Voyansi Voices Blog

During the pandemic, many people had the opportunity to start working remotely. COVID-19 will be remembered for many things, and remote work is one of the biggest things people will remember for years.

Working from home has many advantages, but sometimes there are obstacles in the way. A bad internet connection, dogs barking or relatives coming in and out of a room can distract from the day’s work. As the world opens back up, many of us are choosing to shift

There are spaces designed for the people who find their own home to be uncomfortable at the time of working. They are often wide rooms equipped with desks, a few routers, and common spaces. Minimalism at the service of productivity.

Let me ask you a question, if you were to take a roadtrip, would you leave without looking at a map? I’m a planner, so personally, before even packing my suitcase, I’ve spent hours planning my route. If I’m taking a drive through the country I’ll make sure I know where there are areas I can’t get fuel and have a tentative schedule for where I’ll take breaks or grab a bite to eat. 

If you have taken a look in the news this week, you’ll notice record temperatures around the world. This is the first in a series of blogs that we will be writing to offer ideas on how your organization can leverage the power of BIM in order to play a part in reducing the impact we as humans have on our environment.

When we talk about climate change in our daily lives, we usually talk about pollution sources such as the cars we drive, or from burning fossil fuels to power our homes and businesses. As construction professionals however, we often forget that our industry is also a contributor. Estimates suggest that, the construction sector contributes to 23% of air pollution, 40% of drinking water pollution, and 50% of landfill wastes. Our role as professionals related to construction and as humans who share space with others and with nature as well, is to make the most out of each of the resources we use in our projects. The question is, how can we accomplish this? 

When people think of construction they imagine workers, beams, heavy equipment and, above all of those things, materials. Concrete, lime, even wood and iron might appear in their minds. However, most of the time they picture material wastes, the leftovers if you will. The real question is, where can you make a difference, and how to get started? 

Well, the BIM World Tour’s presence in New York is still giving us much to talk about. But this time let’s talk about the weather.

Walking the streets of New York under the rain is quite a unique experience. Yes, we are aware that rain is not an uncommon phenomenon, but stick with us here. The way the water hits the pavement produces a melody that merges with the honks, the pedestrian’s babbling, and the advertisements that give voice to buildings.

Hopefully, you got a chance to read our blog last week. My colleague Mike “the photographer” wrote a short piece on one of his favorite conference anecdotes: the Kodak Story and the dangers of not innovating. Long story short, if you think photography today, it’s not Kodak, but rather Apple, Sony, Samsung, or maybe Nikon. What happened? Lack of desire to be at the cutting edge of technology. 

If you’re reading this today, you are probably anxious to implement BIM but are wondering how you sell it to leadership. You know that a move to BIM is more than just an update to the “latest and greatest” CAD tools. Within an organization, capital expenditure approval involves not only calculating your overall project cost but also showing the justification for spending that money in the first place. Even if you believe the purchase is necessary and reasonable, you have to convince your other colleagues.  

If you’re reading this article, you probably already know that it’s essential to implement BIM, so I want you to reframe your mindset before making the business case. The starting point is a technological renovation that, far from being thought of as an expense, should be viewed as an investment in the future. You know you need to invest in your organization’s future, so the question really is: How do you prove it to skeptical stakeholders?  

Each week, on our BIM 🌎 Tour blog, we share stories from our travels. Our favorite pieces of content are those where we meet with other BIM professionals in person and share their love of the built world. Our conversation is always different, but has several key ingredients, the most important being food and drinks.

We know you couldn’t wait to hear more about the BIM World Tour 2021. So, good news! The team is back on track and today it’s time to visit the Rockefeller Center. 

Manhattan’s heart is the Diamond District. Within it, the Fifth and Sixth Avenues surround one of the world’s most expensive and massive building complexes. We feel tiny while walking between these concrete giants, but there’s a sense of opportunity and wonder that fills the air around us.

A few months back, my wife and I moved to Spain from Argentina. Last week, my colleague Mike joined me here, as well as our two first local hires, new members of our software team. I was extremely excited, I’ve been working solo here in Spain now for several months, so it was nice to get a chance just to speak to my colleagues face to face for the first time in 18 months or so.

Santiago Calatrava, the architect in charge of designing the World Trade Center station’s entrance had an immense job requiring expertise and creativity. One bad decision could make everything go south. After a lot of thought, he came up with his final design for the project. He sought to design a structure that resembled a bird taking flight from a children’s hand. The end result: A unique and imposing structure that captures every pedestrian’s gaze: The Oculus.

You might have seen it in films, tv shows and many architecture-related websites and social media accounts. If you are lucky, you might have the opportunity to visit it in person just like we did during our BIM World Tour after grabbing a bite at the Chelsea Market.

Continuing on our post from last week about the reuse of space & the NY high line, we stopped for lunch at the world-famous Chelsea Market: an exciting place for both tourists and locals. Situated in Chelsea, a New York neighborhood in Manhattan with a rich cultural history dating back to the 1800s. The Chelsea Market offers various interesting cultural, culinary, and social activities for both tourists and locals. After a long walk on the High Line, it was time for lunch, and also to check out one of NYC’s most expensive real estate transactions in history.

Some people are still not aware of how BIM could make an enormous and positive difference in their professional careers, which means they are unaware of its capabilities and the role it’s going to play in the recent future.

Studying architecture is synonymous with using different software tools to design and plan. Students often render several versions of their projects so that they can see what they would actually look like once they’ve been built. However, despite all the innovations that this software has, many architects are letting go of traditional practices to focus their efforts on BIM.

Generally speaking, the buildings that impress people all around the world are architectural wonders that couldn’t be constructed without leveraging BIM. Why? There are many stakeholders involved in the complex design and build efforts of new structures. This presents many challenges for architects who are still often using tools that don’t bring to the table all of what BIM has to offer.

Reinventing spaces does not only require resources, but also tons of creativity: Where you see an old railroad, others visualize the possibility of a park, hotel, or even a culinary voyage. There are no limits when it comes to revitalization of spaces (both old and new), and the High Line park is the perfect example of this.

Making robust, rusty and old rails coexist with nature is, in and of itself, a huge task since there are many things that could go wrong: It might not be aesthetically pleasing, nor a good deal in economic terms if not correctly planned. But if the team working on that renovation is up to the task, the results can end up being game-changing in a completely urban context.