“There should be no difference between specifying architectural aluminum panels and buying a salad spinner on Amazon.”
Coined by Architizer’s own Marc Kushner last month, the Amazon analogy perfectly encapsulates the pressing need among architects for a better way to search for building-products. “If architects could comparison shop, read colleague reviews and compare products, the building-product industry would be leaping to innovate,” said Kushner, touching on the incredible potential for a new specification tool to spur a new paradigm for the construction industry.
Besides the clear benefits to first-time users of Architizer, marketplace dynamics make the tool even more valuable for return users with regular searches. Architects can harness the platform’s power to great effect over time. Here’s a short run-down of why it makes sense to keep searching for building-products on Architizer, ultimately helping you produce architecture that performs and inspires in equal measure.
1. Build Your Personal Product Library
The ability to log your searches and selected building-products for all your projects is a lifesaver for hard-working architects with multiple projects at different stages of development. With information from past projects saved in one place, you can easily compile your favorite building-products and go-to brands for use in future designs.
Not only is this a beautiful thing for those architects who are in need of better organizational tools — i.e., every architect ever! — it also brings peace of mind as you can save your go-to manufacturers, a list of reliable suppliers that you know won’t let you down on your next big commission.
2. Check Out What’s New
One of the best qualities of Architizer is its dynamism. The marketplace never stops growing, so next time you log in, you are bound to find an even better selection of responses for the searches you make. Not only is the number of building-product manufacturers increasing day by day, but they are also populating the platform with more options for every build-product typology.
3. Become Your Firm’s Expert
There is always one guy in the office who is the go-to expert for a specialist discipline — one Revit genius, one sustainability specialist, one detailing mastermind. With Architizer, you can make yourself indispensable to everyone in your firm, becoming the resident guru for materials and building-products.
As architects continue to frequent the platform, their knowledge naturally grows in every department, from design detailing and material choices to price comparisons and lead times. Let’s face it — as a profession, we love to nerd out over the smallest things, and Architizer really is the perfect platform to channel your inner building-product geek.
4. Grow Relationships With Manufacturers
Architizer provides architects with the ability to send messages directly to manufacturers and get their firsthand perspective on what might be possible for their project. This communication portal allows architects and building-product manufacturers to build relationships over time, project by project, all on a single platform. This element of the tool is vital in building trust between designers and manufacturers, continually bridging the gap between the architectural profession and the construction industry.
5. Help to Build a Global Knowledge Pool for Architects
From Wikipedia to Quora, knowledge-sharing has been proven to benefit communities in a myriad of different places online. Architizer harnesses this type of collective power for the world of architecture and building-products with a search algorithm that constantly learns from its users.
Every search an architect makes on the platform increases the intelligence of the search engine, as it learns the creative vocabulary of our profession. Over time, this means responses get more and more accurate, and subsequent searches return ever better results. Ultimately, repeat-usage helps to make Architizer an indispensable resource for the architecture of the future.
Looking for the ideal materials for your next project? Find it on Architizer’s definitive network marketplace for building-products. Click here to get started on the best all-in-one specification tool for architects.
Top image via iStock; credit anyaberkut