BIM Crunch Article

Another gender piece from Neil and co-written from myself. I think the next step on this will be to compare women in senior C Level roles and see how the figures go.

Better late than never!

http://www.bimcrunch.com/component/k2/item/650-let’s-talk-about-sex

Women and Architecture and technology... Where are we?!

I was surprised to see some very interesting facts on the number of women in BIM related professions and having just returned from the event 'Meet the BIM experts' in Dublin I felt it relevant to share my thoughts on this.

I was the only female on the panel in Dublin but this was not a first. I was the only female Gunslinger in Boston last year and I've noticed only or two female speakers in events such as RTC in both Austrlia and Europe and indeed other construction related events also throughout the year.

The following article touches on some of these points well and again it concerns me that most women are leaving the field to find other more accepted and ultimately more encouraging roles. 

http://www.archdaily.com/371487/the-scott-brown-petition-and-women-s-role-in-architecture/

I am passionate about this topic. We are not here to rave feminist antics or try to change an already evolving industry. It is about acknowledging a different approach. Modern business's, communication methods, strengths and indeed flaws and based somewhat on gender and we need to ensure there is an open voice and idea out there still encouraging young and clever women to enter the industry. 

The facts are that as much as things are much smoother and more readily accepted for women in construction there is still a somewhat filtered undertone and this is what needs to change as we do. Please share.

A new chapter - Dublin and some BIM expertise

Having just returned from Dublin I saw it fit to make some announcements and wrap up what was an informative and well received event in regard to BIM. The conference was organised by Ralph Montague from ArcDox and sponsors included Autodesk, diatec, NBS and Faro. As usual it was a good mix of the usual suspects in BIM in the UK and was a great chance for us all to share our knowledge on an informal platform to those willing to learn.

Dublin is quite special. Not only because my good friend and honorary #UKBIMcrew member Dave Leyden lives there but because its a beautifully layered city of some fantastic monumental architectural gems as well as grounded and friendly people. Ill be returning in September for a TEDx event hosted there.

The conference began with a keynote from Autodesk evangelist and thought leader Dominic Thasarathar. He touched on many Interesting and relevant future concepts whilst pointed out four future topics, which I tend to agree with, in terms of how our industry will evolve and change. These were digital reality, infinite computing, digital realisation and crowd and social networking. I couldn't agree more that these areas are going to shape the way we work in future and are already beginning to affect how we communicate and interact. The only barrier I feel to these changes is how we embrace and acknowledge them as early as we possibly can in regard to the way Education and schooling are developing, not only in the UK but on a global level. 

Following the keynote was the first panel and the one I was involved in with how Revit and various technologies improves and changes design workflow and how we utilise the tools we have to deliver informed design processes. Here I felt the perfect opportunity to announce my next move in the BIM transfer season that has been shifting the industry over the past year or so. I was representing the CIC and BIM2050 and ensured the crowd understood where our group was headed and what we were doing to influence change in the UK and I formally announced my Role as Associate Director for David Miller Architects.

A session I found worthwhile was the embedding of BIM into the education within the Dublin Institute of Technology presented by Cormac Allan. With this presentation came the same question of why the Architectural Degrees in the varying institutions were not engaging in this process. I was led to an interesting video by Malachy Matthews by an Architectural Lecturer Peggy Deamer at the Yale BIM Symposium from 2011. The video touched on a few very interesting points and some of which I agree with - some i disagree with but worth watching. See link: http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=CWQkYb9OeLE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DCWQkYb9OeLE

The day followed with a few more great presentations and discussions - some heated and some not so heated but we all gained something from the day and learnt from each other. Having returned and back in London before heading off again tomorrow (this time a BIM2050 meet in manchester) I have to acknowledge two valuable lessons:

 1. Always be honest and truthful and share what you know. The BIM community is amazing because we are all driven by passion and interest in the topic and its something very few people find in their lives and for that I am grateful.

 2. Do not drink Guinness ever again ;)

Till next time...

 

Guest Post by Keith Chan- Toward BIM Architecture

Keith joined KSS in 2012 as an architectural assistant for his year out in practice, after completing his RIBA Part I BSc degree at Welsh School of Architecture. Having spent his childhood in Hong Kong and grown up in the UK, he has developed interest in contextual architecture design.  Studying and working at the same time in pursuit of RIBA Part II, he has become analytical on how architectural education links to the construction industry and seek to explore the role of the architect nowadays. He is now gaining valuable experience with BIM and construction process, particularly through helping with co-ordination in sports and retail projects.'

 

TOWARD BIM ARCHITECTURE - Keith Chan

 

What I liked about my architecture school was the balance between ‘theory’ and ‘practice’, highlighting how interdisciplinary architecture can be, and how the industry is developing across the world, sparking students’ interests in the vernacular, place-making, fabrication and at the same time drags us back into the reality of what is going on in the industry.

 

BIM was mentioned in my Part I degree - Revit was taught to us basically, along with other powerful packages such as Ecotect, 3DStudioMax that we have all produced designs with. We were focusing on how powerful the programs can be and how they can be used as ‘Design Tools’ to help us design sustainably and analytically, at the same time exercising the more ‘traditional’ or ‘good-old’ drafting and sketching by hand. Still, we designed in our ‘architectural wonderland’ with limited constraints for our school projects.

 

One thing I have learnt a lot from working at KSS was how BIM aims to embrace the collaborative nature, across all parties of a project, across the same software platform, and the convenience of exchanging information and modeling. Still learning much about the trade, I came across the recently published NBS BIM report. I had a glance over the statistics and the ‘perceptions of BIM’ and general hesitation for practices adopting BIM caught my eye. Personally, as a fresh university graduate, instinctively I believe education can play a part, in particular at universities and vocational colleges. After all, new comers joining a firm can always bring new knowledge and skills.

 

When I say education, I do not only refer to the ‘skills’ element of using software, undoubtedly it would help increase user-confidence, but instead to teach by painting a comprehensive picture of BIM - nothing religious or brain-washing, just through a handful of sessions of role-playing seminars with case studies to discuss the general status quo, honest and hard facts of what works now and what needs improving, that may suffice for now. I believe that the awareness is the catalyst, university graduates in this job market are eager to make themselves more employable, with the availability of resources (Youtube & forums) on the web to pick up software skills in their own time, ‘BIM-thinking’ could easily be embedded within the new breeds for the industry.

 

Note that I didn’t specify ‘architecture schools’ in particular but ‘universities’. BIM is collaborative –picture a week-long design workshop in university, where students who are interested to join the construction industry, from faculties of engineering, architecture, business or management all gather and try to design a basic house using BIM. In fact, I can picture ‘heated debates’ and frustrated faces too, but that may be the point – to emphasise that it would only work when everybody is levelled, using the same language and set up a mutually understanding workflow/protocols. CAD and technical skills can be picked up quickly, but communication and co-ordination skills must be experienced and trained. ‘Is this BIM related?’ perhaps not necessarily, but at least it dissolves the potential ‘silo’ approach from different professions early on.

 

Knowing that Norway or Finland has been using BIM throughout small and big scale projects – even taught in school; I’m intrigued to learn how and ‘why not’ for UK (more than the obvious and overused justification of ‘cultural difference’). If we still dwell in limbo, I fear (maybe a naive and distant nightmare) that sooner or later, local/global projects may one day be outsourced to other transnational design teams due to their more advanced BIM expertise, and ability to collaborate; UK local practices would lose out even more if we don’t march on, and young professionals start looking abroad to find work, some already have. Schools’ main concern was that there is no guarantee that practices graduates end up working uses/going to use BIM, and that the current school staffs are researchers/academics and external practicing tutors do not have enough time or right skills to teach.

 

For education to initiate, the industry must commit, and make institutes realize the importance of the trend, so that they feel obliged to also invest time and effort to educate the new generations. Future generations no longer simply judge the excellence of a project by its end product; they should also be able to celebrate the process of how it is conceived and built, how we used technology to improve efficiency throughout the build, in the midst of the economic and environmental difficulties of our time.