Miguel Krippahl Catholic University of Portugal, Department of Architecture, Viseu, Portugal 401
The future
Despite B.I.M. applied to architectural design having more than two decades, it
has been only in recent years that the current technology made it possible to the
common architects to use it in their practice. Thus, we are still in an experimental
period, expecting significant evolutions in the short-term. The introduction of this
thematic in the university architecture courses is also very recent, on a world-wide
level. There is no true body of knowledge available to guide us. Therefore, the adop-
tion of a B.I.M associated design methodology within our course curriculum has been
rigorously accompaniment, with the goal of evaluating the results and to bring about
the necessary corrections. Thus far, we can report that the implementation of a BIM
methodology has had good results. Not only has there been no damage from the
apparently precocious introduction of construction techniques, materials, construction
management, interoperability and other essential subjects from the B.I.M. perspective,
as there are some signs that they have benefited the students learning process.
If there is an area that needs to be improved, it could eventually be a greater
teachers sensitization for the effective reach of this technology to the future of
architecture as a profession. Architecture education in Portugal lacks in linking with
other disciplines involved in the construction business, like engineering, landscaping,
interior design, manufacturers and others.
The B.I.M. offers at this moment an excellent common platform for these areas,
essential for the architecture student’s education, ideally through a linking with
students of other courses. With the experience acquired during these three years,
and faced with the professional and academic reality in Portugal, it was decided to
develop a Master in Digital Design. This Master intends to be a complement to the
architect’s classical academic education.
We expect that these professionals, with training in design, to profit better from
the B.I.M methodology, integrating it into their professional practice. Besides B.I.M.,
this Master will comprise Computation in Architectural Design, including program-
ming, computer aided production, rapid prototyping, and tree-dimensional digitaliza-
tion, and Communication and Multimedia, dedicated to computer generated images,
films, web pages and virtual reality files.
There is a clear awareness that the future of the architects activity, and archi-
tecture itself depends on a correct adoption of these new technologies in the design
flow, and that the University has a crucial paper in the definition of these method-
ologies.