Module 4 - Points to Ponder

Submitted For
Module 4 - Points to Ponder
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Please share your comments on 3 of the following Points to Ponder questions. (Choose 3 of the questions below.)

What types of building information are best portrayed in 3D views?

  • Aesthetics, space layout with furniture and other components, material colors and textures, and high level design features are best portrayed in 3D views. These are the types of things that are hard to extrapolate and imagine with 2D views.
  • 2D views are essential for the folks actually building the space and engineering it to make everything function. Partition plans, layouts, elevations, building sections show the relationships between components to a precision that would be required by a contractor for example.

Give examples of how the building information for a specific location in the project needs to be filtered for different audiences and purposes?

Owners/clients might only need or want to see components like walls, doors, windows, and furniture in the space without the clutter of dimensions, tags, or annotations for construction.

That said, contractors, engineers, consultants, and trade partners might need to see the dimensions, window/door tags, and annotations in order to cost estimate, work out logistics, design the building systems, and perform other tasks related to ultimately finishing the design and constructing the building.

Should your design ideas always be conveyed through photorealistic renders?

  • If a model is conveyed through photorealistic renders, then there may be some perception that design is finalized or potentially that the design as is might be subconsciously constraining the imagination of the client. During early design stages, it might be more beneficial to use stylized sketches rather than rendering to convey high level design options and aesthetics. Then, once there is buy in by the client, using a rendering to take those agreed upon design options to the logical, photorealistic end point would be appropriate.
  • Also, I would imagine that in most cases making sure the level of detail in the rendering matches that of the level of detail in the current design stage (or similar level of detail) would be most appropriate. That said, there may be instances where having a photorealistic rendering in early stage design might spark inspiration, interest, and give the client a set of design aesthetics and bounds to depart from.
  • From a contractors perspective, if there are photorealistic renderings that may not actually match up with ultimate design intent (e.g. some material choices are different or architectural elements are not finalized), it may confuse what the ultimate design intent is for the building which could cause problems down the road.