setting aside our overstuffed egos and form relationships and practices that are revolutionary in a way that will not just help ourselves, but help everyone?  When the architectural community actually BECOMES a community, amazing things will happen in our built environment that will positively affect generations.

The question really becomes:

Why isn’t architecture mobile?

collaboration and cooperation

I received this video from a container design/build firm up in Canada that I recently discovered.  What amazes me is, this video was filmed in 2005 and this idea of collaboration and cooperation, at least to me, is only now beginning it’s infancy.

For the last couple of weeks, and in my previous blog post, I’ve been talking about this new idea of co-working where small business peoples can share ideas and pool their resources for everyone’s benefit.  This video has put the frosting on the cake for me.  There can be no real long term sustained success in business, especially in the climate of our current economic roller coaster that we find ourselves sitting in, without collaboration and cooperation within and across disciplines.