As an Architect, how do I get started in BIM?

Does "BIM for All" mean Architects too?

Architects are the conduit between project ideas and finished built space. The quality of the end product relies on an Architect's ability to maintain consistency between the parts and whole in design as well as in delivery.

As architects, we probably have the easiest entry point into BIM. Common industry software such as Rhino and AutoCAD all have some way to embed metadata with geometry. World scale geometry and its corresponding meaning assigned by metadata is BIM basics, and any tool capable of editing and linking the two can be leveraged for BIM workflows.

Autodesk Revit is the industry powerhouse in BIM and essentially the gold standard. For Architects, Revit is useful anywhere from broad analysis to fine tuned quantity takeoffs. If you are just starting out in Revit, especially on small projects, Revit may appear to make the easy things hard. Revit uses these prescribed building elements, with design input from the users, to produce a database capture of the design. Outputs such as tables and sheets interpret this database to produce the myriad of documentation required to get a building built.

Architects refine the project vision for owners, builders, and operators.

BIM is most valuable as a communication medium between teams. Design documents above all communicate design intent, and data is the modern equivalent. The most beautiful documents can still fail if they miscommunicate design intent. BIM workflows free us from the tyranny of print documents, giving us more agility to stretch and swerve according to project needs.

Our suggestion to Architects who are starting in BIM is to learn by building data driven connections and integrations that impact your immediate project needs. BIM workflows don't matter if they don't solve your problems, and for us at Voyansi, every building problem is a BIM problem.