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It’s been a pretty special year for architects when it comes to technology. We’ve seen architectural apps become increasingly ubiquitous, hardware from the likes of Microsoft and HP that is more than a match for Apple, not to mention an exponential growth in our fascination with virtual and augmented reality. Innovative technology in the realm of architecture has begun to be rolled out with such regularity that we even created a dedicated new blog page for it.
The question is: Which of the many tech developments unveiled throughout the last 12 months are merely gimmicks that will disappear as fast as they arrived, and which are here to stay, becoming permanent fixtures within professional practice? We’ve compiled a list of 10 technologies that will proliferate during 2017, including hardware and software that architects should embrace both in the studio and on the construction site.
Via Architizer
Fully Integrated Solar Panels
While recent political events in the U.S. suggest we could be heading for a reversion to an energy market reliant upon fossil fuels, Tesla founder Elon Musk is out to prove that, if done right, solar power is an infinitely more sustainable industry. The inventor and entrepreneur made waves in the fall when he unveiled a new photovoltaic product that appears identical to regular roof tiles, and if this becomes the norm, renewable energy may yet pull through as a viable solution to our future needs.
Via AptGadget
Smart Home Technologies
Smart home tech has proliferated significantly in recent years, ranging from entertaining gimmicks — see Panasonic’s self-stirring saucepan, as featured on Architizer — to genuine game-changers such as Nest’s Learning Thermostat and the Amazon Echo, CNET’s “best smart home centerpiece.” While these peripherals are impressive, there is some way to go before we see true integration between this technology and the spaces it serves. As the innovators behind these products work ever more closely with professionals in the AEC industry, smart home devices should be increasingly invisible, becoming a core part of the architecture we design.
Generative design display at Autodesk University Las Vegas; via YouTube
Generative Design
Taking cues from the evolutionary design structures found within nature, generative design has the potential to change the built environment beyond recognition — and the leaders of tech are more excited about its potential than ever before. “Generative design involves finding high-level goals and constraints and using the power of computation to explore thousands and thousands of design options,” explained research scientist David Benjamin at Autodesk University in November 2016.
Robotic fabrication; via Architizer
Additive Design
Going hand in hand with generative design is additive design — otherwise known as 3D printing on an industrial scale. The tantalizing potential of architectural applications for such a technology has already been exhibited by firms in China and the United Arab Emirates, but the process is clearly in need of refinement — something that Autodesk and others are working on, as demonstrated by the machines on display at Autodesk University. Equipping a six-axis industrial robot with a specialized polymer extruder, Autodesk has developed software that enables complex structures to be fabricated with a fraction of the embodied energy of conventional systems.
GRAPHISOFT’s BIMx eXplorer; via Google Play
Architectural Apps
Smartphones have been essential to architects for many years already, but it is only recently that the apps designed for them have evolved from fun gimmicks to serious tools for everyday professional practice. Big players such as GRAPHISOFT and Autodesk have fine-tuned their mobile applications, but there are also a host of smaller companies making waves with savvy tools for use at every project stage from concept to completion. While some architects have dismissed apps as peripheral to their workflow up until now, those times are sure to change as phones become even more akin to a laptop in your pocket.
Via Autodesk
Cloud Services
According to Autodesk, there has been a 400 percent growth in U.S. BIM adoption in the last five years. The collaborative model is now commonplace in every aspect of the AEC industry, and that means cloud services are now virtually essential in ensuring every project contributor has access to the information they require at all times. Autodesk itself already has a full suite of platforms for cloud-based design, including Autocad 360, BIM 360 Team, Buzzsaw and Collaboration for Revit, but expect this area to develop at an extraordinary rate over the next few years, taking interconnectivity between disciplines to another level.
IrisVR; via Architizer
Virtual Reality
The debate rumbles on as to whether virtual reality is a momentary trend that will lose relevancy in the long term, or if it is a key tool that will become the norm — a fundamental way for architects to work together and present ideas to their clients. The immersive approach has been embraced by some firms already — New York–based practice Corgan have an in-house VR setup that allows clients to walk through still-to-be-built projects. Expect this to become commonplace during the following years, and watch out for exciting collaborations between architecture firms, VR hardware developers and makers of BIM software to create ever more seamless VR workflows.
ViewAR App
Augmented Reality
Like virtual reality, augmented reality has taken on renewed significance in the last couple of years thanks to great advancements in products invented to facilitate a greater connection between the physical and digital realm of architectural design. In the AEC space, multiple AR applications have been designed for use with Microsoft’s Hololens, including Augment, which lets users overlay building plans, marketing materials and other 2D collateral on a 3D BIM model. With the normalization of smartphones, tablets and headsets as everyday tools for professional practice, AR looks set to be a staple part of the design and construction process moving forward.
Microsoft’s Surface Studio; via Architizer
Touchscreen CAD and BIM
While touchscreen technology is now the norm for viewing models and drawings on the go, this kind of display has not yet been fully embraced for design work itself, which requires an added level of responsiveness and accuracy. Enter Microsoft’s Surface Studio, which aims to change all that. The 28-inch touch-sensitive display comes with an elegant kneeling mechanism, pen and Dial input devices, responding to the particular habits and needs of the creative workforce. It remains to be seen whether or not Apple will now follow in Microsoft’s footsteps with their next iMac, but one thing is for sure: Touchscreen tech is here to stay.
The Dial being demonstrated on Surface Studio; via Architizer
The Dial
The aforementioned Dial — a rotatable on-screen controller that offers different tools depending on its application — is a highly tactile piece of hardware that Microsoft hopes will become as ubiquitous as the computer mouse. At its launch, Surface Studio presented partnerships with several app developers that built customized Dial controls for the display through a quietly released API provided by Microsoft with the Anniversary Edition of Windows 10. This technology may be a flash in the proverbial pan — but if big players such as Adobe and Autodesk harness its potential, we could see Dials in just about every architecture studio in a few years’ time.
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