Monday 17 December 2012

Autodesk University & Gunslinger: A few weeks in the US of A

Autodesk University 2012 is over for yet another year. Some great developments in the cloud, as well as new products including formit, BIM360 and Fusion360. It was a brilliant event that sits very high on the must do list for any person interested in technology. Amazing products and training sessions as well as future technologies and advancement in the design industry. The invaluable part of the week is the networking side, professionals are willing to share ideas about where they see their current practices and workflow, we discuss openly and honestly our adoption to BIM as well as any cultural barriers we feel still exist. Discussions went even further as to discuss our dreams of where we see the software headed, and also how the industry, both in Media and Entertainment as well as Architecture, Construction and Engineering is headed. It was a great week.

Creativity is at the forefront at events like these, technologies are moving so rapidly that if we do not adopt them and keep moving forward we will lag behind in an ever-increasing technological world. It is an interesting point to touch on, especially in an Architectural world where these topics are quite relevant and the Autodesk University week reinforces this. Carl Bass addressed the keynote discussing the way we use the tool set and how it can all come together as one in the cloud, the idea of infinite computing and adopting this approach in the way we move forward and develop. He went on to discuss how we require different tools to create more advanced forms including those in design as well as fabrication. The session touched on an ever-increasing digital world and that Autodesk will continue to drive this in their approach as well as permanently engage with industry to promote a tool set we can use to develop the way we design and think. This is extremely relevant as I was a part of the Revit Gunslinger event in Waltham, Massachusetts a fortnight later where it was clear that Autodesk and the way we use software are influenced by real life examples and users. It does well to bring together software development, industry and practical use which is incredibly powerful in its approach. As an individual in a room with 21 other like-minded professionals - all incredibly clever, all interested  in software and all very passionate about driving productivity through a digital toolset. It was an incredible week and the energy it created will definitely not go away any time soon. I am quite certain it will follow me on a plane to Australia for Christmas.

The future sessions at Autodesk University were engaging and exciting. I learnt how Autodesk see the future of design and software in the cloud and how differing products can start to engage in this idea and change our world. This is extremely relevant in the future of design use and our next generation of thinkers. As Gen X/Y we are permanently engaged in this sharing knowledge platform and increasing and rapidly forward thinking technology. It is incredible how we can begin to understand how different people future gaze and start to imagine the infinite possibilities of how technology will change our lives. It is not too difficult to imagine a world where we do not need to be engaging in practice the way we use to. I felt so inspired by a number of industry professionals I heard discuss how they see design changing our lives, how we as designers can influence how people live and work and how we can understand that this will in fact change as our models of work and life have changed on so many levels. There are such a small percentage of talented individuals who drive this approach, who love what they do, who care about how we change and adapt and live.

Incredibly the energy lingered as I went on to discuss these ideas in a group of like-minded professionals within the BIM205o group, indeed this is difficult to change in today's management structure but I feel when we all move to these positions and are leading companies and driving this approach, this will definitely produce a changed culture and work place on so many differing levels. I do not see a traditional office plan work environment. Rather pods of creativity, hubs of cloud based thinking where we start to engage and interact virtually. This thinking will not adhere our design approach, rather we will be more integrated as we are a generation of sharing and helping and learning, always. It is a far cry and hugely different approach to the current management structure and the way the Baby Boomer mentality interacts and I believe we have shifted to a somewhat alternative world where we have seen the way technology influences as we've grown. I believe the next generation of those born into infinite computing will not interact in the same way.

It's all a mystery but I do feel excited about how things will continue to evolve, how I can influence change and how we can all work together to create beautiful buildings.

 

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