Can you recall that moment when you felt certain that you would become an architect? How did you imagine your future work then? It could have been quite a few years ago, maybe still in childhood, at school, just before college or just during college. Our stories vary, but one can venture to say that in most of those moments, we imagined ourselves... designing.
What is the content of design in design?
© MULTIBIM
It's obvious, we become architects to design exceptional architecture. Obvious to those young students, but a little less obvious from today's perspective. If we counted how much of our day is spent on actual design, what would it look like in your case? How many hours does your creative work take up, and how many are stolen by all the extra tasks?
Additional tasks of an architect
Would you agree that even the best design does not guarantee the success of the design process?
First you need to "sell" it to the investor, and for this the design alone is not enough. Many people may look at the design, but not be able to see the building. They can't imagine it, so we need to stretch their imagination and show them visualizations. We call the creation of visualizations one of those additional tasks of an architect. In theory, this is not what our clients come to us for, but in practice it is difficult to do the work of an architect without impressive visualizations.
Another task that is essential, but not the essence of our profession, is the creation of documentation. What part of the design process is consumed by creating and revising documentation? We are curious about your answers, but we know from our experience that quite a lot.
The third, and perhaps most important for the success of a project, additional task of an architect is working with civil engineers. This is probably also the most difficult task, because it comes down to efficient communication. And it is well known that even the most substantive arguments can get lost in the chaos of communication.
Adding up these tasks, we can say that the content of design in design in the contemporary work of an architect is not very high. Unfortunately.
What is the content of design in design?
© MULTIBIM
What can we do about it?
Were you, from the past, aware of all these challenges that you face today? What would you tell this younger version of yourself? That it has to be this way, that nothing can be done about it?
If you are not sure what should be said, we have a hint: We won't eliminate all extra tasks, but we can simplify them.
With more efficient work methods and streamlined tools, we can spend less time on these tasks. And we can spend the regained time on what we dream of - designing exceptional architecture.
The working method that makes design easier and eliminates additional tasks is, of course, BIM. When they ask us: what does BIM give, more or less? That's what we answer: less tedious manual work and more pleasure in designing. Less of what we don't like to do. More of what we love, which is pure design.
But designing in BIM is only half the battle, much depends on the choice of tools we use. Programs for designing in BIM are called harvesters, but it's worth remembering that a harvester is unequal to a harvester.
The right combine makes life easier
Tools, and design programs are among them, should be intuitive and easy to use. The quality of a tool is not judged by how many features and add-ons it has, but by how easy it is to use them. We say that architects should design more and deal less with ancillary tasks, so the last thing we need are programs that make this difficult.
What is the content of design in design?
© MULTIBIM
Fortunately, there are software manufacturers who understand this perfectly and have been developing their tools in just such a way for years. We are referring to Graphisoft and their flagship product, Archicad.
Focus on design
We are writing these words shortly after the event that celebrated the 40th anniversary of this Graphisoft and the launch of the new 26th edition of Archicad. We were just inspired by the keynote of the next edition of Archicad - Focus on Design - because it is very consistent with our understanding of the meaning of the architectural profession. We should be concerned with what brings the most satisfaction and business benefits, namely design.
Not coincidentally, the new version of Archicad 26 introduces improvements in four key areas of an architect's work: Design, Visualization, Documentation and Collaboration with process participants. Easier project management, better and faster visualizations, simpler and more accurate documentation, and more efficient project collaboration all help architects focus on what's important.
We believe that by doing so, you can fulfill the expectations of your early career versions, i.e. doing what you love and what pushed you towards this profession.
Let's increase the design content in our design, everyone will benefit!
Please visit our website, where we take a closer look at how the latest Archicad 26 makes architects' lives easier.
About us
Who are we, writing these words? We are Multibim, a team of BIM enthusiasts and experts. We believe in BIM because we know it means less hassle and tedious work, leaving more room for design pleasure. We support architects in choosing the best tools and implementing BIM efficiently, regardless of the size of the studio. We want them to effortlessly use the full potential of BIM, so we offer simple and intuitive software and our knowledge and experience. We are practitioners, so we only offer solutions that we have tested ourselves. That's why we have been the official Graphisoft Archicad software supplier in Poland for years.
For more information, visit the company's Multibim page on the A&B portal.
