WK 7 Readings

Scott Marble’s ‘BIM 2.0’ highlights concerns and worries of the implication of BIM (Building Information Software) and IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) in relation to the relation between architects, builders and owners. Marble states “With the growing integration of design, production and project management into a single digital workflow, the distinction between designing the design and designing the design process becomes less evident”¹ To further elaborate, while the models created by architects possess large potential to the entirety of the design process, essentially becoming a host of ‘meta-design’ it also takes away from the status of the architect.

BIM aims to simplify the ease of translation between all parties involved with the structure/building, offering the ability to display detailed building descriptions, useful in the process design stage but may hinder the building design, resulting in a rather bland and boring building. It is for this reason we can look at Reiser Umenmoto on his work, 014 project, where rather than letting the digital tools generate the design, he has gone to great lengths to over engineer the exterior shell, allowing for design flexibility without affecting the integrity of the structure. The challenge now is to see whether this integration of BIM and IPD will become “a threat or an opportunity”² to architects.

‘BIM’s Seven Deadly Sins’ by Dominik Holzer, exposes prevailing problems apparent in the use of BIM design practices. The sins are: Technocentricity, Ambiguity, Elision, Hypocrisy, Delusion, Diffidence and Monodisciplinarity. Expanding upon all of these, Holzer brings to light each issue on its own scale however, these ‘sins’ are not insurmountable. “With BIM capabilities becoming broader, BIM users witness the challenges associated with its implementation becoming broader as well. The seven sins of BIM implementation… can present significant impediments in its uptake. At the same time, none of the sins are insurmountable.”³

It is simply technological errors in most cases, where BIM poses as a ‘foreign’ tool, being integrated and poorly misconceived in its application to architectural design. It will merely take a matter of time before these ‘sins’ are ironed out, then, the true collaboration and power of BIM will be utilized. 

1.         Marble, S. (2012). Digital workflows in architecture. Basel, Birkhäuser. p.72
2.         Marble, S. (2012). Digital workflows in architecture. Basel, Birkhäuser. p.73
3.        Holzer, D. (2011). BIM's Seven Deadly Sins. International Journal of Architectural Computing, 9(4), p.478