Course Syllabus

RETHINKING BIM

 

Location: Ware Lounge, Avery Hall

Time: Thursday, 7 pm to 9 pm

Instructor: Joe Brennan, AIA, jab2315@columbia.edu

TA: TBD

 

Introduction

Different meanings exist for BIM, which stands for Building Information Modeling. Most people will tell you it means Revit. However, some people assume it means parametric design.

 

This class will challenge its participants to explore different methods of leveraging BIM to enhance all processes within our industry.

 

One of the critical drivers of success within architecture is our ability to collaborate with other members of the development, architecture, engineering, and construction (DAEC) industry. We will therefore examine how these related disciplines function. Concurrently, we will develop processes by which we can understand and communicate with them better, more efficiently, and seamlessly. We will also take inspiration from outside of the DAEC industry from areas like tech and manufacturing. 

 

Throughout the semester, your project and thinking must function at two scales - macro (urban scale or building scale) and micro (program scale or detail scale). The goal of the class is to leverage new BIM processes to drive better-informed design, so therefore all projects must result in the development of a process that leads to a concrete design idea. You will be required to present both the process and the design idea. Students will work in groups for the whole semester.

Class Structure

The class will consist of lectures, discussions, pin-ups, office hours, and workshops. Lectures will consist of presentations and case studies. The lectures will consist of no (or minimal) software demonstration. Instead, class time together will focus on “big ideas” and concepts that are critical to successful project execution. 

 

Almost every week, there will be a class discussion. Students will be required to read short articles or excerpts of books to prepare for these discussions and must participate.

 

Pin-ups are scheduled in advance, and each group will be expected to present at each pin-up.

 

Office hours will be held after class, and workshops will be held almost weekly. Attendance at these workshops is mandatory by at least one team member. We will work to coordinate the best time for this workshop at the beginning of the semester. 

 

The schedule below outlines these in more detail.

 

The class will communicate through Slack starting after the first day. All notes, changes, or modifications to the schedule will be posted there. Therefore, it is critical to set up and monitor the class Slack workspace. Also, please message me through Slack with any questions. 

Project, Deliverables, and Grades

Students are expected to work in groups of three (3). Collaboration and workflow processes are critical aspects of the class, so, therefore, figuring out the best way to work and communicate as a group will be instrumental in project development.

 

You must select one primary module to focus on for your project and may integrate secondary ones if they enhance your design process. There will be lectures that focus on each of these modules and associated workshops to present examples of workflows. The modules are:

  • Module 1: Zoning, Programming, and Planning
  • Module 2: Construction Logistics and Fabrication
  • Module 3: Finance
  • Module 4: Optimization, Automation, and Rationalization
  • Module 5: Sustainability and Environmental Analysis
  • Module 6: Project Success Analysis

 

Throughout the semester, there will be small assignments that are meant to help teach concepts that will reinforce your final deliverable. The final deliverable will consist of a slide deck and a set of architectural drawings. The slide deck will focus on the workflow processes and advanced BIM practices you develop over the semester. It should be no more than 10 minutes in length and contain animations, diagrams, data sources, and sketches to convey your process. The second primary deliverable is a minimum of five (5) drawings on 24 x 36 that show the design result of your process. We will work together to determine the best architectural drawings and representational methods to leverage for these.

Reading

There will be several required readings throughout the semester. All readings will be available through Avery or sent to students. Below is a reading list that indicates the books and articles we will be examining. The exact pages required are noted in the weekly schedule.

Required

 

Chakrabarti, V., & Foster, N. (2013). In A country of cities: A manifesto for an urban 

america, Metropolis Books. 

Deutsch, R. (2019). Superusers: Design Technology Specialists and the future of Practice. Routledge.

 

Frampton, K., & Cava, J. (2001). In Studies in tectonic culture: The poetics of 

construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century architecture, MIT 

Press. 

 

Friedman, T. L. (2017). In Thank you for being late: An optimist's guide to thriving in the age of 

Accelerations, Picador. 

 

Jones, S. (2019). In Mass timber: Design and research, ORO Editions. 

 

Lynn, G., Gage, M., & Nielson, S. (2011). Composites, surfaces, and software: High 

performance architecture. W.W. Norton. 

 

Marble, S. (2012). Digital workflows in Architecture: Designing Design -- Designing Assembly 

-- Designing Industry. Birkhäuser. 

 

Potter, Brian. Construction Physics, https://constructionphysics.substack.com/

 

Rothfeder, J. (2015). In Driving Honda: Inside the world's Most Innovative Car Company, Portfolio/Penguin.

Optional

Klanten, R. (2008). Data flow. Gestalten. 

Klanten, R. (2010). Data flow 2: Visualizing Information in graphic design. Gestalten. 

Software Stack

We will use the following programs/plug-ins throughout the semester, so please ensure you have the latest version of these platforms that GSAPP provides. You may also need additional plug-ins depending on your project.

 

Revit - modeling, collaboration, data management, documentation

Rhino - modeling, documentation

Grasshopper - parametrics, data management, interoperability

Dynamo - parametrics, data management, interoperability

TT Toolbox - data management, interoperability

Rhino.inside - parametrics, data management, interoperability

Lunchbox - data management

Python - parametrics, data management

Excel - data management, interoperability

Google Sheets - collaboration, data management

Slack - collaboration

Miro - collaboration, presentation

inDesign - presentation

Illustrator - presentation, documentation

BIM360/Construction Cloud - collaboration, presentation, documentation

Schedule

Week 1 - Rethinking BIM and Software Deep Dive

JANUARY 20th

 

Lecture:

  • Discussion of project and goals for the semester.
  • Discussion of different types of software, the pros and cons, and how to best leverage them for success. 

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • What existing or future uses of advanced design technology have you seen or used before?
  • What methodologies are you seeing in other industries that could be leveraged in DAEC?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Rothfeder, J. (2015). In Driving Honda: Inside the world's Most Innovative Car Company, pages 25-63
  • Marble, S. (2012). Digital workflows in Architecture: Designing Design -- Designing Assembly -- Designing Industry, skim this book. It contains a variety of case studies and visualizations that will be great references for the semester

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Sign up for the class Slack channel - you will receive an invite
  • Form groups of three - send the name of your group and Uni’s of all members to me
  • Select a building within the five boroughs of NYC that you will model in Revit. This will be the core element of your project, so choose carefully based on your desired area of exploration. Think about the building program. It must be well documented. Compile this documentation. The building should be roughly 100,000 to 300,000 square feet.
  • Think about which module you want to focus on and how it impacts your overall vision for your project. Is there a secondary module required for successful project development?
  • Begin researching and diagramming your overall process and required software stack. If you don’t know the right application, you can indicate the desired outcome for now - we will figure out the software side.

 

Workshop this Week:

  • None

 

Week 2 - Revit, Data Management, and Collaboration

JANUARY 27th

 

Lecture:

  • Basics and benefits of a BIM-based platform
  • How to set yourself up for workflow success
  • Interoperability strategies
  • Collaboration strategies

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • What are your current preconceptions of BIM/Revit?
  • What is your current design process like?
  • What are the biggest roadblocks you encounter within your current process?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None - pin-up

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Model out your building in Revit - core and shell only. Include curtain wall/facade, floor slabs, core partitions, structural system. Be cognizant of worksets, categories, family types, etc. Present this in screenshots and/or spin the model. No formal drawings are required yet.
  • Compile a preliminary list of resources you will leverage for your project (data sets, additional references, additional plug-ins)
  • Develop a preliminary data management strategy
  • Start developing a series of slides to walk us through your project

 

Workshop this Week:

  • None

 

Week 3 - Pin-Up 1: Project Intro

WORKSHOP: JANUARY 31st 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: FEBRUARY 3rd 7 pm - 9 pm



Lecture:

  • None

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • None

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • None

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Chakrabarti, V., & Foster, N. (2013). In A country of cities: A manifesto for an urban america, pages 124-213

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Revit Curtain Wall Strategies

 

Week 4 - Module 1: Zoning, Programming, and Planning

WORKSHOP: FEBRUARY 7th 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: FEBRUARY 10th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Tools and methods for examining zoning
  • Analyzing zoning intent
  • Performance-based zoning
  • Programming and planning analysis
  • Case Studies:
    • gBlox zoning tool
    • Belton Court Programming - meeting neighborhood requirements
    • gFloorz - meeting programmatic requirements
    • No Envelopes, New Cities - strategies for performance-based zoning

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • In your experience, how does zoning impact neighborhoods?
  • How does metrics-driven zoning contribute to neighborhood feel?
  • Can we quantify neighborhood character?
  • What are some methods by which we can better develop building programming?
  • How can we measure the spatial quality of a project?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Lynn, G., Gage, M., & Nielson, S. (2011). Composites, surfaces, and software: High performance architecture - skim this whole book
  • Frampton, K., & Cava, J. (2001). In Studies in tectonic culture: The poetics of construction in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century architecture, pages 335-376.

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Diagram outlining the overall process and how data integrates
  • Revit (Rhino?) model progress
  • Final list of resources and data management strategy

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Grasshopper basics - data organization

 

Week 5 - Module 2: Construction Logistics and Fabrication

WORKSHOP: FEBRUARY 14th 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: FEBRUARY 17th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Determining where to leverage computation, and where to just leave it up to the humans
  • Thinking tectonically while building process
  • CLT and the emergence of more direct to fabrication methods
  • Examination of  how technology and manufacturing has driven architecture
  • Case Studies:
    • 14 Water Logistics
    • City Point megapanels
    • Jacksonville Flex Field - Constructability and value engineering
    • MSG Sphere - facade constructability and logic

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • How have advances in construction technology, manufacturing, and production influenced design throughout history?
  • How has the role of the architect changed to respond to these advances?
  • How does the approach to architecture vary in the two assigned readings, and how can we apply each to practice?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • Custom video - point construction methods for surfacing and panelization
  • Custom video - tracking construction logistics using Rhino.Inside

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Storyboard of final drawings (cartoon set)
  • Revit/Rhino model progress

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Data translation between Rhino and Revit using Rhino.inside
  • Data translation between Rhino and Revit using Excel and Dynamo

Week 6 - Module 3: Finance

WORKSHOP: FEBRUARY 21st 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: FEBRUARY 24th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Understanding the key metrics involved in project returns
  • Understanding critical ways of measuring project costs
  • Cost management processes
  • Case Studies:
    • 14 Water Finance
    • ReDO Terminal - Zoning/financial analysis tool
    • Jacksonville Flex Field - Value Engineering

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • How active should the architect be in the financial/development aspects of a project?
  • How can architects leverage cost estimating for a better design process?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • Custom video - excel data organization

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Pin-Up
  • First draft of your final drawing set
  • Updated slide deck
  • Revit/Rhino model progress

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Leveraging excel models for costing in Revit/Rhino

 

Week 7 - Pin-Up 2: Preliminary Design 

LECTURE: March 3rd 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • None

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • None

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • None

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS (due March 24th):

  • Friedman, T. L. (2017). In Thank you for being late: An optimist's guide to thriving in the age of Accelerations, pages 208-242.

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None

 

Workshop this Week:

  • None

 

Week 8 - No Class - Kinne Week 

MARCH 10th

 

Week 9 - No Class - Spring Break 

MARCH 17th

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS (due March 24th):

  • Friedman, T. L. (2017). In Thank you for being late: An optimist's guide to thriving in the age of Accelerations, pages 208-242.

Week 10 - Module 4: Optimization, Automation, and Rationalization 

WORKSHOP: MARCH 21st 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: MARCH 24th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Adaptive systems
  • Determining what computers are good at and developing systems that leverage those qualities
  • Developing automation processes and determining what would be automated
  • Case Studies:
    • Belton Court optimization
    • Jacksonville Flex Field constructability analysis

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • What is the role of an architect in an increasingly automated world?
  • How can architects harness and leverage automation for better practice?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • Custom video - Galapagos

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Jones, S. (2019). In Mass timber: Design and research, pages 9-62.

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Revit/Rhino model progress
  • Develop an optimization strategy - outline the tools you will leverage for optimization

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Develop a Galapagos tool that optimizes a surface for constructability

 

Week 11 - Module 5: Sustainability and Environmental Analysis 

WORKSHOP: MARCH 28th 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: MARCH 31st 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Methods for measuring environmental factors
  • Alternative methods for determining a project’s environmental impact
    • Logistics, material quantity
  • Designing environmentally responsive systems
  • Case Studies:
    • Solar shade

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • How can we convince our clients that sustainable design is better design? Can we leverage technology to make that argument?
  • What are the various ways we can measure environmental impact?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • https://docs.ladybug.tools/climate-analysis/

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Deutsch, R. (2019). Superusers: Design Technology Specialists and the future of Practice, pages 75-91.

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • Revit/Rhino model progress
  • Final workflow diagrams and tool kit

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Analyze daylighting values on various rooms within a building

Week 12 - Module 6: Project Success Analysis 

WORKSHOP: APRIL 4th 8 pm - 9:30 pm

LECTURE: APRIL 7th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • Project success factors:
    • Budget
    • Timeline
    • Code Compliance
    • Zoning Compliance
    • Program fulfillment
  • Methods for tracking and ensuring project success
  • Case Studies:
    • MSG Sphere - Seating Analysis
    • Building code metrics and compliance

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • How can we leverage technology to bring more technical thinking forward in the process?
  • How can we ensure design standards are being preserved throughout the entire process?
  • What design standards and criteria are critical to a project’s success? Can this vary from project to project? Which are consistent, and which are variable?

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • Custom video - filter based project analysis

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS:

  • 90% final drawing set
  • 90% final deck

 

Workshop this Week:

  • Setting up models for quick analysis

Week 13 - Practice Final Review - Run Through

LECTURE: APRIL 14th 7 pm - 9 pm

 

Lecture:

  • None

 

Discussion Prompts:

  • None

 

Video Tutorials and Resources:

  • None

 

Reading Due NEXT CLASS:

  • None

 

Assignments Due NEXT CLASS (FINAL REVIEW, May 5th):

  • 100% final drawing set
  • 100% final deck

 

Workshop this Week:

  • None

 

Week 14 - No Class - Final Studio Reviews 

April 21st

 

Week 15 - No Class - Final Studio Reviews 

April 28th

 

Week 16 - Final Review 

May 5th

 

Students will present their final decks and drawing sets to critics. This will be in person or Zoom depending on GSAPP policy at the time of the review.