Architectural Technology

Back in the day, architects are doing their drafts manually. Drawings before were made by using ink on paper or similar material and copies had to be made by hand.

Architectural drawings have several purposes: to develop a design idea into a coherent proposal, to communicate ideas and concepts, to convince clients of the merits of a design, to assist a building contractor to construct it based on the design intent, and to serve as a record of the design and planned development or to make a record of a building that already exists. The twentieth century shifted to drawing on tracing papers so that mechanical copies could be made efficiently.

The development of computers had a huge impact on the methods used to design and create technical drawings, resulting in the manual drawing being disused and opening up new possibilities of forms using organic shapes and complex geometry. Today, CAD is being used for the majority of drawings, but the advancement of technology doesn’t end there.

Technology has taken the front seat in the refinement of designing and building a structure. We’ve seen technology, both in theory and practice, enhance the way we design buildings and even the way how clients experience the design process.

Here are some of the innovations in technology that helped improve building efficiency and durability while making it easier for architects to accurately render a building design.

1) BIM (Building Information Modelling)

Revit, ArchiCad, and Allpaln are some of the most well-known BIM-compatible software. Using this technology allows the work of several builder roles like engineers, architects, estimators, clients, and many others to perfectly distribute the work in all stages of the construction process and enable proper execution with lesser inaccuracies.

2) 3D Printing Machines

3D printing is fast, inexpensive, and can be used to create miniature copies and building of prototype models of actual structures. Through this technology, creating a copy of the whole structure is possible. Using CAD and a 3D printer, you’ll save the labor and time involved in creating a model by hand. It helps the client visualize better and spot the errors before actually building it.

3) Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality

Renderings aids in presenting a proposal and help the client visualize the project, but AR/VR takes an extra mile in making the client envision it before it is built. VRs are among the favorite choices of clients and designer groups and can help create more efficient and user-specific designs because of the services it offers.

4) Digital Sketchbooks

It’s time to say goodbye to office storage of tracing papers that consumes 40% of the firm’s space. Now, sketchbooks are digital and all drawings can be saved with a click. This makes it easier to show clients a draft or a sketch, and simpler for an architect to share his ideas with a colleague, client, and other builders.

5) Realistic Renderings

Photoshop, Lumion, Revit, and other apps create realistic renderings that allow architects to show a realistic picture of a project that does not yet exist. This enables architects to create a more accurate representation of their final product and to precisely capture an idea and perfect a design before it is built.

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Shortly soon, there will be more applications that can help speed up the operations in the design field, given that technology is constantly improving human life on a day-to-day basis, solving timeworn problems encountered by humans. It is expected that as technology advances, so will architecture.