B2- Group D - Yuyang Shi

BIM (building information modeling) is getting more and more popular during the past few years. Before I enter college I did not know what it is, but nowadays many companies and firms have already switch from traditional design process to BIM. There is no doubt that BIM has its clear advantages comparing to conventional design process. 

Based on my own experience, as well as what has been mentioned in the BIM handbook, when we draw plans with AutoCAD, although it is quite easy to make changes to a few lines and shapes, it is essentially not that different from drawing with a pencil. Especially when it comes to complex plans, making big change would be a nightmare. However, this is not the case for BIM. When modeling with Revit, plans can be generated based on the model. There is a direct link between the model and all elements. So when we make modifications to the model, all the plans, elevations, sections plans would change simultaneously. 

Same with modeling. When we learned to model digitally, Sketchup and Rhino are being widely accepted for their simplicity and specialty. But we are essentially just making some surfaces which only make sense to us, not to the computer. As what the Chapter has talked about, productivity is a very important element that firms need to consider about in practice, so it is important to allocate our effort on something that is more meaningful instead of tedious. As I read through the chapter, one graph caught my attention, which is shown below: 

 

In this graph, the X axis represents the design phases. From PD ( Pre- design) to OP (Operation). What can be inferred from the graph is straightforward: during the past, we spend too much effort on CD (construction documentation) instead of the design phase. And it is a shame for architects who are passionate about being creative. What BIM can do is that it potentially minimize the CD time so we would be able to focus more on the creative aspect of the project.

When I was on my first COOP back in 2013, I worked for an architecture firm in Beijing. One day, I was called to attend a meeting with my colleagues to discuss if our office should adopt BIM for our future projects. Originally I thought that it should not even be a question, because the idea of changing the model and all plans can be changed accordingly sounded like a fairy tale. But in reality it was not the case, as my boss concerned that switch to Revit would be a big risk, not only because we have to squeeze time from our already occupied schedule to learn something that was not mature yet, but also a lot of our client or contractors still had not adopt this. Eventually we did not switch to BIM because of those issues. In fact, new born technologies always have such issue. BIM has a lot of advantages but it still has a long way to go. But we cannot ignore its potentials, and I am glad that many people have started accepting it and applying it to real life projects. 

Comment:
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Cite: 

Eastman, Charles M. BIM Handbook : A Guide To Building Information Modeling For Owners, Managers, Designers, Engineers And Contractors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2011. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 18 Jan. 2016.