Closing the Gap: Information Models in Contemporary Design Practice: Architectural Design

By closing the gap between conceptual design and the documentation required for construction, building information modelling (BIM) promises to revolutionise contemporary design practice. This issue of AD brings together a group of pioneering academics, architects, engineers and construction managers all of whom are engaged in the use of building information models in the actualisation of complex building projects, from design stage to construction. Key texts trace the development of building information modelling technologies and address issues of collaboration, design and management, while featured projects systematise the use of BIM in contemporary design practice for students and professionals alike faced with considering these tools within the changing marketplace.

Covers a core area of technological development: BIM systems that span the gap between the design, manufacturing and construction processes.

Key contributions from: Chuck Eastman, Cynthia Ottchen and Dennis Shelden of Gehry Technologies.

Features work by: Asymptote, Greg Lynn FORM, KieranTimberlake, Morphosis and SHoP Architects.

Introduction

Optimisation Stories: The Impact of Building Information Modelling on Contemporary Design Practice

Richard Garber

Best Pedestrian Route GRO Architects

Richard Garber and Nicole Robertson

BURST∗008, Museum of Modern Art Douglas Gauthier and Jeremy Edmiston

Douglas Gauthier

The Future of Information Modelling and the End of Theory: Less is Limited, More is Different

Cynthia Ottchen

New Academic Building for the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Morphosis

Martin Doscher

The $300,000/Year Architect

Urs Gauchat

Al Hamra Firdous Tower Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Gary Haney

Unified Frontiers: Reaching Out with BIM

Coren Sharples

C2 Building, Fashion Institute of Technology SHoP Architects

SHoP Architects

Automated Assessment of Early Concept Designs

Chuck Eastman

Cellophane House KieranTimberlake

Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake

Yale Sculpture Building and Gallery KieranTimberlake

Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake

Building for the Third Century (B3C), Massachusetts General Hospital NBBJ

Craig Brimley and Jorge Gomez

Collaborative Intelligence = Respect

Keith Kaseman

Her secret is patience and She Changes Janet Echelman

Janet Echelman

Information Modelling as a Paradigm Shift

Dennis Shelden

Strata Tower Asymptote

Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture

Alberti s Paradigm

Richard Garber

Recycled Toy Furniture Greg Lynn FORM

Greg Lynn

Blobwall Greg Lynn FORM

Greg Lynn

An Enthusiastic Sceptic

Nat Oppenheimer

Toni Stabile Student Center, Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Marble Fairbanks

Scott Marble and Karen Fairbanks

Interior Eye

Carlos Zapata and Antonio Citterio′s Cooper Square Hotel, New York

Jayne Merkel

Practice Profile

Pierre Thibault

Brian Carter

Building Profile

Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

David Littlefield

Unit Factor

Computational Spring Systems: Open Design Processes for Complex Structural Systems

Sean Ahlquist and Moritz Fleischmann

Spiller s Bits

Complex Systems Architecture

Neil Spiller

McLean s Nuggets

Will McLean

Userscape

The Sustainable Disco

Valentina Croci

Site Lines

Replacing a Beloved Building with a Hybrid: Paresky Student Center, Williams College

Jamie Horwitz

Richard Garber is an assistant professor at the New Jersey School of Architecture (NJSOA), where he teaches design studios and directs the school s FABLAB. His work involves the use of computer simulation and computer numerically controlled (CNC) hardware in the generation of innovative design, construction and assembly solutions. In 2007 his practice, GRO Architects, won the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council s re:Construction Competition. The resulting work, Best Pedestrian Route, was fabricated at NJSOA s FABLAB and was installed at the corner of Broadway and John Street in Lower Manhattan. In 2008 GRO won an AIA Merit Award and a NY Designs Award from the Architectural League of New York for these efforts. He was also the Emerging Architect Visiting Assistant Professor at Barnard College in 2007, with Nicole Robertson. He was previously a project manager at SHoP Architects, where he worked on the firm s 2000 winning PS—1 entry, Dunescape, and at Greg Lynn FORM where he worked on the Presbyterian Church of New York. His writing and design work has been published in the New York Times, the Star Ledger, The Architect s Newspaper, Azure, Art News, Metropolis and Architectural Record. He holds architecture degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Columbia University. www.groarc.com