A4715: Fall 2021 ReThinking BIM

 

Instructor:

Mark Green [mtg2111@columbia.edu]

 

Time:

Thursdays 7-9 pm

 

INTRODUCTION

Our capabilities as architects today, to create and leverage organized building information, is continuously expanding the possibilities for designing and understanding what we build and how we can build it. Developing a literacy of the digital tools and how to leverage them through informed design practices that exist both within the architectural field and more broadly, is an increasingly essential competency for designers. This class challenges students to develop robust methodologies and frameworks to better drive possibilities for creative iteration and validation of design solutions through analysis, automation, simulation, optimization, and representation.

 

This course is intended to provide foundational knowledge of building information modeling (BIM) practices, as well as relevant options for alternative design-platform interoperability and integration. Sessions will include case-study review and discussion, critical analysis of design and design-technology strategies, and overall exposure to diverse approaches to industry design practices. Guest lecturers will introduce industry-proven examples of platform integrations, and demonstrate methodologies for students to consider for their own design problem. The guest lectures will each take a different lens of informed design interventions and interoperability, including computational and iterative design, advanced interoperability for design optimization, performance-based strategies to address energy and environmental design considerations, and cloud-BIM strategies to iterate at the detail level of building articulation. Throughout the guest-lecture portion of the semester, students will be introduced to a sampling of more specialized tools that will enable them to take a deeper investigation into topics of interest.

 

For the final project, students will select one or more approach to interoperability and design intervention, leverage the affiliated platform(s) to develop their advanced parametric and design-informed methodologies, and apply them to the models developed earlier in the semester with a revised set of design goals.

 

COURSE GRADING CRITERIA

• 50%: Final Project Submissions (including progress submissions)
• 35%: Weekly Assignment Postings (non-final project submissions)
• 15%: Attendance and Participation

 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Experience with at least one 3D modeling software
• Attendance of lectures and desk crits (virtual or in-person)
• Completion of all assignments

SCHEDULE

 

 

Session	Date	Topics	Assignments
1	9/9	Intro to BIM & Parametric Thinking	Complete Tutorials Begin case study model
2	9/16	Collaboration in AEC, Data Exchange	Complete Tutorials Progress case study model
3	9/23	Parametric Workflows in Practice	Begin project model
4	9/30	Interoperability & Data	Complete Tutorials Continue project
5	10/7	Advanced Component Systems Guest Lecture – Justin Whiteford Case Study: Hudson Yards Façade	Complete Tutorials Continue project
6	10/14	Generative Design Guest Lecture – Jared Friedman Basic Interop, Intro to Grasshopper UI and workflow, Serialization	Complete Tutorials Form project groups/Answer Questions
7	10/21	Advanced Interoperability Guest Lecture – Nathan Miller   Interoperability tools	Complete Tutorials Progress on final project proposal
8	10/28	Environmental Analysis Guest Lecture – Michael Sawford Ladybug, Grasshopper Plugins	Complete Tutorials Progress on final project proposal
9	11/4	Cloud BIM – Detail-level Design Integration Guest Lecture – William West Onshape, Feature Script	Progress on final project proposal
10	11/11	Composite Drawing Techniques Tips and tricks for developing drawings and compositions from digital models, and/or support	Progress on final deliverables
11	11/18	Virtual Pin-up	Progress on final deliverables
--	12/2		FINAL Project Due

ASSIGNMENTS / FINAL PROJECT

Throughout the semester students are expected to keep up with the course assignments and readings with due dates as shown in the schedule. The content and dates of submissions are subject to change where deemed appropriate. Further details on each assignment will be posted weekly on the forum.

 

Assignments throughout the first half of the course are to be completed individually and submitted weekly on the course forum. Beginning in the second half of the semester, students will be encouraged to work in pairs for the final project proposal. Students may also work individually if there is a particular focus they have and/or if they are incorporating a project from an outside class. Such cases should be discussed with the instructor in order to make clear what portions of the project will be developed within this course.

 

For the final project, students will apply the integrations developed throughout the latter portion of the semester onto their digital models. Students will use the assigned project study model developed during the first half of the semester as the starting point for their project, or they may propose to develop their own models to use. The deliverables for the final project will include a combination of orthographic drawings, animations, and a brief instructional video that provides an overview of the workflow that was developed. Further details on the final project will be provided in class.

 

 

COURSE FORUM AND SUBMISSIONS

OVERVIEW

Submissions for assignments will be handled using our Discourse Forum. All enrolled students will be invited to the forum after our first class.

 

The forum will be used by the instructor to post class material and assignments, and by the students to post their assignments each week. Students will also be encouraged to use the platform to ask questions and engage others in class-related discussions.

 

LINK

http://forum.rethinkingbim.com

 

COURSE RESOURCES

These are some basic online sources that may be used throughout the course. More detailed resources will be provided throughout the semester.

 

Rethinking BIM Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC82U-lpftjA7lCeb9Rhdraw

Revit Primer Tutorials: https://vimeo.com/user4826920

Dynamo Forum: https://forum.dynamobim.com/

Grasshopper/Rhino Forum: https://discourse.mcneel.com/c/grasshopper

Revit API Docs: http://www.revitapidocs.com/

Revit Architecture Forum: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/revit-architecture-forum/bd-p/133

Onshape Registration: https://www.onshape.com/en/education/