What are the primary goals of creating a building model? Who are the key stakeholders?
◦ What does each of them need from the model? Architect: site typography, daylight Engineer: geometry of different structures. Client: simple visual Plumber: Clear layout, placement, conflicts Electrician: Clear layout, placement, conflicts
◦ What do they care about most, and where do those priorities conflict? Aesthetics, cost, code, time. prioritizing one aspect over others will likely result in failure or unhappy client.
A drawing is a picture of a building. A model is a description of one.
◦ What questions can you ask a model that you cannot ask a drawing? The size, length, material, layers of an objects in the model can be easily investigated.
◦ Are there things a drawing still communicates better? Give an example. Simple aesthetical value are far easier to communicate using drawings for non technical end-user such as a client or a marketer
This course splits the work across Forma, Revit and Forma Data Management.
◦ What is gained by using a different tool for concept, documentation and coordination? Each tool has different objective. Forma is for site management. Forma provides us the ability to import site settings from an address including typography and nearby buildings. The Revit helps us model the building itself. Data management enable sharing our models with other collaborators.
◦ What tends to get lost in the handoffs between them? context and vision, maybe lost if now well documented or if certain decisions are not well described.
◦ Who on a real project team is responsible for making sure nothing is lost? BIM manager
Where should a building model actually live?
◦ What are the practical consequences of a model living on one person's laptop? Single point of failure, It could get lost due to lack of backup. months of work could get erased. meanwhile cloud products have backup mitigation automatically.
◦ What changes when the model lives in the cloud, for the designer and for everyone else? collaboration and provide the latest updated model and ensures no heavy files are being emailed around which will be a lot more tedious. Since I come from software world, I would like to think of it as Github but for building models.
You will make hundreds of modeling decisions this quarter.
◦ Which ones are worth being slow and careful about? Structural decisions, size of rooms, wall layers
◦ Which are worth being fast about, accepting that you may redo them? colors, outlet placements.
◦ How would you tell the difference before you have made the mistake? By thinking through dependency and if something needs to be adjusted later or certain decision is still not concluded allowing for flexibility or anticipate the possible fix or alteration that may be needed in the future.