GRAPHISOFT touts major win with Brazilian architecture firm

Graphisoft of Hungary, is touting a major client conversion story in FAA of Brazil. In 2007 FAA began investing in BIM and researched their options ultimately deciding on Autodesk’s popular Revit BIM platform. However, Graphisoft has just inked a major deal with the large South American architecture firm involving the adoption of ArchiCAD.

Contented but Looking for More

Firm founder Daniel Hopf Fernandes stated in a press release, “We were not dissatisfied with Revit, but it is impossible not to think there might be something even better. This is the foundation of our corporate mind-set, and we are always looking for ways to add value and streamline the design process.”

For FAA, costs weighs heavily in the company’s strategic decision-making. “Our main motivation for changing software was Autodesk’s new commercial policy, which is counter-productive to the Brazilian economy,” said Fernandes.

Evaluating Options

The company therefore took up the task once again of evaluating other BIM software alternatives on the market. Using years of firm-based experience and knowledge, the firm created an “evaluation structure” and comparison data for all critical production processes of a typical FAA project, from concept to the final detailing.

01 – Fernandes Arquitetos Associados (FAA) is a major new client win for Graphisoft.

“Following one month of work by our BIM Manager and discussions of the results with the team, we concluded that ArchiCAD, in addition to having a price closer to our reality, was also closer to everything we had always looked for in a BIM tool,” said Fernandes. “With a very positive technical evaluation and competitive cost, it was relatively easy to make the decision to migrate to ArchiCAD.”

Post Adoption Experience

According to FAA, the firm then immediately began utilizing ArchiCAD in small teams. The firm began with just three days of training to launch into real projects with ArchiCAD.

“ArchiCAD integrates with Rhino…and is more user-friendly and intuitive,” adds Fernandes. “ArchiCAD also offers us a greater modeling freedom and allows us to model and document in one single platform.”

Miguel Krippahl, country manager for Graphisoft Brazil stated, “Early BIM adopters dissatisfied with the company and the product they chose early on need to know that ArchiCAD is the most viable BIM software on the market today, and we are taking that message to Brazil.”

About Fernandes Arquitetos Associados

Founded in Sao Paulo in 1998 by Daniel Hopf Fernandes, award-winning Fernandos Arquitetos Associados (FAA) has won market recognition in various segments, totaling over 160 designs in infrastructure and transportation, health, industrial, residential, commedia and mixed-use buildings, institutional, sports, and urban design. The firm is the only Brazilian firm to be responsible for the design of two of the 2014 FIFA World Cup arenas.

Architosh Analysis

This announcements follows a string of high-profile conversion stories, following in favor of Nemetschek Group’s Graphisoft subsidiary. Often at the root of these conversion stories is the firm’s ability to work with McNeel’s extremely popular Rhino 3D modeling software, a tool that has become the dominant advanced design modeler, often working in conjunction with Grasshopper.

It appears that some companies in some economies are finding Autodesk’s new licensing models (which are becoming more subscription-based) not fitting their economic situation dynamics. It will be interesting to see how the company responds and we will follow these developments closely.