Our full conversation is available on our Architosh Official YouTube channel, but several themes emerged that deserve a closer look through the lens of architectural practice and the specific evolution of the machines that built our world.

The Architecture of a Collection

“Back in the day, in order to buy your next Mac, you had to sell the previous one,” Pann recalls, reflecting on the humble origins of what has become a staggering personal archive.

For many architects, the Mac was never just a tool; it was a capital investment. Pann’s collection—spanning over 73 machines—began almost by accident, fueled by a meticulous habit of preservation. “I always kept everything—the boxes, the manuals, everything in pristine condition,” he says. This attention to detail eventually yielded high resale values, allowing him to bootstrap his way through Apple’s evolving product cycles.

Architect Neal Pann, co-founder of podcast Archispeak, creator of Apple for Architects, has a vast 73 machine collection of Apple computers, including a NeXTstation. We talk about this collection–and a range of Macs in Architecture issues–in the ToshTalk video interview above.

As Pann’s career (and studio space) grew, the need to sell faded, giving way to a desire to preserve the industrial design that mirrored his own professional values. “I appreciated not only the operating system and its simplicity, but the design of the computers themselves. They were pieces of art,” Pann notes, echoing a sentiment that traces back to the Jony Ive era and the celebrated monograph, Apple Design.

A Symbolic Totem: From the SE to the Twentieth Anniversary

Every collection has its “Patient Zero.” For Pann, it is the Macintosh 512k—the very machine he used in an architect’s office straight out of high school. In a poetic gesture, the computer now sits atop a classical architectural column in his studio. It is a striking visual metaphor: the “New Order” of digital drafting literally supported by the “Old Order” of classical tradition.

From that SE, the collection scales the heights of Apple’s hits and misses, including several rare “halo” products:

• The Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh (TAM): A rare, integrated system that Pann still keeps in its original box.
• The Power Mac G4 Cube: A masterpiece of miniaturization that, despite its market failure, remains a pinnacle of Apple’s aesthetic ambition.
• The iMac G3 Era: His collection includes a “Dalmation Blue” iMac and a near-complete rainbow of the original fruit-colored units.

As we can see from the images in this article, Pann’s collection includes nearly the full rainbow of colors that the famous iMac G3 came in.

The Professional “Muscle”: Towers and Portables

For the practicing architect, the collection highlights the machines that actually did the heavy lifting of CAD and early 3D rendering. Pann’s archive includes the “muscle” towers that defined the professional workstation for decades:

• The Quadra & early PowerPC Era: His collection features the Power Macintosh 8600/200 in the Quadra 800 form factor and the Power Macintosh 9500/AV, marking the industry’s pivot from Motorola 68k chips to the PowerPC architecture.
• The G3 & G4 Towers: From the “side-saddle” beige Power Macintosh G3 to the iconic “Blue and White” G3 with its easy-access fold-down door—a design godsend for architects adding RAM or storage.
• The G5 & Beyond: The aluminum Power Mac G5 towers led into the Intel era, eventually leading to the infamous 2013 Mac Pro “trashcan” cylinder and a few Intel Xeon-based Mac Pros.

The portable history is equally represented, featuring the Titanium MacBook Pro, the original clamshell iBook (1998), and a wide array of PowerBooks that allowed the “mobile architect” to take their studio to the job site.

NeXT and the Lisa: The DNA of macOS

Not all of Pann’s collection bears the Apple logo. He also possesses a NeXTstation (1990), the sleek black hardware that Steve Jobs built during his “exile.” Beside it sits the NeXT Laser Printer, a reminder of Jobs’ obsession with high-fidelity output.

Power Macs sit below a collection of 1998 iMacs.

The PowerBook in various models.

Pann’s NeXTstation computer and NeXT Laser Printer.

The collection also pays homage to the Apple Lisa 2 (1984 variant). Often described as Apple’s “best failure,” the Lisa used Sony 3.5-inch floppy drives and introduced technologies like QuickDraw and Object Pascal. However, it remained a document-centric machine, whereas the Mac would eventually win the day by being application-centric, but more importantly, vastly less expensive.

The “Apple for Architects” Legacy

Pann’s evangelism isn’t just about silicon and aluminum; it’s about community. When he launched Apple for Architects in the early “teens,” he effectively took up the mantle of Architosh’s original mission during a period when the “Mac in AEC” story was in flux.

The Macintosh 512k sits on an architectural column.

Apple Lisa 2 its above the NeXTstation.

1998 iBooks in a range of colors.

Through his Inside The Apple Studio podcast and his online galleries, Pann created a space where architects could “relive a kind of nostalgia,” as he puts it. It wasn’t just about hardware specs; it was about the shared experience of “lusting after” a machine that promised a more elegant way to work. And it was also, as he puts it, a bit of fun to see how other Mac-using architects created their workspaces and what Apple tech they used to get their practice done, on both the hardware and software sides.

Conclusion: The Ultimate Personification

As we look toward the next 50 years, Pann asks a rhetorical question: Where does Apple go from here?

The Power Mac G4 Cube was Apple’s most stunning when released by Steve Jobs’ gorgeous creation was a market failure. It’s successor the ill-fated 2013 trash can Mac Pro in black.

His hope is for a return to the foundational ethos: “The Computer for the Rest of Us.” In Pann’s view, the iPhone is the ultimate personification of that goal—a device that democratizes complex technology through superior design. For the architectural community, Neal Pann remains a vital curator of that history, reminding us that the machines we use are not just appliances, but milestones in our own creative journeys.

The post The Curator of the “Computer for the Rest of Us”: Neal Pann and the Apple AEC Connection appeared first on Architosh.

Interview

Anthony Frausto-Robledo (AFR): What is your global vision for expanding Archicad worldwide and in markets like North America?

Daniel Csillag (DC):  If you look at the overall design markets, the average global growth is about 8 percent per year. Most software companies would love to have an 8 percent growth per year, and Graphisoft has always done better than that average.

Just to clarify, are we talking about top-line revenue growth at 8 percent per year?

Yes. So, in the case of Graphisoft, it is already doing better than this industry average, and that is a good thing; we can do even better.

Daniel Csillag, CEO of Graphisoft.

Graphisoft has grown due to great technology and a very strong community [of users] that is spreading word-of-mouth about how good the software is. However, this was the case for so long that we only invested a little effort in “go-to-market” activities. That is something we aim to change because I am clearly interested in much faster growth.

The North American market, specifically the United States market, is clearly the largest in the world, and Autodesk is the big leader in that market. What country do you lead the market?

Germany is our market leader, and we are number one in that market. We need to invest ourselves anew in the North American market as our marketing activities are not focused on winning new customers. North America is the most attractive market of all, but it is also the biggest battlefield because it is Autodesk’s home market, and they have a large base of users. However, we are also growing rapidly in other significant European markets. We have seen significant mid-double-digit growth rates in Iberia (Spain), Italy, and France.

The award-winning BIMx platform started with mobile BIM model viewing but works across desktop and web on both platforms. The system has developed into a robust coordination platform for all project stakeholders with support for BCF workflows.

What are some ways you can grow further in North America?

One way is to deliver unmatched, unique technologies that the leader [Autodesk] does not have and can’t deliver. Another way is for us to partner with other software companies in North America with large and robust market shares, and we are looking at several.

I would imagine that winning in the United States versus winning in Europe is a bit different. American marketing is more aggressive, and in America, you are up against a massive player.

Everything that works well in the EU doesn’t necessarily work well in North America, and Autodesk has a similar problem here as well. Specific geographies need different marketing strategies. And yes, American marketing is more aggressive, and we have always been nice and friendly.

There is certainly room for improvement. When we look at the global market, we want to see the Americas represent 25 percent of our portfolio, if not more, and we have much to go to get there. We want to see this rise significantly.

To get there, will you then have to target larger firms? You already led the global market in BIM server technologies that larger firms always needed and now, post-COVID, everybody needs.

Yes, we have built our solution to be very attractive to large enterprises, and we continue to be more appealing to larger firms. At the same time, our average customer continues to grow, but we want to move further up-market.

Does the marketing message to large enterprise firms need to be different than the one to smaller firms?

Yes, because they have different requirements. MEP integrations play a much more significant role in large firms designing much larger projects. For larger firms, the requirements are partly different.

BIMx is one of Graphisoft’s crown jewels technology-wise. The system will play a central role in the One Nemetschek Cloud for the entire group.

Your sister company, Bluebeam, has a considerable presence in large North American construction companies. Will you collaborate there to specifically target larger firms?

Yes. I am in constant contact with Usman Shuja, the CEO of Bluebeam and the chief division officer of the Build & Construct division for the Nemetschek Group. We discuss matters frequently, exchanging ideas about how Bluebeam can help Graphisoft be more successful in North America and how we can help Bluebeam be more successful in Europe.

You mentioned BIMx—an award-winning product—as part of Graphisoft’s secret sauce. Is there some integration potential with Bluebeam?

There is nothing else in the industry like BIMx. With BIMx in 3D, we can do with information what Bluebeam can do with information in 2D. I think the combination of both might be super attractive to larger companies in the North American construction markets.

I saw some integrations at the global launch event, showing Archicad 28 interacting with Bluebeam Cloud in the web browser running on the Mac and managing issues. It seems that tying BIMx to Bluebeam in the same way offers possibilities that users of both software would be looking for.

Right. Here, we have some work to do, but that is clearly a vision we have in front of us. And this is a benefit of having a sister brand like Bluebeam. Graphisoft and Bluebeam are the two largest brands in the Nemetschek Group.

Getting back to the growth story and markets, these integrations with other Nemetschek brands, and so forth, are you thinking about SaaS in the cloud at different price points? Are you thinking about tiers with subscriptions?

Yes. In the past, we offered customers more or less one solution, and then we added BIMx to that. You can add BIMcloud as another add-on to our offerings. But what we will do going forward is optimize packages for different customer groups and then build add-ons on top of those packages.

In the evolving world of cloud-based API connections, it is easy to understand that direction. Would Maxon visualization also continue to be one of those add-on services?

We support Open BIM as our philosophy, so we will always let the customer decide on their rendering technologies. However, Maxon’s technologies continue to develop quickly with impressive advanced features, and that can be one functionality built onto a package.

I want to close by reviewing your markets. What are your strongest markets by country in the EU, Asia, and the Americas?

Germany is our largest market in the EU, Japan is our largest market in Asia, Brazil is our largest market in South America, and the United States is our largest market in North America.

You said, in earlier remarks, that you are the market leader in many key markets or the first challenger or, in a few instances, the second challenger.

In Germany, we are the clear market leader. If we had the same market share in the United States that we do in Germany, we would be world champion. So we have some work to do in the United States.

BIMx continues to advance into a full-fledged BIM model coordination system without losing its initial clarity and charm as an engaging and simple app that relates the user’s experience between the BIM model and drawings.

It is not easy to move people from solutions with large installed bases, but the history of technology is filled with stories of where that happens.

We must make compelling arguments for users to understand the move’s value, and we envision compelling technologies and integrations moving forward.

Thanks for the conversation.

Anthony, you are very welcome.

To learn more about Graphisoft, visit here.

The post Budapest Part 3: Graphisoft CEO Daniel Csillag Charts Its Future appeared first on Architosh.

“I’m a 44-year-old,” says Pete Morrison, Chief Commercial Officer of Bohemia Interactive Simulations. “I would probably laugh at a person if I saw them walking down the street with a Vision Pro headset on, but that could be just around the corner. It doesn’t take much for culture to shift.”

It turns out that Morrison is quite correct. Speaking to Architosh before the Vision Pro got into customers’ hands, walking down the street with the new immersive technology is exactly what has transpired. And sure enough, the sight has inspired both laugher and nervousness.

However, the Apple Vision Pro is likely the device that changes our cultural precepts about immersive technologies (VR, AR, MR/XR). More than a half-decade ago, virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift were suddenly everywhere at computer trade shows, including in industries like architecture and construction. But the Gartner Hype cycle curve has forced its gravity on immersive tech just like all tech. A wave of entrants has collapsed down to just a few major players, and now the Vision Pro arrives in a moment to help drive immersive forward.

“If you think about Apple’s AirPods, they were so ugly, and people were laughing at how they looked, and now you see them every day, everywhere,” says Morrison, reminding me that all it takes is a killer app or use case. Suddenly, the technology takes off massively.

The Timing of Technology

Morrison knows technology cycles and the nature of timing. Sometimes, a market situation emerges, and a given company happens to have the right technology for it. That is the case for Bohemian Interactive Simulations, as its simulation, visualization, and virtual terrain technologies serve the United States Army and the militaries of its allies.

Founded originally as a computer gaming studio in the Czech Republic, with its impressive Operation Flashpoint military game, the simulation engine side of the company split off in 2007. It was purchased by private equity in 2012. And in 2022, it was acquired by global defense giant BAE Systems.

An image from Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim)’s remarkable physically accurate 3D environmental and physics-based simulation and terrain modeling digital tools used by the United States military and several of its NATO partners. BISim was acquired by the US-based component of the UK’s BAE Systems, a global defense industry giant. (click on the image for a larger view. ) (Image: BISim.)

BISim (shorthand for Bohemian Interactive Simulations) has the world’s most advanced simulation technologies. VBS4 delivers its customers the most advanced and complete virtual desktop training environment with whole Earth rendering for tactical training, mission rehearsal, and experimentation. The company’s simulation and terrain technologies also work hand-in-hand with Unity and Epic’s Unreal Engine.

“I would say that the military has always been looking for multiple engines depending on the problem they are trying to solve,” says Morrison. “The fundamental difference with our engine is we have built it from the ground up to meet very specific military requirements.”

With increasing global geopolitical challenges confronting the West and its allies, BISim’s world-class technologies were an obvious acquisition for a company like BAE Systems. The parent company delivers a comprehensive set of products and solutions across defense, aerospace, and security, including semiconductors used in military equipment.

Lessons from Ukraine

What the military is looking for in simulation engines that differ from the gaming industry boils down to both technical and customer service differentiation. “The military requires very long view distances in the simulation environment,” says Morrison, “plus very high frame rates and the ability to stream in terrain data for the entire planet.”

On the service side, Unity and Unreal Engine are busy serving hundreds of thousands of users. “I love Epic, by the way, but clearly, they have many priorities,” says Morrison. “Our military clients can reach us quickly.”

Lesson from Ukraine. BISim’s technology has been informed by lessons from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shown here is a simulation of a Ukrainian trench formation. (click on the image for a larger view. ) (Image: BISim.)

“Our big military customers require a service level agreement where we guarantee we can make the code changes they need, depending on what they are trying to do,” he adds.

BISim’s other key product is Mantle, its customizable terrain pipeline. This solution can ingest terrain, terrain-related data, and other data from multiple sources, including classified data.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine, the United States Army was already actively funding its next-generation terrain architecture. The Ukraine conflict just made it all the more apparent how important it was.

Part of the Army’s goals included a requirement called “One World Terrain,” and Maxar ended up winning the contract related to providing that data. “Maxar is collecting satellite data and turning this into high-fidelity, photo-realistic 3D terrain, which is an amazing resource for both mission planning and simulation,” says Morrison.

“When Ukraine happened, the reason we were doing this became very clear,” he adds. “Ukraine really focused the GEOINT community.” The term “GEOINT” is a U.S. Army job description for a geospatial intelligence analyst. They are the ones we see in films pouring over real-time satellite imagery in military conflicts.

“So with Mantle, we can build and support all the things the GEOINT community needs and tie that all together,” he says. “I would say Ukraine added some momentum, but the U.S. Army was already well on this journey before Ukraine.”

SIM, Vision Pro, and Future Wars

BAE Systems, Inc., the U.S.-based headquarters of Britain’s BAE Systems, acquired BISim (Bohemia Interactive Simulations) for USD 200 million. While the purchase was finalized just a few weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine, BAE Systems Inc. had already done work with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Estimated at over USD 11 billion annually, the global simulation and training solutions industry is growing rapidly. This begs the question of whether or not Apple’s Vision Pro may play a critical role in future military simulation technology solutions. The Vision Pro has similar capabilities to Varjo’s XR4 headset.

The Finnish Varjo is the most advanced immersive headset creator in the world, with industrial-grade (not gamer-grade) capabilities. “We work with Varjo; their XR4 is currently considered the best mixed-reality (MR) headset in the market within my industry,” says Morrison. Training use cases for XR are still very limited,” he adds. It’s mostly just flight simulation and Forward Air Control training at the moment, but new headset technology is opening up possibilities.”

The U.S. Army has already run trials with Microsoft’s Hololens 2. The custom Hololens was for the Army’s IVAS program or Integrated Visual Augmentation System. “The challenges, as far as I am aware, are ergonomics and bright light,” he adds. “Bright light is a real pain when it comes to using augmented reality. Obviously, soldiers operate outside.”

MORE: NVIDIA Omniverse to now stream USD scenes to Apple Vision Pro

“If there is clarity—if you can see the real world and the overlays clearly—then the Apple Vision Pro would be a complete game changer in my industry,” says Morrison.

“The panacea for a soldier is a functioning augmented reality headset that isn’t uncomfortable, that allows them to overlay important information that could save their life.”

The EV Evolution, Batteries, and War

Wars are fought on land, sea, air, and space. BISim has simulation, visualization, and terrain solutions for every domain. This includes military flight training, where the company has already partnered with Varjo and its XR4 state-of-the-art headset.

When it comes to soldiers on land and the Army’s IVAS program, another critical issue, Morrison tells me, is weight. “Soldiers want to carry ammunition; they don’t want to carry batteries,” he says. How far batteries take a modified Hololens really matters. Even the Apple Vision Pro has limited battery life; a lot of innovation will be needed to figure out this problem.

When it comes to the future of war, programs like the Army’s IVAS are helping shape future military preparedness and impacting the technologies themselves. “Obviously, with this program, what matters is how powerful the computer on it is, how long the batteries last, ergonomics, and a million other things,” says Morrison.

When thinking about simulation being delivered to a soldier’s eyes via a headset, one can’t help but wonder how battery advancements in adjacent industries may drive innovation in this one. The EV industry, in particular, has billions being invested in electric battery technologies, and the West’s biggest rival, China, is largely at the forefront.

If China wins global EV and semiconductor supremacy, future computers and batteries in headsets similar to Apple’s Vision Pro or Microsoft’s Hololens may give Chinese soldiers decisive advantages over rivals in future conflicts. “All you need to do is put cameras on weapons and stream the input into a Vision Pro, and you allow a soldier to shoot around corners,” says Morrison. “And that is just one of hundreds of things made possible by XR headsets.”

AI and BISim

That last example is likely terrifying but not nearly as terrifying as military drone swarms powered by AI agents.

The use of drones in Ukraine’s war with Russia has been game-changing. This is a new area of technology that must be accounted for in military simulations, and BISim is more than up to the task. A drone is just another war object in terrestrial space. It can be simulated. However, the task will be challenging.

“What’s going to happen in the next battlefield—if it’s not happening already in Ukraine—is that the air will be so full of electronic noise that the drones will need to operate completely independently, and they won’t be able to communicate with a human,” says Morrison.

BISim is the world leader in global digital terrain technologies and their technologies encompass the entire Earth and its space. (click on the image for a larger view. ) (Image: BISim.)

He notes that the United States government has ethical concerns about drones killing humans when it comes to who is making the decision. Is it a human on the other end or a software AI? Morrison paints an alarming picture with these words: “The Chinese could have one guy controlling a thousand drones, whereas we have a thousand guys controlling a thousand drones.” All because the Chinese may not have the same ethical concerns about AI and drones as in the West.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is going to be an outcome-changing technology in the future of war. It will be a decisive agent at the highest strategy level down to a soldier’s real-time info—perhaps delivered inside a headset like the XR4, Vision Pro, or Hololens.

At the strategy level, BISim aims to simulate every aspect of war. “We are building out high fidelity, ‘deterministic AI,’ in support of training,” he says. “The AI needs to be given high-level behavior by an administrator, but they can figure out what fire positions to take, what vehicles to mount, etc., all on their own.”

Another interesting aspect of AI technology at BISim is that it differs from the AI you might begin seeing in military computer games. “Whether it is assault, retreat, or defense when our AI acts, it acts in what we call a ‘believable manner,’ and it works across any terrain,” he adds.

Morrison assures me that most computer game AI is neither of these things. It might appear believable, but appearances can mislead.

As noted earlier, the U.S. Army is working to build next-generation simulation architectures. Once rolled out, the STE, the Synthetic Training Environment, will enable dozens, if not hundreds, of battle simulations running on a unified system architecture, all connected back to a server.

“We will be able to see how potentially thousands of commanders solve tactical problems, the same tactical problem,” he says. The AI will then be able to learn and analyze how humans are making decisions and then be able to advise on real operational scenarios based on what it [the AI] has seen.

“That’s the first interesting thing that AI will contribute to STE and simulation technologies at BISim,” adds Morrison. The second is that AI will begin to train itself to be a better adversary when the military conducts these simulations.”

There is old wisdom that if you want to be a better tennis player, you should play against a better opponent. What works in tennis will also work in war. How exactly the U.S. Army will benefit from this wisdom and the use of AI is classified.

Closing Thoughts

While Apple’s Vision Pro likely will mark an inflection point in the advancement of immersive technologies in the general markets, one must realize that XR devices that merge reality with virtual and augmented realities will be critical, if not indispensable, technologies in the armed forces.

Bohemia Interactive Simulations (BISim) already provides aerospace solutions combined with Varjo’s XR4 device. The XR4 never competed against VR headsets like the Oculus Rift. Priced differently, the XR4 is more akin to the graphics workstations that SGI (Silicon Graphics Inc.) once delivered to the United States militaries along with major industrial clients like Ford and Boeing.

New technologies often emerge in high-priced niche markets first. Their leading edge continues to serve those markets while the “trailing edge” takes up additional new markets, like computer gaming—if we stick to the SGI example. If the trailing-edge market overtakes the leading-edge market in investment dollars and competition, eventually, those secondary players disrupt the initial players (innovators) in their own leading-edge markets.

A picture of a simulator plus Varjo XR headset at the IITSEC 2023 trade show and conference. (click on the image for a larger view. ) (Image: BISim.)

One of the things wars tend to bring is ground-breaking innovation and surprise developments. Apple’s Vision Pro is only sold in the United States, yet already the device as appeared in Russia. That was never supposed to happen.

Multiple groundbreaking innovations are happening simultaneously. Unlike the car, electricity, and telephone of the early 20th century, today’s groundbreakers, like AI, drones, and immersive headsets, dramatically converge and enhance each other. “The drone technology [used in Ukraine] and AI tech have caught me by surprise,” says Morrison, “and everyone, I think.”

“The new artificial intelligence, drone tech, and XR headset tech, I think, are all going to come together to provide new experiences that we can’t yet even dream of even now,” says Morrison. “And while it’s moving very quickly, at BISim, we are capable of also moving quickly to integrate these new developments because our defense and security clients will be demanding it.”

The post The Future of Immersive and Simulation — A Discussion with Pete Morrison of Bohemia Interactive Simulations appeared first on Architosh.

Why Anima Matters

Top architecture firms worldwide use AXYZ design’s popular anima 5 software. Firms like KPF and HOK create stunning animations of their projects to win the work and achieve design direction consensus and approvals. “It’s part of the storytelling,” says Phillip Miller, VP Product, Solutions for Artists at Chaos. “You can have a beautiful image of a beautiful building, but it doesn’t come to life until you see people not only in it but moving.”

Chaos + AXYZ design join forces, and the acquisition will bring exciting futures to arch viz professionals. Read the full article to learn more. (Image: Chaos)

Diego Gadler, an architect specializing in visualization, founded AXYZ design to focus on making the visualization of people and moving animated people vastly easier than it had been in the past.

“As an architect, I spent a lot of time getting people just right for a visualization, for the client to then ask for a different angle of the image,” says Gadler. “I would then need to redo all this work. This background of frustration made me think about making the visualization of people to animate much easier.”

Born from this perspective, Gadler’s software firm, only seven people at the time of Chaos’ acquisition, has established its anima software as the de facto leader in the animation of people specifically for the architectural visualization industry.

While Anima 5 has been enjoying its leadership in the market, Chaos, with its market-leading V-Ray and Corona renderers, seeing how popular combining them with anima was becoming. “There is a need for animation and the animation of diversified people by our customers,” says Christian Lang, CEO of Chaos. “It is one of the top requests we are getting from the market.”

The Benefits of In-House

While Lang and Gadler contend they have long held a good partnership, it made more sense for Chaos to acquire AXYZ design, bring anima in-house, and expose it to the Chaos Innovation Lab.

“As a technology company, there are always three options we have,” adds Lang when talking about bringing in AXYZ design. “We can either start developing it by ourselves, look at the industry and see who we can partner with, or acquire the company and bring them in-house.”

AXYZ design’s flagship software, anima, has been the gold standard for animated humans in architectural visualization. In their award-winning architectural work, top architecture firms like KPF and HOK utilize anima 5, the latest version. (Image: Chaos)

Christian Lang says the right option depends on the circumstances, noting that you bring in companies in-house when, technically, together, you can do things that can’t be done separately.

And philosophically, Chaos and AXYZ design match in that both aim to democratize visualization technologies and bring them to a broader market of users. “That is why we are a good fit within Chaos,” says Gadler, “because we think the same about these technologies.”

Product Plans – Enscape Question

Currently, anima’s technologies marry well with Chaos’ V-Ray and Corona renderer and numerous other tools in the market, including those of competitors (e.g., Arnold, Octane, and Redshift).

One interesting question was, “What about Enscape and animated people?” After all, Enscape has a good library of people, but none of them animate. (see: Architosh, “Product Review: Enscape for Mac SketchUp,” 30 Nov 22)

“So the question is, of course, valid because we have thousands of architects out there in the market asking for animated objects and animated people,” says Lang. “So, looking forward, there may be some areas in Enscape where we plan on doing something.”

With the acquisition only closing a little over a month ago, it’s understandable plans still need to be ironed out. “The bottom line is, the plan is to get anima technologies into the hands of as many people as possible,” adds Lang.

Product Plans – AI, Simulation, and the Mac

While Chaos maps out the strategies with anima and other AXYZ design technologies, Diego Gadler is highly excited about his team partnering with the creative powers of the Chaos Innovation Lab, which is led by Chaos co-founder Vladimir Koylazov—”the V-in V-Ray,” as Lang puts it in our meeting.

“At Chaos, there is a special AI research group within Chaos Innovation Lab,” adds Lang, who goes on to add: “I would say that some of the brightest people in the whole industry are now together in one team at Chaos Innovation Lab; they are looking at advanced technologies—game-changing technologies—and that is what we expect from an innovation lab.”

anima 5’s latest crowd technology is powered by their new neural motion engine, a machine learning (AI) technology. (Image: Chaos)

In terms of AI (artificial intelligence), Diego Gadler, Christian Lang, and Phil Miller all agree that so much innovation can be created with AI for the visualization markets. It’s near blue ocean terrain still.

And today, anima 5 leverages machine learning, a type of AI, in its Neural Crowd technologies. “We replaced our older local motion system based on motion capture with our new neural motion engine,” notes Gadler.

The new system for crowds may also provide opportunities in motion simulation markets. “I have been in contact with the [Bentley] LEGION people who have asked me about the possibility of linking their dimensionally-based human points with AXYZ design people and making a much better visualization of the physical behavior of people in a crowd simulation.”

“From our point of view, we can imagine that,” he says, without promising any more info on such a collaboration.

anima 5 is a bleeding-edge technology for the animation of humans in rendered animations. See the final view below.

At one point, anima also worked on the Mac platform, which is highly meaningful to V-Ray, Corona, and Enscape users. “The Mac market was only meaningful to us back then because of Cinema 4D,” says Gadler, who explains that with a team of seven before, they had made the hard choice to stop supporting it.

“As for the future of anima on the Mac,” he adds, “the key driver is always the customer. Technically, it is possible; there is no limit to taking anima to the Mac.”

Christian Lang chimes in: “If we want to serve Chaos customers well, we most likely need to supply our technologies independently of the platform.” Lang also adds in our meeting that if Chaos does bring AXYZ technologies to Enscape, it will work on both platforms.

The Future of Visualization in AEC

Visualization in AEC has evolved rapidly for years. Lang says there is so much more to do, particularly with real-time rendering.

“The future is about using visualization today as an optimizer of tomorrow’s design workflows,” says Lang. “In film, it is the same idea because it is a workflow idea.”

A rendered animation capture with anima 5 technology shows life-like imagery, but as you can see from the image above, it’s all digital. (Image: Chaos)

Moving toward workflows is partly because the quest for realism has largely been met. “We are now entering a phase where the renders look better than reality,” adds Gadler.

“Real music aficionados can hear the difference between digital and old analog; they can hear the warmth in the music, which is why they love the old analog records,” says Lang. “This is why visualization is a universal language like art and music where the digital part is almost too perfect.”

So, tomorrow’s digital technologies must bring in “imperfection” to obtain even greater realism. When I ask Lang what that may entail, he says “locality” and insists this is a new tier of expertise that nobody has truly excelled at.

“We must show the local identity of environments, and Chaos is looking at this for the future,” he adds.

The Chaos world looks bright with a world-class innovation lab and continued intelligent acquisitions. It is exciting to think about what comes next for this growing AEC industry software company.

Notes

To learn more about anima 5 and AXYZ design, visit their website here.

The post Chaos Talks anima with Architosh—Buying AXYZ design and Arch Viz Futures appeared first on Architosh.

A Modern BIM

We recently wrote about BIM 2.0 and how a new class of cloud-era software tools has entered the AEC BIM market. One false implication about BIM 2.0 era tools is that an app is only truly modern if your application runs in the cloud. That is incorrect because the “modern” computing landscape has multiple aspects, of which the cloud is just one. For example, one modern aspect is chip architecture support, which Vectorworks currently leads.

Another aspect is visualization technologies, of which specific needs are pluralized in multiple markets. What is needed in the entertainment design market differs from the architecture, interiors, or landscape design. Yet, Vectorworks serves all these markets and is ahead of trends.

One big trend is real-time rendering, of which Vectorworks 2024 is a leader for native real-time shaded rendering. Vectorworks’s native shaded rendering engine now matches many of the advanced settings capabilities of its Cinerender-based Renderworks features for final renders but at the speed of real-time or near-real-time renders. This native shaded renderer replaced OpenGL a few versions back. It is increasingly quick because it taps the performance power of low-overhead graphics APIs like Metal for Mac and DirectX 12 for Windows.

Of course, being a Nemetschek Group daughter company, Vectorworks gains access to Maxon’s esteemed Redshift renderer, touted as the world’s first fully GPU-accelerated, biased render. Redshift has been tested as faster than Arnold and V-Ray with rival visual qualities. Vectorworks CEO Dr. Biplab Sarkar says that Vectorworks 2024 advances again with its Redshift integration. “We have a version of the Redshift library now that is the closest we have been to talking directly to the Redshift API.”

Vectorworks 2024 is shown in this image. Even the Fundamentals version of Vectorworks comes with powerful rendering technologies that benefit from sister company Maxon’s esteemed rendering prowess.

This means that under the hood, integration between Vectorworks and Redshift has been improved and that future versions of Vectorworks will be able to use native styles and materials from Redshift directly inside Vectorworks.

What Else Makes a Modern BIM?

Another aspect going on with respect to the evolution of BIM has to do with parametric versus direct-modeling workflows. Sarkar tells me his team is pressing on more direct modeling interaction with BIM components while maintaining classic BIM parametricism.

Flexibility with parametric objects advances with Vectorworks 2024’s new Railings and Fence tools, including Wall and Door tools with sills and shim gaps. Admittedly, some features new in version 2024 were long-awaited, like the ability to add gates to fences now possible with the new separate Fence tool in Vectorworks Landmark and Vectorworks Architect. And speaking of the vertical industry series products, for the most part, all the BIM features discussed below are primarily for either the “Landmark” or “Architect” specific versions of Vectorworks 2024.

Vectorworks 2024’s new BIM updates—found only in Vectorworks Architect 2024—include more direct modeling interaction with doors, as shown in this image. The BIM innovator promises more direct interaction like this in the future, taking settings out of deep palettes and putting them under the cursor.

“The Fence tool is a major new feature for our Vectorworks Landmark customers,” adds Sarkar. “It not only adds gates complete with posts support and foundation components, it can also respond to terrain models.” In fact, the gravity feature—where fences and rails respond intelligently to terrain below them— is common to both the new Fence tool and the new Railing tool. Both also support the new “styles” paradigm functionality.

Styles over AI—Another Way to Speed

And speaking of “styles,” Vectorworks 2024 has introduced powerful new styles functionality to viewports. With Viewport styles, users can save viewport settings as styles and transfer them between viewports both inside a project file and to other files. While AI (artificial intelligence) is all the rage currently, and Vectorworks was an early user of AI/ML, not every innovation that accelerates workflows dramatically needs AI.

Viewport Styles is new in Vectorworks 2024, enabling users to apply viewport styles to viewports to instantly generate different visual presentments. Styles for schematic design phases, design development, and construction drawings are just some of the ways users can explore this capability.

Hugues Tsafak, VP of Product Development at Vectorworks, says, “There are over 100 settings for Viewports, so what do users do when they have taken the time to set these up and then want to apply those settings to another viewport in another file? Now you can translate those settings quickly across files.”

From first looks at this new feature, it is notable how easy it is for architects and designers to create different kinds of drawing looks from the same view (Viewport). A landscape architect can, for example, quickly generate side-by-side views of their plans showing a working drawing view, a colored presentation view, or a shaded grayscale view with shadows. That’s just one example. In other instances, I’ve seen a section view swing from a working drawing view complete with grid lines and dimensions to a presentation view of the same viewport with color, shadows, and a streamlined presentation appearance. (see image above).

“There are so many parameters in viewports now, and graphic overrides are simply part of that,” says Sarkar. This new feature will help architects work faster and encourage the development of visual “looks” that can be firm standards and respond to regional standards for drawings.

Project Sharing+ — (Industrial Strength)

Vectorworks 2024 now features “Project Sharing+” — a totally rebuilt and industrial strength multi-user, remote work project sharing infrastructure in the code base.

Sarkar notes that Vectorworks had two problems to overcome from the very beginning to introduce project-sharing capabilities. “One was we had file sharing issues due to inconsistencies of the implementation of the three network file sharing protocols we supported on different hardware,” he says. “That part was taken care of by the Project Sharing Server. The other problem lurking in the background was the infrequent but common issue of someone losing data when committing changes from a working file to a master project file.”

“This was happening because our change management system was not up to the mark,” he admitted. “With a team of more than 15 engineers and spanning two years of effort, they rewrote the basic data structure of every object in the system. That’s a big task.”

“You can imagine—I’m talking all the nodes starting from rectangles to stairs, ramps, and roofs,” he says. “We had to ensure with all the nodes that any particular change that happened to an object was being registered somewhere.”

Vectorworks 2024 boasts a completely rewritten Project Sharing system for remote work and multiple users. As a BIM platform, Vectorworks shares with Bentley a “federated file system” approach, which is inherently more flexible than a “central file system” approach. However, there are trade-offs that the industrial-strength rewrite has apparently solved once and for all.

Internally, the considerable programming effort was called CTS (Change Tracking System), written in a way that makes tracking foolproof—truly an industrial strength change management system. “When you have ensured that you have tracked every interaction, there is now no way that something has been missed and we haven’t tracked it,” says Sarkar.

“And in doing so,” he continues, “we have made Vectorworks’ a very modern code base, as all the data in all these objects is now private.” What that means, Sarkar explains, is that it is no longer possible for some API within the system to access that data willy-nilly. A problem with old code bases, ones built over decades from the beginnings of the desktop era, “you discover tools were accessing that data without going through the proper access functions—the APIs to get and set that data. Now access to all data must go through proper data access functions,” he adds.

When it comes to Project Sharing+, the core functionality of the system will look and function identical to before, but the reliability of the system has gone up tremendously and should be on par with—if not exceeding—any other BIM rival.

Modern UI—Getting Tasks and Discipline-Specific

Another aspect of modern application design is that the user experience is supported by a UI (user interface) focused on “specific tasks.” One type of a user-centered software design philosophy is called Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD), and while this term did not come up in my discussion with Dr. Sarkar, our talk about the evolving nature of Vectorworks’s UI/UX is pointed in that direction.

Vectorworks 2024 features a new streamlined user interface, which we will delve into briefly in a moment. Dr. Sarkar told me that in terms of new tools in the ongoing development of Vectorworks, part of their UI/UX philosophy is to resist adding more tools. “We don’t want to introduce more tools that just over-work the user,” he says. “So we think twice before introducing a new tool.”

Vectorworks 2024’s new UI/UX improvements combine a streamlined and logical reorganization with a new Ribbon-like UI element at the top of the screen. Additionally, users have even more customization options and can create a highly minimal UI if they want to (see lower screen).

When I asked if each industry solution would evolve into industry-focused unique user interfaces, his answer was more complex.

“The UI commonality we want to preserve across industry apps,” he says before describing how tools and palettes are getting more industry-centric and focused. “So, in the industry solutions,” he adds, “say in Landmark, there are dedicated palettes. For example, if you are trying to edit site contours, only specific tools apply to that workflow. In those cases, what we are doing in the editing context is popping up a minimal palette with all the relevant tools for that workflow.”

So Vectorworks 2024 and moving forward will see shifts in the UI/UX that, in essence, isolate tools for particular workflows, which Sarkar says “is another way of guiding users to particular tools.”

Here is another view of Vectorworks 2024’s UI with a more streamlined appearance option and in dark mode.

So, the new UI/UX in version 2024 boasts a new top zone with three levels. A new full-width double-row View Bar positions essential controls front and center. The user has an option of three View Bar modes to select and work with.

The regular mode shows the full real estate layout of the new View Bar. A second mode features auto-hide so the View Bar appears when the user’s cursor enters that zone on the screen. The third mode is compact, which resembles the older version’s UI. All three View Bar modes support optional View Bar group labels, and the user can pin or unpin the control settings they want based on their workflow preferences.

The lowest (third) level of the View Bar is where experienced users will find mode buttons for specific tools (similar to before on the left), while Quick Preferences load into this row from the right.

The UI features new high-resolution icons for either light or dark mode options (now available on both Windows and Mac). (see image). The Mac version gives the user control over font sizes in the UI. And docked side palettes can disappear and reappear when the cursor nears their location. With these changes, users can dramatically customize their UI to suit their taste and maximize their screen’s real estate.

As dramatic as the new UI/UX is, it has been largely customer-driven. “For the size of the palettes, their location, what is inside the palettes, all have gone through a lot of user input by our beta testers,” says Sarkar, who tells me the new UI/UX has been in the works for two years.

While not discussed in our interview, Vectorworks 2024 has made key performance improvements. One key one for Vectorworks Architect 2024 users is the much faster sectional viewports performance.

Some changes veteran users will immediately appreciate. For instance, working with text. “It was difficult because, in the past, text editing was not visible; you needed to go to the menu system to find it,” he says.

While Sarkar acknowledges a similarity to the Revit Ribbon in approach (really the Microsoft Ribbon), he says the user feedback drove the UI changes. An earlier version pushed to the beta testers was different and rejected, he said, and then we came back to them again. “We worked with the beta testers for a long time,” he adds. And Sarkar acknowledges that the Ribbon-like UI certainly won’t hurt new users coming over from Revit either.

A Big Update

In general, Vectorworks 2024 is a large update. While we have touched on the most significant core updates across the Vectorworks 2024 product line, other noted items exist.

Let’s return to the object styles paradigm that was introduced some years ago. The latest release boasts big improvements with parametric handrails and guardrails. Railing designs can be set by style or by instance. What’s important about the latest railings tech is that you can make key adjustments to system components for those tricky conditions. Gravity mode lets you set railings that automatically follow terrain, steps, and level adjustments, and there is considerable flexibility with individual elements.

Vectorworks 2024’s new guard and handrails technology appears to handle nearly all kinds of odd but common situations, giving architects the flexibility to deal with transitions and even level changes.

“The top tools in this release for architects are the new railings tools and the new cabinet tools,” says Sarkar when asked what tools will have the biggest impact for architectural professionals.

“The cabinet tool supports customization down to things like the face frame if you have one,” adds Sarkar. “And the placing and editing of the cabinets is very interactive.” The new Cabinet tool also boasts support for the object styles paradigm, so architects can rapidly change the look of a kitchen in a few seconds. The new system is fully customizable to hardware, cabinet interior finishes, and sizes across every cabinetry element. And Vectorworks 2024 comes preloaded with cabinet catalogs from trusted brands like IKEA, all with complete customization.

Here is a view of the new Cabinetry tools, which looking through the promotion videos, look very feature-complete and flexible.

The new Materials for Doors and Windows features give users more control over every aspect of a door or window object. Controlled by new shader technologies, this updated feature is more than just visual appearances. “We can now report material volumes from these objects, which feeds into our embodied carbon calculations,” adds Sarkar.

Finally, Vectorworks 2024 features new Excel to worksheets technology. “The reference is persistent as long as the file lives in the same place and on a local or network drive,” Sarkar says. It will also work in directories on Dropbox, Box, or similar cloud storage systems. And asking about Google Sheets support, Dr. Sarkar says that the majority of their users are using Excel, not Google Sheets. However, Google Sheets is not ruled out for later.

Closing Comments

Sarkar says that there are over 16 major new features in Vectorworks 2024. And while this is a lot by most standards, after more than two decades of writing about AEC digital technologies, I can assure the reader that it is not the count that matters but the transformative nature of those new features, which often rely on their modern underpinnings.

We have already written about their Apple Silicon support industry leadership. We can say the same about its VGM, which positioned the BIM company to lead the way toward low-level graphics APIs and increased capabilities. We see that further leveraged in version 2024 with stunning new features in its shaded rendering capabilities with real-time processing, advanced camera effects and faster generation of rendered sections and elevations.

Landmark 2024 features numerous improvements, like the new Fence tool, but one really nice new feature is the new dedicated color palette to quickly create rendered plans like the one above.

In this release, they have turned their considerable expertise and industry leadership in anticipating broad industry trends and OS system directions inward on their own code base, establishing a new paradigm for applying “styles” to parametric objects and visual systems like viewports and rendering settings. A lot of these are significant force multipliers in terms of workflow speed.

At the user interface (UI) level, this “system’s approach” adds new and better functions and workflows while minimizing the adverse effects of more tool buttons and palette complexity. This type of streamlining adds a refinement level that new BIM 2.0 cloud apps lack due to their immaturity as they rush to add tool functionalities in general.

Vectorworks 2024 stands out because it has added major workflow enhancements while simplifying the application’s actual workflows and UI appearances. While we have yet to test this out in a formal product review, it is abundantly clear from the demo videos that the company has made significant achievements that its user base will enjoy.

More Information

Interested readers can test out the new version and start a free trial of Vectorworks 2024 today.

The post Dr. Sarkar Talks Vectorworks 2024—A Most Modern BIM appeared first on Architosh.

It is against this present context that my recent conversation with Disrupt Symposium creator and founder Sara Kolata took place. And after speaking with her for nearly 90 minutes, I realized that Ms. Kolata has a passionate fire inside her for change—intending to make things better for architects. And at a critical time like now, the industry should welcome every such voice. What matters is panning everybody who wants to help for nuggets of insight that can make things better. 

Positive Change Through Dialogue

Sara Kolata’s voice aims to improve architects’ lives and happiness—especially AEC firm owners and business-minded entrepreneurs. 

She does this by talking to architects, experts, and thought leaders and sharing these conversations live and through her podcast called Arch Talk: Tank. But the most attended event is the Disrupt Symposium, where she brings architecture firm leaders and C-level executives to talk about what makes them successful in their careers and what decision-making stands behind their day-to-day firm operations. 

This year her efforts with event organizing culminated in a launch of a digital magazine called Disrupt MAG, which will go to print this summer. 

The magazine is a collection of outstanding interviews, case studies, and never-spoken strategies that big practices and successful architects implemented to find themselves where they are today. The platform is unique in allowing the audience to interact with well-known personalities in an intimate setting. Stories are heartfelt, inspirational, and human-centered, often impressing with their relatability to attendees. 

Sara often hears feedback to the likes of: “At first attending the event felt intimidating because of the availability and disposition of all these amazing speakers that often are not available for private questioning, but soon it turned out to be the most inspiring, connected and humanized experience I have ever had as an architect. I remain inspired and feel less controlled by my imposter syndrome, knowing that there are more people in my shoes.”

Introducing Sara Kolata

What follows are highlights from our extensive conversation. Sara Kolata was educated at the University of the Arts, London, and spent much time off-campus at the nearby Bartlett School of Architecture and at the Architectural Association. After graduation, she interned at a large architecture firm in China. And from there, she ended up in Central America, first working for a charity servicing indigenous communities and then later starting her business tapping relief aid funds to design and build housing and public projects for indigenous populations.

Sara Kolata is the founder of Disrupt Symposium. Her primary mission is to enhance the financial well-being of architects—a well-overdue mission for somebody to take up in the global architectural profession. You can learn more about her here at her website and at Disrupt.

After several years in Guatemala, making very little income, she desired to shift gears. She turned toward business education, digital marketing, and overall wellness thought leadership—taking courses and attending conferences in the United States. Today she culminated her journey into a mission of “Raising the financial well-being of architects.” Her online event, Disrupt Symposium, takes place three times a year: 1-3rd May and 1-3rd Nov, and a special Women edition on the 8th March. Her speaker and panel lineup for the upcoming May 2023 event is excellent; this editor plans to tune in, as I did for the recent Women’s edition event.

The Conversation: Part One (UK and China)

The following are selections from our long convo. We begin at university with a question about life in architecture school and how it forms our expectations and culture.

(AFR) How did the proximity to The Bartlett and the AA shape you as a young architect?

(Sara Kolata) I studied in Central St. Martins and would always attend lectures there, especially if architects such as Rem Koolhaas or Zaha Hadid visited to give talks. I would work in their library and get lunch in their cafeteria because I liked the environment. The thing about these schools is you can see how outstanding the student work is, which always looks extremely impressive. Everyone is coached to be the next prominent designer. In some ways, it’s amazing; in others, many of the students fall into “sameness” with their projects as each of these schools has a style it ingrains in the students’ psyche. 

And after graduation, where did you go?

I moved to Shanghai, China, for a year and did an architectural internship, which I didn’t like. The senior architects in the firm were unhappy; everyone worked like a “CAD-monkey,” and all the Chinese staff stayed at their desks at all times, even outside of working hours. The office culture was competitive and vicious. I was disheartened by how people above me behaved, and I promised never to be like them. At the same time, I had no idea this was my entrepreneurial spirit talking. 

You never thought you might want to run your own architecture firm?

Yes, of course. I had dreams I would like to have my own practice—all young architects do. But I didn’t think of myself as a business owner. 

That distinction matters to you. Tell me about that. 

I hadn’t yet tapped into that way of thinking about creating my own reality. 

Yes, it is because the reality formed in architecture school about practice and what practice is really like can be very unaligned. 

When I went to work for that internship in China, I hated it. I felt like I was in some hospitality job where they were monitoring and controlling my time, where you are not encouraged to have a voice, and where you are separated from other parts of the design process that were interesting to me. I was required to work on CAD day in and day out, and it felt soulless, which is the definition of being a “CAD monkey.”

That term—CAD monkey—is like an aphorism for the undesirable grunt work of the business. 

Architectural education was free-spirited, inspirational, and focused on famous architects and their success and the possibilities they reached. Suddenly my reality was different and turned out quite harsh. I realized that what I thought I would be doing as an architect wasn’t part of the “real world,” and what I was doing in the firm I hated. And then I thought, ‘Oh my God, where do I go from here?’ 

What did that experience actually teach you?

At first, I internalized the experience, feeling like I wasn’t a good worker or had difficulty fitting in. So my way of navigating around this—and it came from a place of fear of having to live this reality forever—was to really ask myself: “What do I actually want to do, and what can I do?”

Part One Commentary

At this point, it is fair to lay some criticism on the culture of architecture schools that routinely endorse a model of a compulsive work culture serving at the quasi alter of inspirational design leading to success and fame. What is happening is that inadequately performing firms rebalance their poor economics by leveraging a young labor pool willing to put in long hours as a routine matter. 

The introspection of Ms. Kolata’s dual questions also tells an interesting story about architecture school. Do schools provide enough instruction on all the types of things their graduates can do? 

The Conversation: Part Two (Guatemala)

(AFR) Sara, in reaction to the China internship, you realized something about labor in architecture firms, roles, duties, and possibilities. It needed to match the holistic nature of the architecture school’s promise.

(Sara) That’s right, And that promise to me was that I could align my values with my work. In China, the firm I worked for was involved with big-scale urban development projects, many of which involved community misplacement and mass environmental devastation. There was also a fair amount of “smoke and mirrors” around the design and servicing of clients. 

I was disheartened by that and understood that I wanted to put my efforts somewhere to advocate for local communities and their natural habitat, not be a part of the devastation. 

Another important part of the puzzle was that I wanted the whole architecture experience, and as I mentioned previously, I wasn’t getting it. I wanted to build. And so I thought I would have more opportunity to do that in a developing country with far fewer regulations but with growth and building opportunities. I decided to move to a Latin-American country that was fast developing but rich in over 90% indigenous population. I hoped that I could tap into the local community’s wisdom of utilizing nature for shelter and work with that to enhance it with clever design solutions, ultimately promoting and preserving a human connection to natural resources. Being unlicensed, I aligned myself with a senior architect and an engineer who monitored my progress and ensured the designs were fit for construction. 

So your ambition was to work innovatively with nature and natural materials and solve building challenges for these indigenous populations? 

Yes. I was interested in building with their natural materials but in a way that felt luxurious and addressed their housing and building challenges. 

You eventually broke off on your own and started a business to address better building for indigenous peoples. 

I was interested in finding ways we can technologically advance natural construction. I thought everyone was entitled to a better way of living, and if we could develop better solutions to their traditional way of building through architecture—that was our mission. 

So I began working with some fantastic charities aimed at raising living conditions. They would give the people things like food and clothes and provide them with economized concrete houses. In particular, in these homes, they would provide them with modern stoves for cooking. But the local women needed to learn how to cook indoors and use a stove. So they would make these provided ovens into a table. And then, they would set an open fire inside their built kitchen and still cook in their old ways. As the places lacked proper exhaust, the families would get exposed to cancer-causing fumes. Many women—especially grandmothers—began to develop lung cancer because the architectural solutions lacked customization and design thinking. 

Why did they do such a thing? 

Their traditional way of cooking is open cooking outside. I would tell the charity you can’t simply give them a modern kitchen. There needs to be a massive cultural shift for the local community to change their ways of cooking and adapt to an indoor environment. Why not design around their traditions, providing amazing open kitchens and adapting a stove design around the open fire they are used to?

Unfortunately, much like in China, the organization had its own ways of doing things, and nobody cared to spend a penny on improving something that was getting them the praise and money they ran on. 

So this is when I broke off and created my business. At this point, I felt I invested too much into what I would now call “following my heart” and values to compromise and once again be forced to provide a service that did not align with mine. I created TribeLAB. All the projects we built adapted traditional mud house architecture, used bamboo and wood for structural reinforcement, and experimented with various earthen building styles. In shelter buildings, we always kept open kitchens. 

We did a Women’s center for traditional Mayan handcrafts. We built semi-concrete septic tanks and community toilets, and we did a few disaster relief projects. 

What did you learn through this work in Guatemala?

I learned in working with indigenous people that even small changes were hard for them to adapt to. For example, we did a project in an area where coastal flooding affected their living a few times a year. All they needed to do was to elevate their floor a half a meter, and even if the area flooded, they would be dry. 

But the ask for that seemed ludicrous to them. There was this white man’s complex where they saw certain things like this as telling them how to live—”this isn’t how we build.” I had to stand back, be grateful for these building opportunities, and remember that telling them how and what to build actually goes against a designer’s role. 

But I learned other life skills from these experiences, despite all the frustrations and setbacks. The reality is working in the humanitarian sector is challenging. 

Your last key lesson during your Guatemala phase seems very pointed at what you decide to do next. So it took a lot of work to make money as an architect in this sector. 

I had to run two restaurants alongside these design activities because I had two architects working in-house and 40 builders. I had to pay an engineer to sign plans and ensure everything was structurally sound on our projects. So I always needed money in the office; we were just not making enough for myself to have a solid salary. 

Part Two Commentary

Anybody who started a firm very young in life from the ground up would surely recognize that early firm economics can be challenging. But try doing that on projects receiving limited funding through US-based non-profits. Sara told me these houses could be built for as low as USD 5,000, but what kind of fees could be extracted for herself and her firm? 

The Conversation: Part Three (Disrupt)

(AFR) You didn’t get to fly home to see your family in Poland very often because, as you say, “you couldn’t justify your salary.” That must have been super frustrating because you had a good-intending mission to help people and were solving real problems. 

I was in my twenties and still very young and mission-driven. My parents and peers building their careers in London and other European metropolises were indirectly putting pressure on me. “Why don’t you just get a job” is what I often heard from people trying to give me advice from care. 

And this is something that only hustle-rich entrepreneurs will understand. If you are committed to creating your reality and attach your happiness to values beyond the comfort of a 9-5, there is no way back for you.

Part of me thought that if I came back to Europe, I would be seen as someone who wasted their 20s. Because of what I was doing, I didn’t have an incredible portfolio that I would have if I had worked for noted European architects. Let’s be frank: I was working on mud huts. 

As you can imagine, I was really stuck at this point.

(AFR) So in the case of the China experience, the gap between A-school and actual architecture firms made you question whether you were a good worker. Now you were working so hard to run a practice; you were running two restaurants on the side to sustain that business. 

(Sara Kolata) I couldn’t figure out how to do better business—to make the financials work. And I was 29 years old and couldn’t imagine not making good money in my 30s.

I made so little I couldn’t justify spending $300 for a flight to visit my parents. It’s crazy looking back at it. 

Well, you were likely not taught anything about business in architecture school. It was trial by fire. This led to you finding this different mission in architecture and how your journey keeps taking you around turns. 

It can be tough to relinquish these attachments to who you think you are. But looking back five years into this latest leg of my journey, I don’t think I’ll ever want to practice again. 

I went to the US after realizing how important it was to learn how to run a business. I started by learning marketing, digital marketing, and business mastery. I attended many conferences that opened my eyes to technology in business. 

I’ve come quite far into realizing what is authentic to me, and that is where my passion is. I am authentic pro-business around things that come from the heart. 

Being where I stood at the time, I couldn’t stop but relate to all those architects out there hustling daily to run their businesses, much like me- without any business acumen. I thought to myself: we need a place, a community that can support everyone in growing just that. 

Learning business was about realizing who I am at the core and embracing my individuality. I enjoyed traveling and decided to start an online business to support the interests that centered me as a person and made me confident. 

Once again, I embarked on a new business venture, this time with a grand idea of hosting virtual and physical business-minded events in Architecture, and there have been good people like Martyn Day who have helped me. Though I needed to learn the ins and outs of hosting events, I learned a lot along the way. Entrepreneurship, for me, is creating your own reality through business. And social media has only enabled us to create those realities.

The architecture industry seems ripe for disruption. Why did you choose that exact word for your vision of a symposium on business in architecture? 

It didn’t start like that. I had different words—many words to describe what I was trying to do. As I worked on organizing this event, I spoke to many prominent and successful architects who were are first Disrupt Symposium speakers. Folks like Patrik Schumacher, Filippo Lodi- associate director of UN Studio, Harry Ibbs- (at the time), director at Gensler UK, Chris Mulvey and Sean Scensor, Managing Partners at Safdie Architects, Jette Cathrin Hopp, Director at Snøhetta, Yehia Madkour- director of Innovation at Perkins&Will, and Daria Pahhota, BIG Partner, Global Brand & Communications and many more. 

These prominent personalities gave me a unique outlook on the state of the industry and their point of view. In weeks, even months of communication, we discussed many ideas that I always took notes on. Over time, in my work diary, a trend emerged, and I noticed a repetition of the word “Disrupt.” From there, it was a no-brainer to name the project Disrupt, which this year is growing into a full-blown publication platform.

There are established “businesses of practice” people in design and architecture, but you are a new alternative brand with a very different angle forged from personal experience. Why is it working for people, and what are you doing?

So I have worked with many business owners at different career stages. Our work starts by asking the person to envision their ideal life. We focus on emotions and balance between work and personal experiences. We focus on what makes one a great partner and parent. 

So often, a way to extract objectives for the work ahead has nothing to do with the firm they run but more with what truly matters to them. From there, we begin to dive deep into the firm. 

We look at current dynamics, the financials, at employee satisfaction and interview all partners and leaders. This information helps us craft a strategic plan for the objectives set and plan for execution. The objectives can be income related, focus on ownership transition, principals and leadership training, and general business growth. 

So how do you bring that vision down to the ground? 

So it means you own and manage something, but you are not slaving away for it. Do you have an incredible set of leaders, so you don’t have to stress and micromanage them?

What does freedom really look like for you? That’s where we start with clients. And when we get to clarity about what that truly is for you, it becomes clearer where the work needs to be put into the business to move towards materializing that vision. 

Do you find that part hard for clients?

People need to do the work to define the big picture to make it easier to determine the steps to get there. 

They have to ask big-picture questions: Do I care more about money, or do I care more about personal time with my family? Or am I overworked because I don’t know how to manage my team correctly, so I tend to micromanage them, which burns me out?

If that last part is true, maybe in the meantime—if that wasn’t the case—they could be laying the seeds for new growth, projects, and clients. But they may have to say to themselves: “I am here because I can’t let go of responsibilities because I don’t trust my team.”

Maybe this goes back to school and the often extreme egoism attracted to the industry. And the cowboy-ism. In school, we tend to go it alone, leaving us bereft of specific skills. 

When you draw comparisons, studying architecture and designing projects instill in us similar skills needed to start a business: time management, communication, finance management, people skills, and more. 

Some of those skills, certainly, more than others. Maybe architects, as a type, are intrinsically entrepreneurs, but our education teaches us only halfway—spiritually nurturing our egos on the creative design side—but the rest of architecture school doesn’t look like the rest of what entrepreneurs need. Does that sound right? 

One hundred percent! And that is the most shocking bit about it.

Schools encourage us on the design side by setting our creative flames on fire, but it doesn’t teach us the things needed to run a business successfully. And it also doesn’t fully prepare us to run projects and understand how construction and real project execution work (especially from the financial and team management perspective)

Architecture school encourages us to want things we will not be prepared to tackle well. Running firms is hard, and the economics are so bad that young people feel discouraged. So they don’t do it. 

It is ironic because if you break it down, the design process is exactly like the process needed to start a business. But there is so much fear. And another problem in the industry is that when you work for others, you are no longer entitled to say those projects are yours once you leave a firm. 

Even if you work for a firm for 15 years and have a senior role, and then you decide that you are fit to start a firm, it is challenging because you need to have your own portfolio. If your portfolio is filled with projects you did for other firms, you can not claim them as your own, so you start from scratch, And that is terrifying for a lot of people.

So, on the one hand, university indoctrinates us or spiritually encourages our dream of having our own firm but doesn’t prepare us well, so we are “unfit.” And then, once we become “fit” to start our own practice, we face the portfolio problem. That’s an interesting but sobering way of putting it. 

The earlier you start, the better off you are. That is what I think. 

Many architectural mothers are birthing the design of buildings, but only the firm owners truly have custody of the children—sort of speak. Put that way, it sounds so patriarchial and pre-20th century. It definitely lags behind other creative industries—like the film industry—that also has protected IP but better democratization of authorship and public communication of roles. 

No credits are scrolling at the end of an architectural project. 

We live in this world where we have to be broadcasting to the masses and prospecting and funneling in the few leads that this process gets us to communicate with about our business and then to have that exclusive opportunity to sit down with someone. And that’s the marketing process, and for that marketing, you need to be able to communicate what you have done. And you can’t legally do that with work you have critically done as part of other firms. 

That’s terrifying for many people in senior-level positions who already have families, mortgages, and lives to pay for—it’s really hard to start anew.

So the industry encourages this idea of mentorship, so one finishes becoming an architect after working for an experienced one for years. That is because mistakes can be very costly. But even veteran architects make huge mistakes. It happens. 

So fit or not fit to lead a firm, where do you stand? 

So starting practice the earlier, the better, and it won’t be easy, mainly because we need more business education in architecture school. But that has changed so much because you can get that business education on the Internet, and experts in these areas will help you. 

Thinking back to the possibilities, if you’re missing out on opportunities, you’re missing out on important lessons and truly understanding yourself as an entrepreneur. And once you have an idea, you design your life backward. 

So that lets architecture schools keep the status quo. So I’ll ask a related question. 

So the Disrupt Symposium is very much in the spirit of “getting the business answers out there on the Internet.” Is Disrupt Symposium a virtual or real venue? 

We did a physical event last year in Greece for the first time. Before that, everything was virtual. It was terrific because we invited great architectural practices, and people came from the islands and mainland Europe for the event. 

And the first sessions were all just practice leaders, and then we had panels on stage. And it was incredible to watch the interaction between the two. It was actually the leaders of other practices primarily interested in listening to what the other leaders in practices were doing and asking questions, and creating a debate. 

Isn’t it amazing when people talk about stuff they rarely get to talk about?

So these folks told me, “We have known each other for years and have attended numerous events together, have dinners together, and we have never had these types of conversations about how you make money.” 

For centuries money was a dirty word in the field of architecture. 

They thought it was incredible. They were saying, “We don’t ever ask those questions. And here at Disrupt, we were allowed to, encouraged even.” 

This is a welcome step in the profession. Who is invited to Disrupt Symposium? Who do you want to attend? 

We cater to leaders of architecture practices (principals, directors, founders, partners, owners, heads, chiefs, and the like) that hire over 50 employees. We get a high attendance from business-minded individuals: solo practitioners, smaller business owners, and even students, all looking for education and inspiration and wanting to be a part of our community. 

I told you earlier I would return to the education of architects issue. So here is my final question. If you were creating the industry from scratch and I said Sara, I want you to create a new architecture school, what would that school look like?

Oh my God, I would definitely start from the business side of things. 

You know, you have these field schools—the AA has that—where you go into the field where you can learn how to build projects from the ground up. I would love to focus on teaching students the fundamentals of building projects, and design education comes later. I wouldn’t also miss personal development. Mindset, exploring your belief system, understanding what stops you from believing in yourself. This is a life skill you can take anywhere, and I wish I had gotten that from school. Teaching people about their value and ordering them as “worthy” for life would result in more innovation and business opportunities in the AEC industry. 

Many people have said such a thing before. I don’t disagree, but that is a very long education. 

If you, over the three years of doing a master’s or even a BA, if you started with practice and started with that—and again, not everyone has to be a practice owner—but perhaps such a school could be a school explicitly catering to individuals who want to be practice owners. Or people that want to understand the full scope of the business side of our industry. 

Alternatively, after a BA or BArch, where you usually learn about design, you come into that kind of education at a master’s level—do a practice master’s degree.  

A good practice ensures a cohesive brand message from all employees and leaders in the firm. This is only possible when the team works as a unit and honors the firm’s narrative. Through Disrupt, I have learned the importance of a unified business approach. 

I like the idea of a master’s degree aimed at practice. That is an industry-specific business, operations, and—in my view—a perhaps technology degree. 

Sara, it was wonderful talking to you about your fascinating career journey. And best of luck at the next Disrupt. 

It was my pleasure. 

More Details

You can learn more about Sara Kolata and register for her Disrupt Symposium here and her newsletter here and follow her video conversations with industry movers and shakers here and here on her social media channels. 

The post New Voices: With Disrupt Symposium Founder Sara Kolata appeared first on Architosh.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang at GTC 2023 noted this year in AI’s iPhone moment. Given the mainstream media’s new attention to AI across numerous domains and, especially, OpenAI’s ChatGPT tools, it looks likely that Huang is correct. Our coverage here at Architosh—and especially our Xpresso newsletter—is increasingly focused on AI developments.

AI is everywhere. But machine learning algorithms need data.

Smart ML Requires Data

In order to make meaningful advancements with AI (artificial intelligence), a software company must obtain lots of excellent data on how software systems are actually used.

Dania El Hassan noted that their Insights program helps them learn what customers are actually doing in AutoCAD instead of what customers say they are doing. “The two can actually be very different,” she reports.

Daia El Hassan, Director of Product Management for AutoCAD, Autodesk, Inc. (Image: Autodesk)

The company has an abundant array of inflows for customer feedback, all feeding into Autodesk’s organized data pool from which strategic AI technology planning occurs. El Hassan notes that the data inflows include the Autodesk Community, Autodesk Customer Council, AU (Autodesk University), aggregate data from external trade associations, Autodesk’s customer success and Product Support teams, and the relatively new Autodesk Customer Advisory Board.

“We are also doing some other things too, specifically dedicated efforts around research in automation and machine learning,” says El Hassan. “We began around 2018 or so and are trying to understand where lies the greatest opportunities for automation, specifically for AI but also for performance.”

In the latest release, AutoCAD 2024 delivers several increased uses of AI and machine learning—everything from more intelligence and ML-based assistance around AutoCAD Blocks to smarter Markup Assist features to save users time. And the new Activity Insights features allow teams to get notifications on file changes, look at who edited the file in the past, who plotted the file, or shared the DWG with others, including its Xrefs.

Performance Boosters

And speaking of time, Autodesk has been re-engineering many of its core software engines for years, as underlying chip architectures and graphics pipeline technologies have been making substantial changes. For example, AutoCAD for Mac 2024 (including the LT version) is now a Mac Universal code base, meaning it runs fully natively on Apple Silicon (M1, M2, and future M-series processors)

While the news of up to 2x performance sound extremely lofty if applied to the whole application, El Hassan clarifies: “The M-series chips offer some capabilities that if you code to them, specifically, you will experience some of these performance enhancements.”

An image of AutoCAD 2024 running on an Apple MacBook with full native Apple Silicon support. General performance is 2x faster than running AutoCAD 2023 under Rosetta on M-chip-based Mac computers.

El Hassan notes that the M-chips don’t just yield 2x AutoCAD performance compared to Intel parts inside a Mac. “We did an additional level of work where the DWG drawing itself and how the AutoCAD engine reacts to that drawing works well with the M-series chips. “When you open up AutoCAD for Mac 2024 and just start using it as you would, you will feel this snappiness that is just lovely. It feels like it just gets out of your way.”

The new Mac versions also use the latest versions of Apple’s Metal API for the graphics pipelines. Additionally, Autodesk improved the performance of moving from one tab to another when a user has multiple DWG files open across tabs. According to El Hassan, this is common with many civil engineers and others.

MORE: AutoCAD for Mac 2024—New Release Boast Native M-Chip Support

“This is largely a low-level 2D graphics improvement where we updated and optimized the way we look up viewports to accommodate larger and more complex drawings that we see in our customer’s projects today,” she says. “It’s also worth noting that we’ve made significant performance improvements this year, including Pan/Zoom.”

Other performance improvements beyond Pan/Zoom tab switching, including Save, Quit, and Install. “In the past few years, we’ve improved 2D and 3D graphics improvements by over 10x,” she says.

Collaboration and DWG

AutoCAD’s Trace feature set also gained new advancements in version 2024 releases. El Hassan noted that the way AutoCAD processes, say, handwritten markup on the Trace layer is via machine learning (ML) pixel comparisons technology. “We have done a bit more than just use this available technology because CAD is a bit more complicated than regular pixel-based images,” Autodesk’s advancements in algorithms make ML smarter and more accurate.

Markup Import in AutoCAD 2024 features are shown here in this GIF animation.

The “fading” feature technology added this year means traces are controllable in terms of opacity by the user—plus, they can be put the Trace on top or under CAD layers—but individual markups on the Traces can fade away as the user processes those markups. “You can just fade items away and mark that as complete,” she says.

Our chat confirmed that AutoCAD Web—in at least the version with a full AutoCAD subscription—allows the user to create a new DWG from scratch. El Hassan noted that the separate AutoCAD Web subscription (which includes Mobile) is a low-cost and affordable way for a particular class of AutoCAD users who don’t need the robust performance of the desktop version or all its features for their basic tasks. For example, principals of architecture firms were cited as this kind of user.

“We really want to meet our customers where they are,” she says, meaning that the world of AutoCAD contains multi-decade users who grew up and only know that tool. In contrast, younger digital natives may be new additions to the platform and know many other tools (not just Autodesk ones).

Not Trailing-Edge Technology

In my talk with Dania El Hassan, I mentioned the term “trailing edge” as it is used in the semiconductor industry—referring to larger nanometer-based fabrication nodes instead of “leading edge” 3, 4, and 5-nanometer nodes. Our iPhones and Samsungs get the leading edge, while automobiles and IoT devices get the trailing edge. There’s a robust market for both!

Smart Blocks Replacement is shown here in AutoCAD 2024 in this GIF animation.

In thinking about 2D CAD and AutoCAD, specifically, as this older technology that came before the BIM application Revit or tools like Fusion 360, it’s tempting to characterize AutoCAD as a “trailing edge” technology platform. But that would be a mischaracterization.

And the assumption that 2D CAD workflows in AutoCAD are “yesterday’s technology” and possibly in decline is equally false. “I love that you ask these questions,” says El Hassan. “One thing we are actually seeing is that AutoCAD is growing, Revit is growing, and the proportion of customers using both is growing.”

That growth likely reflects the industry’s trend toward targeted solutions and specialization. “So not only are customers still evolving to adopt Revit,” adds El Hassan, “they are  adopting the latest AutoCAD workflows so they can use both side-by-side and capitalize on the best of both tools.”

The post AutoCAD 2024—Dania El Hassan Talks About AI, M-chip Support, and Meeting Customers Where They Are appeared first on Architosh.

We begin this series by talking to well-known and highly-regarded Evan Troxel, AIA, creator of the TRXL Podcast, a show solely focused on technology discussion in the architecture industry.

The TRXL Podcast logo. (Image: Evan Troxel)

We will jump into some hot themes currently confounding the practice of architecture, what his TRXL conversations are really for and about, and lightly touch on the unionization movement, what Tect is doing (where he has a new role), and how architects need to do what they do for others (remove friction from their work and living spaces) for themselves.

About Evan Troxel

Evan is a licensed architect, a tech enthusiast, a former digital design director of a midsized California firm, a noted industry podcaster, and now with Tect, a technology company addressing the architecture industry’s relationship to product manufacturing. His TRXL Podcast was established in 2020, now has over 100 episodes, and is a constant fixture on my radar for important new ideas about how technology can tackle some of the biggest challenges the AEC industry faces.

The Interview

(AFR) Did you always know you wanted to be an architect? 

(Evan Troxel) My grandfather was a geologist, and when I was very young, I was fascinated with rocks. Rather than legos, I built my first architecture with rocks. As I got older, I would devour house plan magazines while my mother looked at books in the bookstore. I loved to draw, and I loved the technicality of these floor plan magazines. When I was a ten-year-old, I found a book on Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Robie House. It blew my mind…the proportions, the rigor.

How did your conception of architecture change when you went to architecture school? 

I took mechanical drafting in middle school and four years of architectural drafting in high school. But architecture school ripped apart my conception of what architecture was. I thought it was drafting, making plans, and writing notes. I had a professor who, early on, told me my early school years did me a disservice by teaching me to color inside the lines. Suddenly, architecture was this vastly larger thing.

Why were you one of just three people in architecture school using a computer? And how did that gap between what you thought architects did and what you learned they did in architecture school play a role in your thinking about the digital?

I am insatiably curious. And I have always been interested in technology, tools, and making things—just some of many things that fascinate me. If you look at my bio, you see that I’m an architect, podcaster, musician, and author—it’s all these things, and how do you fit that into your day?

Evan Troxel, the man behind the mic at the very popular TRXL Podcast. Evan is also a former Digital Design Director in a major California architecture firm. (Image: Evan Troxel)

My curiosity led me to the podcast. And TRXL was not the first, as you know. Archispeak was established a decade ago.

But TRXL has a serious concentrated focus. What are its goals?

TRXL is about trying to figure out this puzzle about practice and technology. I mean, there is no playbook for any of this. Most people are just fumbling along.

In terms of making the best utility of our digital technologies when you and I both know the field is far from excelling…

Yes. Some people are talking about it. For the most part, people are not. And that, to me, is an incredible disservice to the profession.

So that’s the basis of the [TRXL] podcast. Let’s create the playbook—at least examples that have worked for some people and make that knowledge available to everybody.

You have been a digital technologies educator and influencer for some time now. I remember your excellent FormZ training materials. But you were also a digital design director at a mid-size architecture firm out west.

It was so difficult in practice to transform an 80-year-old firm into a digital-first firm—when there is no playbook for that. The industry needs a recipe for that; everybody is trying to figure it out independently.

It’s interesting because that’s what architects do; we combine all these disparate parts into this integrated whole, this gestalt. 

My wife has a master’s in architecture from the same school I graduated from and came in as a post-graduate. But our experiences are vastly different. She described it as the most disorganized experience of her life. That’s how she cast it. And what’s funny is that is our profession.

There is no over-arching organizational body that cares about operations, organization, standards, none of that! Just like in architecture school—you are on your own.

I often wonder if the minds of those who are attracted to the profession are not well-suited to solving that problem. 

That’s an excellent point because we do thrive in the moment of that chaos. That was Studio. Look at the desk behind you. We are totally comfortable with the mess that is created throughout the process.

When I was at HMC, they would say, “a client is coming in—clean up!”

But why? Why would we clean up for a client? Well, because the client thinks architecture is one thing, but we know it is something else.

Do you see some lesson lost in that irony? 

I always thought this was an opportunity to show them how we can thrive in chaos. Because that’s also the construction process; it is entirely chaotic until it is not.

So I think it is a really interesting question you pose. Is it even possible to organize and structure this profession when the mind of an architect is not made that way?

Yet, the TRXL Podcast is filled with folks who don’t have that mind.

There are people in architecture that do think like that—and they’re the ones the industry is battling with. They are business-oriented, project management checklist-oriented, budget-oriented, and all that, and then they look at the designer’s desk and think they are crazy.

When I look at the TRXL Podcast, I see a cadre of folks you are talking to trying to untangle messes in the profession by leveraging technologies not yet used or used differently. 

Did you see that documentary film The Beatles: Get Back?

Yes! It was fascinating because the process was messy, frustrating, and completely time-consuming. 

I think there is this big parallel with architecture. The public never sees that stuff. They only hear the final song, and they have no idea how the real life of a song or album takes shape.

TRXL shines a light on the real life of architecture practices and the connections to all these technologies. It is about plotting the way forward with technology. And to gain some sense of control over the process. 

Totally. I’ve never been so satisfied when I create a tool to accomplish an idea. And that could be a physical tool, or it could be a digital tool. I’ve built jigs in my workshop to build a thing. And just making the jig can be a big challenge—just think about what is required to build the iPhone.

I think of all the machines they had to design just to create the iPhone. That is a design process that we don’t see, but it is probably bigger than the iPhone itself.

So the discussions on TRXL are about talking about digital jigs?

That’s what these digital things are—they are the tooling for the delivery part of our process. And the common aspect I see is that some of us want to create tools to automate the stuff that we don’t think we should have to do on a day-to-day basis. Not enough people think about it like that.

I agree. It’s super unfortunate. But why?

They fall into the background; they don’t want to stand out; they just want to do their job. And what does that mean? It means drawing parking lots; it means drawing bathrooms.

They don’t think about it as a trade-off, “you mean I could spend my time doing more of the thing I love to do every day?” They don’t think about it like that. And I wish they would because that is the freedom creating tools allows us to have.

How has the TRXL podcast shaped your thinking about your profession? Differently than your very successful Archispeak series?

The two are very different. The TRXL podcast is much more niche than Archispeak.

There is this group within the profession of architecture that understands why this is important. It is a small number of overall practitioners. It’s cathartic for the listeners to know others think as they do. And it was for me, for sure, that there is a mass of people who get it, and why it’s important for the profession’s future. So we can take care of this stuff and do the meaningful work of architects.

It’s also about getting the message to firm leadership. The readers become the messengers of these giants in the industry, like Phil Bernstein and Randy Deutsch, and all the others on the show.

On the other hand, the [TRXL] podcast also shows how screwed we are. Even with all the tech around, architects will not help themselves. It is so difficult to get them to help themselves out of the hole that they are in because I don’t think they necessarily see it as a hole.

The podcast illuminates that for me. I try to stay positive about it, but at the same time, I’m very worried.

You see it in the stories. You can read about the firm [unionization] stories, how they pay their people so badly, and how unprofitable they are. 

These firms are ill. Young people pay attention to this stuff. And they ask, “why would I ever want to do that?”

It does seem quite bleak at times. 

So the future of our profession is alarmingly just barely hanging on. Because what is the current state of the industry actually doing to attract those young people in meaningful ways? It takes more than a firm having a ping pong table and seemingly being cool. And the attraction of high design and sacrificing yourself?

Those days are numbered. Young people today are saying no. They are saying, “I’m not going to sacrifice like that.”

I find that uprising in attitude is a critical part of the necessary change. What else is needed, though?

It’s going to take a pedagogy change. It’s going to take licensure change. It’s going to take an organizational change at the national AIA level.

AIA puts out a tweet that says something about how expensive it is to attend architecture school—that debt is killing people. All they do is put out these facts.

So what will an emerging professional think about their professional organization that only points out problems and doesn’t have solutions?

So there is a darker side to the podcast.

Absolutely. How many times do we have to say the same thing over and over again? We have to fix this mess.

And here are people [on TRXL] passionate about fixing this mess—untangling the string—and they are not in leadership in their firms, so they can’t do much about it.

Your segment with Paul Wintour highlighted that folks who want to untangle the mess and are in positions like digital design director or BIM manager lack the power and influence in their firms to manifest change to improve things. 

These folks are running up against that pervasive culture of rugged individualism in the profession. 

We spoke about that at Tect about stopping trying to go it alone. And students are taught to do everything by themselves. Everything!

And man, there is so much expertise out there who are willing to help you for free, from a product manufacturing standpoint, who know their shit so well, that you will never know it like they do. So why try? You have way better things to do [as an architect.]. Just accept their help.

Stop going it alone. Architecture schools are actually doing the profession a disservice by fostering this rugged individualism.

It is the whole Howard Roark thing and these romantic stories about architecture as a profession. The Renaissance Man concept doesn’t recognize its wastefulness. Tect is living the proof right now that this history of rugged individualism in the field is actually self-inflicting to the individual practitioner.

I don’t recall who to attribute it to, but I read a quote that said, “we program computers just as media programs us.” Right. And that is so interesting from an educational standpoint. It is a way of thinking—you will give all of yourself—to no end—to accomplish high design or whatever it is.

So what is the high-level philosophy coming through on TRXL? What will architects learn by listening to your podcast? 

The technology is a means to an end. And there is absolutely nobody on my podcast that is fooled into thinking that technology is the reason why we are doing this architecture thing. We are doing this technology thing so we can be great architects.

So are non-techs going to get it, going to understand the point of the conversations? Can the designer type get inspired or at least curious? 

Absolutely. People from the outside looking in think, “oh, you guys are nerds, you are computer nerds, and you are doing that because that is what you love.” But that is wrong. I came at this as a designer and digital design director, and I attacked it as a design problem.

And to me, we need a lot more of that. We need to look at our own practices as a design problem. We must look at our operations as a design problem and make it fit us like a glove.

Think of what we do as architects. Our work is inspirational; it takes the friction out of how our clients live and work. It fits them like a glove. We need to turn that back on ourselves.

Evan, thanks for talking about the TRXL Podcast and sharing your industry observations. I highly recommend Architosh’s readers to take a listen if they have not done so already. 

Thanks for having me.

The post Industry Voices: ‘Attacking Technology as a Design Problem,’ with Evan Troxel, AIA appeared first on Architosh.

“When we look at what we have seen from 2019 to 2020 and till now,” says Miller, “some of what we saw during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 was a little bit of uncertainty.” “But from a project perspective—meaning they haven’t seen that growth yet—that’s the projected growth they are reporting they expect to see in 2022 from what they saw the year before.”

Megan Miller, CPSM, Director of Product Marketing at Deltek, talks to Architosh about the Architecture and Engineering industries going forward in the year ahead. (Image: Deltek)

“We believe some of that optimism is due to the Infrastructure Bill, but we also have a strong balance in what we see in our Clarity Report between architects and engineers and the types of work they do,” adds Miller. “We don’t think that optimism is 100 percent attributed to that bill, as we are seeing other markets doing well because of the current context too. We see a boost in industrial and warehousing; we see the commercial and healthcare industry continue to be strong in addition to residential staying at current growth levels.”

Optimism in the A&E Sectors

Miller says that as the year comes to a close in 2022, the optimism has been waning a bit due to the issues with inflation and supply chain matters. Still, even the AIA’s index numbers show strong project inquiry growth in several sectors, like those just mentioned. However, Miller cautioned that due to the negative headwinds of inflation and supply chain issues, some projects are being put on hold because a previous project just finished came in over budget due to inflation or ran over schedule due to supply chain issues. “There are some challenges that some firms are seeing now that may make it more challenging to hit that 18 percent year-over-year growth projection,” she adds, “but we are still optimistic. ACEC’s Positive Sentiment Survey is still quite positive. 

Miller says that conversations with customers are also showing evidence of strength in the A&E industry, acknowledging that while working with Deltek on optimizing their processes, which takes time away from projects, they are seeing evidence of a challenging environment to keep up with workloads and opportunities. “They are having challenges with keeping up because they are having challenges finding staff, and there are a lot of work opportunities out there,” she adds. “There are even projects coming from the Infrastructure Bill that some of our clients are seeing coming through that they are working on.”

I asked Miller how much of the Infrastructure Bill may trickle to architects versus engineers. She reported that estimating that percentage is challenging because the government hasn’t broken down such data. “I have spoken with some of our analysts here at Deltek, and they have been having those conversations with customers. We know that certain types of infrastructure assets are earmarked in the Infrastructure Bill, and others are not,” she adds. Roads and bridges are one area with more clarity in the IIJA, but there are also monies allocated for passenger and transport rail and water, which need facilities. “Aviation is a big portion of this infrastructure bill,” she says, “and that is definitely an area where we expect to see more of an impact on the architectural industry.”

Still, the current economic headwinds discussed in the general media would make one think that it doesn’t make sense for the A&E sectors to be so optimistic. However, Miller explained the situation this way: “As we look at some of this optimism, when you have things like IIJA, it creates more optimism across the economy because that money has been designated to help move projects forward,” she says. “And when those projects move forward, it has a ripple effect. So when we have better Infrastructure like better aviation facilities, it can lead to companies wanting better warehousing facilities near those improved aviation facilities, for example. So the potential for that ripple effect coming out of IIJA, a dedicated source of money, is something that really helps with that optimism.”

Another piece of optimism is likely the sense of the long-term outlook for the infrastructure industries in general, where bills like the IIJA are massive government investments to long-term economic prosperity. In an article from US Wealth Management, Rob Haworth, senior investment strategy director for U.S. Bank, notes, “Infrastructure spending is meant to create a foundation for future growth. This type of legislation is not aimed so much at driving baseline growth today but helping drive potential growth for years to come.”

So despite recent concerned sentiment about a possible mild 2023 recession due to rising interests rates, the funds committed in the Infrastructure Bill (IIJA) both lay a confidence factor under long-term growth as well as spur on ripple effect growth through adjacency private investment to the projects that are underway now and starting in the next few years.

Deltek Clarity Report for A&E 

I asked Miller to explain her company’s Clarity Report and what it does. 

“Clarity is more of a thought-leadership benchmarking tool for the industry,” says Miller. Deltek Clarity is not a software product per se, but a free report based on Deltek’s vast industry reach and AE firm participation data. As such, the Deltek Clarity report is an excellent tool for assessing trending data for A&E firms from year to year and a way for A&E firms to benchmark themselves against the survey data itself. The current 43rd Annual Deltek Clarity: Architecture & Engineering Industry Study comprehensive report is developed in collaboration with the ACEC, AIA, and SMPS. More than 540 firms participated in the latest study.

“The Deltek Clarity report helps firms determine how they are performing compared to others like theirs in the industry,” adds Miller. A&E firms gain critical insight from the Clarity report, which contains sections on digital technology, business development, project management, and human capital management data and trends. For instance, the latest Clarity report shows that 34 percent of A&E firms plan to invest in Augmented/Virtual Reality; in general, after the more uncertain pandemic years, A&E firms have renewed interest in emerging technology (emTech) with a focus on applying that technology to streamlining project functions. 

Deltek Vantagepoint is shown here in this view looking at a dashboard-level view of information. (Image: Deltek)

“Inside the report, we are looking at things like what is the average utilization rate for firms that are small versus large,” says Miller, adding the example of “what is the operating profit on net revenue for architecture firms compared to engineering firms?” This is the type of data the Deltek Clarity report provides. Firms use this data to benchmark themselves and set goals. “Financial consultants may aspire for your firm to reach 100 percent utilization,” says Miller, “but organizations know that is not realistic because nobody can work 100 percent of billable hours, so what should that utilization rate be for a firm or the industry or a sector?”

So for firms looking at this Clarity Report data, where Deltek is aggregating survey response data from 500 – 600 architecture and engineering firms across the country, they can benchmark themselves against averages for firms like theirs in terms of size and type. But to do this accurate benchmarking, A&E firms need the right kinds of industry-specific financial and project management tools—the kind Deltek leads in the A&E industry.

Deltek Financial Solutions

Deltek has two primary financial software systems for the architecture and engineering (A&E) industry. Their leading solution, called Deltek Vantagepoint,  is purpose-built for medium to enterprise-sized architecture and engineering firms or small firms with demanding financial and project management control needs.  Deltek Ajera, a second solution the company acquired several years ago, is aimed at small to medium-sized architecture and engineering firms with less complex requirements.  Both solutions provide the KPIs (key performance indicator data) firms need to deliver, compare, and benchmark data against the Clarity Report.

A dashboard view of Deltek’s Ajera application for the A&E industries. (Image: Deltek)

Using financial accounting tools designed to measure the performance of architecture and engineering firms across the key performance indicators (KPIs) is a critical component of A&E firms’ understanding of how to improve their business financials. Without such tools—like when A&E firms use general accounting tools like QuickBooks—A&E firms cannot track key measures. As Keith Granet of Granet Associates says in his book The Business of Design, Balancing Creativity and Profitability, “Many firms use QuickBooks, but the reporting tools are not as detailed as I recommend when managing a design practice.” Solutions designed for the architecture and engineering professions, like Deltek’s software, include project-related reports, project progress reports, time analysis, utilization, and more. In short, from these tools, firms can generate KPIs to track performance in near real-time. 

Technology is intricately tied to efficiency in the AEC industry in the modern era. Some architecture firms could be better managed, including firms with world-class reputations for their design prowess. 

As Architosh has written about in our monthly newsletter Xpresso, recent unionization movements and revolts by the younger generation of architecture students and professionals have highlighted the exploitative nature of policies that mask a firm’s true economic inefficiencies. 

The reality of this unfortunate wave of frustration is significant to discussions about gender equality in the architectural profession, an issue I highlighted in my discussion with Deltek’s Megan Miller. “I actually did a webinar with AIA earlier this year,” says Miller, “one of the things that we talked about was that technology can be, in many cases, the great equalizer.” 

“With technology, you get to be on an even footing earlier in the process. So it doesn’t matter whether you are a small or disadvantaged business or an enterprise company; technology helps to level that playing field.”

Miller also noted a recent conversation she had with a customer. “They were saying, ‘what we are seeing with this challenge we are having with staffing, we are not going to be able to fix it by just throwing more people at the problem. We are going to have to find ways to do our work smarter and better,’ ” adds Miller, who says the industry needs to capture the benefits of technology better. “How do we make it so that architects don’t have to work 60 hours a week?” she asks rhetorically. 

A resource planning view inside Deltek Vantagepoint. (Image: Deltek)

Architects do not want to work 60 hours per week; that is one of the main complaints brewing up in the many unionization movements Architosh has written about earlier in the year. Part of that issue is policy, culture, and technology. 

Force Multipliers via Technology

On the technology side, the answer involves the interplay between technology and management. That’s because the latter is ultimately responsible for the former’s utilization and maximum utility. 

A case in point might be the age-old workflow of taking field notes or doing punch lists on job sites. Miller explains: “One of the things Deltek offers is a new tool we acquired called ArchiSnapper, which is a field reporting tool. So how often are we asking architects to go out into the field to do field reports and take pads of paper for notes and little digital cameras and then come back into the office to match everything up?

Instead, ArchiSnapper lets you take a picture, tap where it goes on the floor plan, and use voice to text for your notes. The app does the rest, and you can send your field report out before you even leave the job site,” she says. “Why is the industry not doing more with tools like that?” asks Miller, noting that a tool like ArchiSnapper (and there are others that do very similar things) makes it so an architect can do four site visits a day rather than having four different architects go visit sites in a day. 

A view inside Deltek Vantagepoint showing a Project Review. (Image: Deltek)

Another example of a force multiplier applied to a standard workflow that has long resisted common-sense digital conversion is the process of writing specifications. Miller explains. “Just last year, in partnership with AIA, we launched Specpoint, and that is all around digitizing the construction specification process and getting all of the different partners in one place so they can build that specification package, rather than having the stacks of binders, having to take my Word document and your Word document and trying to put them together, and making it easier to find the right building product manufacturers in a place where I don’t have to spend hours doing all of my own research because someone else has already done that research for me.”

Indeed, Specpoint, which is home to the AIA MasterSpec, is in the vein of new 2-sided and 3-sided market platforms that are convergent solutions that bring different sides of the AEC market together into a single place online or inside apps where data silos are broken down, collaboration can be streamlined, and where different sides of the market can reach each other more efficiently and eliminate wasteful processes associated with antiquated ways of working.

AI and Future of AE Firm Tech Stacks

And speaking of “antiquated ways of working,” I could not leave my conversation with Megan Miller and not ask about time cards and filling them out manually when it is entirely possible for artificial intelligence (AI) to learn how to watch us work and figure out what we are working on and for how long and track this data for us, so we don’t need to sweat the details of inaccuracy and generally disrupt our workflows to track this data.

“This is a discussion we have a lot, and it’s one of the biggest questions,” says Miller. “And it’s because if I go and talk to somebody and say ‘I work for Deltek,’ they will say ‘oh, you are the timesheet people,’ because that is what they think of us.”

“Yes, the timesheet is the thing everyone touches in architecture and engineering firms. And there are things, especially in Vantagepoint, to make that easier, says Miller. For example, she adds, “things like one—being able to do resource planning for the project to start with. I am assigned from the outset for the project for the weeks I need to work on it, and I know how many hours I am supposed to work on it.” Miller says that you can put those assignments on your calendar to plan your work week, and it’s a drag-and-drop process. “And all you have to do is click on it and say ‘yes I did this,’ and the time data is automatically correlated onto my timesheet.”

“So I don’t have to go look up the project, make sure I have the right phase and tasks—because that’s what project managers spend a lot of time on—it is already done for me, and I can quickly just confirm that data for my timesheet.”

Miller says that companies need to fully utilize the tech stacks they already have and obtain the right tech tools. “We have mobile tools that enable engineers and architects to fill in their timesheets from anywhere, including the job site,” she adds.

Agile and Order to the Process

Megan Miller says Deltek offers to bring order to the process of practice for firms in the A&E industry. This isn’t just about delivering the A&E industry’s best-regarded financial software tools purpose-built for architecture and engineering. It is about leveraging industry data so firms can use those same financial tools to monitor and benchmark their workflows and processes so they can “learn from doing” and make steady progressive improvements year to year.

Learning from doing is recognized as a critical component of what is known as Wright’s Law, and the technology investment firm ARK Invest has the best explanation of Theodore Wright’s forecasting framework explained here. While studying airplane manufacturing, Wright determined that the labor requirement was reduced by 10-15 percent for every doubling of airplane production. Wright’s Law applies to all manufacturing or processes where “learning by doing” provides critical insight from which processes are improved. The improvement percentage numbers may vary by industry, but generally, learning by doing, when properly captured into a feedback loop that informs future change, brings about steady and predictable efficiency gains.

Interestingly, despite the power of computers, software, and the power of the Internet, the AEC industry’s real gross value added per hour worked has grown at a quarter of the rate of manufacturing, according to this article in The Economist. 

How can two industries that are fundamentally about designing and making stuff be so far apart on productivity curves? 

While we at Architosh are exploring that big question across multiple dimensions—from culture and the academy to lack of digitization in the AEC as a whole, to industry lock-in and poor industry data interoperability—Miller’s response to this industry-wide problem touches on a crucial issue that keeps popping up. For the AEC industry to make critical changes to the process that could manifest positive economic and productivity improvements at the same rate of progress as manufacturing, there needs to be time devoted to capturing learning by doing lessons. Otherwise, the manufacturing world will continue to have its Wright’s Law, and the AEC world will continue to have no law and poor relative productivity measures. 

A view of the Project Manager dashboard inside Deltek Ajera. (Image: Deltek)

Miller says that the current challenge due to staff shortages is that the project managers who plan out projects at the highest level with financial goals and improvement ambitions built into scenarios are now being forced to roll up their sleeves and design and document projects. 

“The difference between the A&E industries and the software industry examples you just discussed is that there are very few project managers in A&E firms who didn’t come from being designers and engineers first, and that is what they default back to in times of staff shortages,” says Miller. 

The implication that the AEC industry could learn from manufacturing and software agile management practices is that the labor component in A&E firms would contain essential project management layers that only do project management functions (and never anything else) and could capture learning by doing feedback loop data and put it into process improvements.

“We have actually had conversations here at Deltek—not about doing things exactly how they are done in the software industry—but changing that mentality in A&E firms to that agile management framework,” says Miller. 

“There is a lot in there where the A & E industries can benefit from thinking about how agile project management can be instructive….because, again, not everything is linear. 

“Again, thinking about Deltek Vantagepoint…not only do we have Gantt charts, which everybody needs to have to see how the schedule builds out visually,” says Miller, “but we are also bringing forward schedule dependencies so that if one process shifts then everyone knows what the impacts are, and the software updates every line automatically.”

Final Thoughts

At the beginning of this article, we learned that the Infrastructure Bill (IIJA) is a critical factor in A&E industry optimism and an acting factor contributing to projected A&E firm growth in the immediate term. It means, in short, that the United States will have a backlog of infrastructure and facilities projects coming online for nearly a decade and that investment in Infrastructure boosts efficiencies in the work that Infrastructure provides to other industries. A better airport can spur new demand for companies to build warehousing in new locations, distribute their hubs and shorten customer delivery cycles.

These new projects and work are also arriving parallel to the Baby Boomer generation’s planned retirement, and staff shortages in AE firms are already manifesting across the industry. The solution to this new pinch-point will be challenging to execute when project managers and even firm principals must roll up their sleeves to make work happen and hit deadlines. The AE industry must take stock of how powerful digital tools paired with well-honed management processes can deliver new levels of efficiency and a sense of control. Deltek’s industry-leading software tools and Clarity report are critical first steps in this process.

The post A&E Optimism—Where it Comes From and How to Maintain It appeared first on Architosh.

Time is the New Money 

Ever since the global pandemic, a set of converging forces has reared its head in the AEC world—especially in Architecture. Time has a new value. When billions of people worldwide were forced to stay at home, away from offices, schools, and institutions due to COVID-19, people everywhere were suddenly gifted some additional time. And with that gift came a new sense of its actual value.

Vectorworks 2023 advances multi-core processing, this time targeting section viewports and pairing them with caching improvements. It means users gain snappier section viewports while maintaining the flow in their processes.  (click for larger view)

Given its new perceptual value, architects especially are searching for more time. This search has manifested in unionization movements on both sides of the Atlantic, revolts in architecture schools, and even public protests against digital tool makers. The issue at hand is this: after two whole decades since the digitization of architecture, engineering, and related industry design fields, productivity rates in AEC still lag compared to every other sector of the economy.

Acceleration and Value

However, things are about ready to change. Emerging technologies promising step-change or full-factor workflow speed-ups are blossoming into industry-wide adoption. And digital tool makers in AEC, like Vectorworks, Inc., are on the leading edge of some of these new developments.

One such development is in the chip industry, where powerful ARM-based chips in mobile devices enable dramatic new capabilities like reality capture. Apple’s use of these chips in larger sizes in their Mac computers has pushed them to the industry forefront. And Vectorworks beat all of its leading global competitors in getting the first BIM platform into the market for Apple’s powerful M-chip (ARM technology) computers.

Dr. Biplab Sarkar, Vectorworks’ CEO, was the company’s long-time CTO and continues to lead the company’s development to leverage key computer industry trends and strategic partnerships. Vectorworks has benefitted because it adopted the world’s most popular and technically proficient geometry modeling kernel in Siemens’ Parasolid technology. With the resources of the German giant, Vectorworks’ critical 3D modeling technology advances to support new platforms—whether Apple’s iOS platform in the last decade or ARM chips in computers in this decade emerging—without the company having to dedicate extensive internal resources.

Those resources can be spent more wisely on direct user features in 3D modelings, like the new Offset Edge tool in Vectorworks 2023. In quickly reviewing the new feature, users will have dramatically faster ways to model complex 3D forms that are commonplace in design—like rounded steps in a garden park, complete with concealed LED lighting strips.

“We placed a high emphasis on delivering first-class modeling capabilities to our users,” says Dr. Sarkar, “and we continue this with the release of Vectorworks 2023. The push-pull capabilities using the new Offset Edge tool included in our latest version work on non-planar faces while creating solid primitives with history. So in this case, we exceed the offerings of many rival solutions.”

High-Speed BIM

New in Vectorworks 2023 is a new technology that rapidly lets designers and architects place fenestration elements on walls with a click-and-drag approach. You still have to define a default look (like a basic casement or fixed window), but once determined, the user creates windows and doors by dragging rectangles on wall surfaces. There is also a new rapid way to draw them in 2D models with a simple line.

The Wall Tool is now “feature complete” as part of its new architecture and is possibly the most advanced in the industry with its component wrapping and termination possibilities.

“The new feature feels like painting doors and windows on a wall,” says Steve Johnson, chief technology officer of Vectorworks, Inc. “It makes the interface much quicker. Once you place a window, you can grab the grips and reshape it like any other element in Vectorworks. And it respects Styles, so if there are constraints in height, for example, it respects that.”

Architects bleed out time daily, fussing in complex parametric object dialog boxes—this new feature in Vectorworks 2023 addresses this head-on. And the technology behind this change is headed to other parts of the program in the future. “We can see this growing, and we have cabinets working this way in the future,” says Johnson.

Another high-speed BIM feature in Vectorworks 2023 is the new improvements to the Wall Tool. New insertion location options into the wall layers enable targeted per-wall-element wrap to insertion location settings, generating more flexibility in how walls function and graphically represent in 3D view models.

“The same wall tool now allows the user to place straight or curved walls into their designs,” says Johnson. “The biggest thing is the component wrapping…not many other BIM products give you the same functionality of component wrapping as Vectorworks Architect 2023 does.”

next page: Maturing BIM, Talking Markets and Strategy…

The post Deep Insights about Vectorworks 2023 — Execs Talk to Architosh appeared first on Architosh.

I had about an hour and a half to sit down and talk to Roberts about the upcoming Graphisoft 40th anniversary celebration planned for mid-July. In his role as CEO for nearly three and a half years now, I also wanted to cover other broader topics—knowing full well that details of the upcoming Archicad 26 were not going to be on the table before the July event.

In the following four-part interview, Roberts and I discuss topics such as the DDS merger with Graphisoft, OpenBIM versus closedBIM, global competition with Revit, the Nemetschek Group, and possible synergies, BIMcloud and BIMx, and thoughts on the productivity paradox in AEC.

Roberts, never without an astute quote from the past, provides insightful thoughts about these items and more.

Interview Part 1

(Anthony Frausto-Robledo) Can you tell me a bit about what will happen in Budapest in July at Graphisoft? And as you might expect, I am clearly inclined to learn about your Apple Silicon plans.

(Huw Roberts) This is our 40th anniversary year as a company, and we have an exciting set of announcements and events planned for you all. As for the products and the technical items, and the new features and capabilities, we will share all of that with you in July.

We will also have a session with our head of R&D talking about how we are “retooling our factory”. Just like Apple and the software industry are constantly updating and need to do those sorts of things, so do we – both to stay in sync and to deliver our own innovations. Zsolt Kerecsen will talk about what we are doing with our code base, cloud services, APIs, and other integrations.

MORE: 2022 Graphisoft Launch Event — Learn More

As for Apple Silicon? We believe in the famous Wayne Gretzky quote—skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been. So, we need to know strategies from the Apples and Microsofts of the world, and we have exceptionally good relationships there, so we don’t get surprises and can stay ahead of what’s coming next.

It’s important that we don’t get too focused on the advantages of those platforms in themselves; we have to stay focused on leveraging the benefits of our ecosystem. That is fundamentally our platform.

For example, we consider BIMcloud and BIMx and how they provide services to the tools you are using locally—so that they can deliver capabilities and convenience to our users.

So, I take it the cloud is now the heart of your ecosystem? It connects everything.

Yes, we see great benefits from harnessing the cloud in our ecosystems, really our users’ ecosystems. Cloud technology is an important enabler for collaboration and provides new capabilities for sure. But we recognize there will always be many reasons why people may not be connected to the cloud or will not want to rely on the cloud and we intend to serve them well also.

And Archicad?

We do not expect to transform Archicad into a cloud application. Again, there is no added value to the customer for doing that. But for collaboration, BIMx can share models and information with a broader audience who are not BIM authors…from a browser, anywhere. And through BIMcloud we can offer all sorts of capabilities that extend Archicad for both teams and individual users. Using the cloud for what the cloud is good at as an extension of the devices for what the devices are good at is fundamentally our strategy.

Part 1 Commentary

The strategy of emphasizing the unique strengths of technologies, devices, and operating systems in a balanced way such that the ecosystem is most substantial is trumping alternative strategies that may emphasize the absolute capabilities of any one technology, device, or operating system.

While it is common for executives to share more details off the record, and I will delve into further Apple Silicon items further down the article, the important take-away from my visit with Roberts is how Graphisoft is thinking more about the strength of its ecosystem rather than any one product.

Interview Part 2

(AFR) When the news broke about the Graphisoft merger with DDS, I couldn’t help but think about integrated MEP in Archicad and that this merger was some kind of admission that there are indeed advantages in file-level integration.

That is an aspect of it, but we have a slightly different approach to it.

Because you are still believers of OpenBIM?

We are still believers of OpenBIM.

The Duke Ellington School of the Arts is a landmark project executed in Archicad in the United States by Cox Graae + Spack Architects. The project emerged from an international design competition in 2013 to transform an aging historic National Landmark into the DC area’s crown jewel School of the Arts with a building that matches the school’s renowned reputation. (Image: Cox Graae + Spack Architects / Graphisoft)

What sounds like competing ideas are both essential truths to us. So, one is that we fundamentally believe in OpenBIM. The data belongs to the customer, and it needs to be nimble and connected to all these other tools and systems. On the other hand, we recognize that there are aspects of workflows and design, engineering, or documentation processes where a really tight real-time integration is the best move.

Let’s step back a bit because you first introduced a new type of integration that was near real-time and was not a closed-BIM type of file-level integration.

So, in Archicad 24, we launched “integrated design” with structural. And that has been a great proving ground for our ideas. We have both Open BIM IFC connectivity on the structural engineering side and our SAF file-type analytical to BIM model connection technology. More than fifteen structural engineering and analysis vendors now support it.

MORE: Nemetschek Integrated Design—A Paradigm Shift for AECO

We think of it [SAF type] as our integrated design technology. It is an immediate “fast-cycle time” sharing mode based on shared open standards instead of file types. So how can that apply to the rest of the engineering disciplines?

We want to support both worlds in our world. We think the Open BIM connectivity is for the broad connectivity to other ecosystems and tools, which will be, in our view, the traditional way. And this will be highly valuable, in fact essential, for the foreseeable future.  And this fast-cycle integrated design approach complements that.

So, there will be a “new way” for integration aimed at the other disciplines that are a fast-cycle time sharing mode similar to SAF? The message is it will be more deeply integrated than traditional IFC. Do I have that right?

Exactly, but both – full Open BIM and tightly integrated design. And our roadmap is something we will be sharing at our event in July.

Are we talking about Graphisoft rebranding the DDScad technology and products?

We are not talking about anything like that now. And while we are integrating technologies from both directions, the product line is still called DDScad. The company has become part of Graphisoft.

Part 2 Commentary

The fast-cycle time data sharing and integration between Archicad and structural engineering tools are based on an open technology called SAF that Graphisoft has created in conjunction with Nemetschek. Showcased at the AIA Las Vegas show in 2019, it works brilliantly if an architect is fortunate to have an engineer working with one of the software packages that support it.

The DDScad fast-cycle time integration will evolve in stages, Roberts shared with me. And that is all we can share now with readers, who can tune into our event coverage in Budapest in mid-July to learn the whole story.

next page: Part 3 and Part 4 dive into competition with Revit, Open Letter, Nemetschek Group CDE questions, and industry economics

The post The Roberts Interview—Ahead of the Graphisoft 2022 Release Event appeared first on Architosh.

What makes The Glimpse Group special is its formation and structure, and position in the market. The company is a virtual and augmented reality platform company made up of multiple (13) subsidiaries focused on VR/AR software and services. It is also a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq (VRAR) and has rapidly growing revenues in the rapidly expanding immersive reality markets.

The VR/AR Markets

I had a chance to talk to Glimpse President and CEO Lyron Bentovim about the VR/AR markets and his company’s position in them a few weeks ago. His comments provide a large lens on the VR/AR industry, shedding light on such issues as VR/AR adoption rates, industry pickup, and when we reach mass adoption versus the phase we are in now. His comments and perspectives are a refreshing contrast to some of the things said about the industry by other leaders whose motivations may be quite different from that of Bentovim.

To unpack that last sentence, let’s begin with some key differences about The Glimpse Group. Glimpse does not make a headset. It does produce VR/AR software solutions but not the kind you and I would buy from, say, the web or an app store.

Glimpse offers “enterprise solutions” across an extensive range of industry sectors. From the client-side, the goal is simple—gain competitive advantages by leveraging Glimpse’s VR and AR innovations.

In the remainder of this article, we converse on a range of topics about VR and AR and his company and touch on such things as Apple’s play in this space.

The Interview

(AFR) I understand you have over 125 full-time developers, engineers, and 3D artists, but you are not creating a software platform. Can you explain where this expertise is being applied?

Lyron Bentovim (LB) Well, Glimpse is a platform company focused on enterprise VR and AR. We have 13 different subsidiaries, and each one of these subsidiaries has its own brand and its own technologies. Yet, they work together within the Glimpse eco-system, sharing knowledge, know-how, and IP.

So are you creating solutions from the ground up for your customers or using a mixture of off-the-shelf products? How does it work?

We offer software solutions, some of them are based on our off-the-shelf software but with customizations to the software. We are early in this industry, and enterprises tend to have specific needs for their activities and challenges. This is why we need to offer the ability to customize solutions to address their particular needs and challenges.

Having used VR myself in architectural practice, I can easily understand the need for custom functions. I am curious to know how your clients ask for customization—can you provide an example?

Customers tend to get the software solutions out there and want more. And because of how the industry functions—you put in a request for a feature and then wait to see if it ever happens—we can go in and develop that feature now and integrate it into their workflow.

For example, a customer in education had a feature with a whiteboard but wanted their students to have a mobile whiteboard. The customer could wait for it, and maybe it would appear in a year, or they can hire us, and we deliver it to them just the way they want it in the present time frame.

Do you have partnerships with the VR headset companies?

Yes. We work closely with all major headset manufacturers, from Meta (Quest) and Pico, to the tethered ones like Varjo and HP. From our view, we want to know what is coming out ahead of time before end-users do and manufacturers want to work with us because they want our software solutions to be successful so they can get their headsets in front of our enterprise clients.

That seems like a clear win-win strategy for everybody, especially your customers. Where do you see the greatest amount of traction on the AR side of the market?

It is definitely a win for our customers as we can deliver the leading edge for their particular needs. As for traction in AR, it is in the marketing industry in the short term.

Brands are trying to reach that very elusive GenZ type demographic. And they can’t find them anywhere where they used to find people like you and me. They are not in any of the standard advertising channels, nor the new standards like Facebook and stuff; they are not there either.

The Millennial and GenZ generations are much more open to AR/VR technologies and leading brands are using augmented technology, in particular, to reach these demographics in their marketing strategies.

So they need to find them where they are—places like TikTok, Snap, and Instagram. And they need to speak to them in their language, and this generation is engaging in AR.

So are you saying the millennials or GenZ are further down the line regarding AR adoption?

Yes. That is their willingness to engage with that technology.

You are specifically talking about their willingness to engage with that technology on their phones, correct? 

Yes. AR on headsets like Hololens, MagicLeap, or industrial headsets like Vuzix and the likes—we are not seeing a lot of traction there. They are expensive, limited, cumbersome, and not very easy to make mass deployments. We are working with some of these companies and trying to help push their products out there, but the reality is AR on the phones is easy. Everybody has one.

Brands want to connect with their customers. They are activating [AR in] apps like Snap and Instagram—apps that everybody is already using—and engaging with those brands in a more immersive way.

Perhaps the marketing sector is taking off because you are working with very large Fortune 500 companies with the budget to explore edge-of-market technologies?

Yes, but working with those same customers on other areas of VR and AR, which I think is just as valuable if not more, and they don’t have the budgets there. And part of that is how budgets are allocated. So marketing budgets are a lot more controllable. And those organizations have a way of playing with them to achieve their goals. At the same time, for example, corporate training budgets are much more fixed.

How do you see the relationship of AR and VR to all the metaverse talk?

So the Metaverse is the endgame of these two technologies. I look at this as a 35-year tech cycle. And we are probably year seven or eight of those 35 years. And the end goal is the Metaverse, and there is no metaverse right now.

Yet, we can see the path that we are on. And the three technologies that are driving us towards the Metaverse are immersive technologies (like VR and AR), blockchain, and AI.

We and all the other companies in this space are all driving toward that goal of the Metaverse. Similarly, if you were to ask Microsoft in the early 90s how they saw their Internet plan, they would say they were focused on building solutions for their customers but also building the basic building blocks to enable them to continue to do that as the technology changed—from having a presence on the Internet, selling things on the Internet, to having cloud solutions on the Internet, which is a significant piece of Microsoft’s business right now. You couldn’t do that last part in the 90s because the technology wasn’t there yet.

In many ways, it is the same. We are building solutions for our customers that are very standalone in their nature. The Metaverse will come and enable all of these things to connect, and you will be able to move between these experiences. But right now, the building blocks we are building for our customers will enable them to excel as the world around them evolves.

That is a thought-provoking analogy. Of course, there are a lot of companies talking a lot about the Metaverse right now, like NVIDIA.

NVIDIA, in my view, is going to be one of the biggest winners of this space. Firstly, they get it in a way that I think most others don’t. Secondly, they are constantly thinking of their technologies in a way that will bring the new into the old as they are replacing themselves.

The Metaverse will offer numerous new possibilities for markets. At the moment AR/VR technologies are finding numerous simulation, training, and coaching applications like this one serving the data market.

So NVIDIA already is in a dominant position because its chips are inside most of the hardware driving this business. Yet, that’s not enough for them. They understand that the GPU is limited in these types of headsets with power limits. So they are developing the technology to have the immersive experience powered in the cloud, and you just stream that experience to the user.

That relationship between hardware power and devices is a tricky one and probably the reason why Apple has taken so long to develop an AR or VR headset.

And also, the displays are another area. The triangle of technologies is the display, the computational power—particularly on the GPU side—and the form factor; that triangle has not been solved yet.

The form factor is tied to power because you can’t get things small enough yet since you are trying to be untethered i.e. not connected to a computer. And Apple is a perfectionist company, so they won’t release something that is just ‘okay-ish’; they will wait to release something until it is great.

Many people think it will take Apple to get the masses really excited about these VR/AR technologies. Do you agree that they can mass popularize VR and AR?

Yeah, I agree with that. I look at the history of technology cycles. The first half of a technology cycle is hardware, where the evolution in hardware drives the business until you get to the point where there is mass adoption. But we are so far from the point of mass adoption because the hardware isn’t there yet.

Because that triangle of tech hasn’t been mastered yet?

Yes. The hardware is good for people who want to experiment and learn how this would work, but it’s not there for mass adoption both on the consumer and business sides.

When Apple comes in, that might be the tipping point in that direction, and it might take a few more years after that. I feel we are five to seven years away from what I call mass adoption. Then we will change the other half of the cycle; it will become a software game, and we will be ready for the Metaverse because we will have everybody there.

Let’s talk about AEC. I know this was one of the first industries with significant promise with VR/AR. It began about seven years ago. But the actual take-up in the industry appears to be much smaller than I would have imagined it. What is your take on VR/AR in the AEC industry?

You raise an interesting point. The AEC industry is probably one of the most frustrating in terms of lack of adoption. It baffles me on why. The industry would benefit significantly from being able to visualize and use those [VR/AR] tools.

Augmented reality (AR) tools are gaining ground in the AEC industry. This shows a user looking at a virtual building in 3D complete with a virtual computer screen also showing the building (like in a presentation mode). Pass-thru video merges the real environment of a marble table in a room with these virtualized elements.

We have worked with architecture and construction firms and with real estate firms. Yet, a lot of that work has been very limited. And while each engagement was successful in reaching the goal, we haven’t managed to get that to move from one or two implementations to, ‘let’s now make this as how we do things.’

Despite the apparent successes, it hasn’t taken off, and I’m not sure why. Given the number of dollars and the amount of savings through these efficiencies, it should take off. It’s baffling. Let me throw the question back at you, why do you think it has not taken off other than these are conservative industries?

Unfortunately, the AEC space is a laggard in information technology adoption. The percentage of revenues going into digital technologies in AEC is around 1.5 – 3.5%, with construction firms on the lower end. That pales compared to other industries.

The construction industry has been newly focused on digital tools, particularly tools that solve time and labor-constraint issues. There is a knowledge-transfer issue in the construction industry. Ironically, this is where I can see AR and VR playing a role. You have all this expertise locked up in the minds of veteran construction pros. So the short-term goal is to keep them working, but that is not a long-term solution.

Then there is AI being deployed to solve the workforce shortage—cameras, robots, remote observation, safety monitoring—all designed to deal with less available experienced boots on the ground.

As you know, the Covid crisis did usher in increased demand for VR and AR tools because you couldn’t get places. The Wild, which was acquired by Autodesk recently and a company we know well, explained to us in a report how Covid accelerated the take-up of VR.

So that is my snapshot. So compared to AEC, how do you see manufacturing’s take-up in VR and AR technologies, especially AR technologies? So this spans from Vuzix to industrial-grade tools like Varjo used in automotive and aerospace. I am sure you are familiar with the latter.

Varjo is incredible, but they are costly. You are talking three thousand dollars for just the Varjo headset and then another three thousand for the hardware to run them.

You use that technology when you want to showcase a helicopter instead of bringing the helicopter in; you can use that technology and do very high-end simulation work. So Varjo works when you need a few locations at a very high value. You can’t give that kind of technology to many workers; that’s very high-end and expensive gear. That is the drawback with them.

Virtual and augmented reality are already becoming crucially successful in the aviation and automotive industries—essentially serving the transportation revolution technologies like EVs, vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles, Hyperloop, and traditional air and auto markets.

So in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, there is a distribution challenge. On the low end, you have a Quest which is three hundred dollars, and mobile and doesn’t need anything else. It’s not as beautiful as Varjo, and once you have gone to Varjo, it is hard to go back to the Quest—it’s like experiencing color TV and then expecting to go to black and white TV. But Quest is the price point where you can deploy at scale.

So there will likely be some high-end markets with few contact points. And Varjo is solving problems like flight simulation that are less expensive to solve than limited actual flight simulators, which are factors more expensive. But you are saying that the low-end gear will increase and tackle more professional problems.

Yes. And the high-end will become the new low-end, and you will have the usual technology maturity and ‘good enough’ break points in the technology cycle, just like with computers over their long history.

That is just how technology works. The high-end shows us where we are going.

Lyron, thanks for talking to me about The Glimpse Group and your invaluable perspectives on VR and AR now and in the near future.

You are welcome.

The post The Glimpse Group — CEO Talks to Architosh About AR/VR appeared first on Architosh.

The Hero Image

A word about the hero image above. It is a picture of the new NVIDIA H100 GPU, the successor GPU architecture to NVIDIA Ampere. Named after Grace Hopper, a pioneering US computer scientist, the new architecture delivers an order of magnitude of power over the Ampere architecture. Exciting things will be powered by the Hopper architecture, including complex digital twins (think large buildings, smart cities, and much more). Grace Hopper’s name is also used for the new ARM Neoverse-based Grace CPU and the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip, which combines two Grace CPUs.

These new silicon wonders will help power high-performance compute and AI workloads complimentary to NVIDIA Omniverse. Architosh will be writing about these new chips in its next Xpresso No 37 newsletter coming up soon. (sign-up here!).

Let’s now talk about Omniverse with Richard Kerris.

Richard Kerris Interview

(Akiko Ashley) Will NVIDIA use their technologies to help Climate Change to find solutions for the heat generated by their Data Centers into a renewable form of energy rather than just dissipating the heat with fans? Is it possible for AI to come up with a better solution?

(Richard Kerris) NVIDIA accelerated computing can meet data center demands at lower energy consumption than traditional methods, and NV powers 23 of the world’s 25 greenest supercomputers.

Our end-to-end AI supercomputing platform powered by NV Ampere architecture A100 GPUs is up to 40x more energy efficient than traditional CPU servers when running AI and HPC workloads. A hyperscale data center with NV GPUs and TensorRT takes up 1/47th the rack space of CPU-based systems that it replaces and runs at 95% less energy cost while running all AI models.

If all CPU servers running AI and HPC transitioned to GPUs, the world would save 11 TWh of electricity/yr, equal to two coal-fired power plants or 1.7m cars. We’re also committed to powering our own data center operations with more renewable energy. In FY21, 17 of our data centers were fully powered by renewable energy. Our goal is to match 100 percent of our global electricity use from sources like solar by 2025.

Q: In the world of Omniverse, USD will become what HTML is to the internet, how will end users who connect to Omniverse navigate through different worlds, will users have a standardized profile that has the software licenses of companies like Autodesk or Adobe, and automatically know if the user is a licensed user? How will Omniverse protect proprietary projects? How will it know which projects are for universal use and which are not? Will there be a standard set so users can connect in the same way? How do I go from work projects to playing Fortnite in Omniverse and then switch to Minecraft seamlessly?

At the very core of Omniverse is our base on Universal Scene Description (USD) originally developed by Pixar, but is now adopted across most industries. We think that USD can be thought of like HTML, which enabled the Internet to get to what we know today. HTML helped facilitate every experience on every website from every browser, every device was consistent, and we believe USD will help do the same thing for virtual worlds.

We need that same kind of plumbing so that every virtual world, no matter what kind of virtual world you’re going to, has a consistency of your experience. We believe, as do many other companies, that USD will be the core of that. The analogy is the HTML of these virtual worlds.

Omniverse is a platform that connects existing workflows and existing tools. The tools that you use don’t have to change with Omniverse, they get enhanced and extended by the platform.

MORE: Universal Scene Description (USD) File Support in Preview App on Mac Monterey

We are actively evangelizing USD support across all developer ecosystems—game development, design and content creation, AEC, manufacturing/industrial, and even robotics, and are seeing a lot of traction and commitment for support.

Q: How will copyrights, trademarks, data privacy, and proprietary data be dealt with within Omniverse?

Omniverse is not a place, it is a technology development platform for developers, enterprises to build and operate their own virtual worlds, and artists to connect their existing 3D tools.

At GTC22 NVIDIA announced the further expansion of the Omniverse ecosystem.

At NVIDIA, we take individual privacy very seriously and scrupulously comply with privacy principles across all our products.

Q: Will the role of CAD and Architectural Design expand in the Omniverse as builders of worlds?

Architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AEC/O) is one of the primary industries that can benefit from Omniverse, whether design teams connecting their existing 3D workflows with the collaboration aspects of the platform or operating future digital twins of buildings or cities in Omniverse running on NVIDIA OVX.

Q: What kind of government regulation will be some of the obstacles for Omniverse? For example, “Do Not Share My Data” laws in California. 

Any new regulation must be considered carefully in the context of the legal framework that already exists. NVIDIA abides by legal systems in the U.S. and Europe which provide a comprehensive framework that applies to all conduct.

Closing Notes

Architosh will have additional articles on GTC22 announcements, including features oriented at industrial applications for digital twins for AEC/O across architecture and infrastructure. So stay tuned at Architosh and join our Xpresso monthly newsletter to never miss a beat on our top stories, learn about emerging technologies (emTech) in CAD industries, plus gain early access to critical feature articles.

About Richard Kerris

Richard Kerris is the VP of Omniverse Development Platform at NVIDIA.  He is a member of the board of advisors for OTOY, and in the past held positions as principal, new product development at Amazon AWS, CMO at Avegant, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Lucas Film, and Senior Director at Apple. Richard has a deep history in the professional 3D software market with manager and director roles prior to Apple with Alias|Wavefront, Electric Image, Pixar, and Silicon Graphics (SGI). 

The post Omniverse In-Depth with Richard Kerris, VP NVIDIA appeared first on Architosh.

Architosh had a chance to speak with Ron Fritz, CEO, and Co-Founder of Tech Soft 3D, and Jonathan Girroir, Senior Manager, Developer Relations, Tech Soft 3D.

Growth in AEC

With the recent HOOPS 2022 product family release, Tech Soft 3D clearly showed accelerated market movement in this space. “We have supported IFC for years now,” says Jonathan Girrior, “but now our support is taking on more advanced concepts—basically the data that sits on top of solids. We do a great job with the geometry today, but new capabilities involving the metadata associated with that geometry will help our developers in making more intelligent tools.”

In HOOPS 2022, there are new capabilities to address a paradigm in IFC known as “regions.” Girrior explained that traversing those regions (technically known as “spatial relationships” in IFC parlance) for data can be helpful to developers for various reasons, like area take-offs functionalities to where a general contractor puts workers on the job site inside a construction (4D) planning app.

To better support AEC industry clients, Tech Soft 3D is working on supporting the DGN and Navisworks file formats as part of its HOOPS SDKs. It is currently under development. “As soon as developers were using our technologies for IFC and Revit they would say to us, ‘you know what else we need? You need to support DGN and Navisworks,’ ” says Ron Fritz.

Fritz says Bentley isn’t driving this support for DGN as a customer but by demand within the larger industry. “We started with IFC, DWG, and Revit as the most in-demand formats, and you work your way down through the next most demanded formats,” says Fritz. Tech Soft 3D’s high-growth market is currently the AEC market. “Of the probably ten verticals we serve, AEC is currently the fastest growing one,” says Girrior.

The HOOPS 2022 Platforms improve support for DWG and Revit and now support Spatial Relationships that are part of the IFC model definition.

The cloud plays an essential factor in that acceleration because cloud tools help take data out of silos which have been the longstanding issue or barrier to accelerated productivity in AEC. Fritz noted a robust market of startups in AEC. “There are a lot of companies building cloud-based applications,” he says. “Most of the companies we are working with that are building something new are building cloud-based products.”

Fritz noted that two different things are driving the pace of innovation in the AEC field. “Number one is that building an application in the cloud and getting that application out there has a lower barrier to entry than developing a piece of desktop software with a VAR channel and enterprise sales team.”

“And the second thing is the world in AEC is converging on IFC and Revit. People feel strongly about these two common file formats,” he says. “And once there is a feeling of consensus about that, that is one more barrier that is lowered, and I think that is part of what we are seeing too,” says Fritz.

Finally, Jonathan Girrior added that the value in management software has really proven its value in AEC. “We have demonstrated the return on investment that if your software helps optimize the way in which you are building or organizing how you are building—especially for large or complex projects—it’s been shown there is a lot of opportunities for developers to optimize that AEC space.”

A leading example would be the developer SYNCHRO. This startup company began literally in a renovated barn in the UK – a unique take on the legendary HP garage! They have utilized HOOPS technology from essentially the beginning, and Tech Soft 3D has been an invaluable partner. Acquired by Bentley a few years ago, this small software company accelerated at exponential levels once supported by a much larger developer with a global enterprise sales channel.

SYNCHRO is now vastly involved in helping large and complex AEC projects find productivity gains and lower risks associated with the building industry. “To the extent that we can make it cheaper or faster for a company like SYNCHRO to improve their products or get them out the door faster, they, in turn, can keep the prices of their solution low,” says Fritz.

next page: Apple Silicon and More plus OpenGL and Graphics APIs

The post Tech Soft 3D Advances CAD Technologies — New Accelerations appeared first on Architosh.

Editor’s note: This feature ran first in our November 2021 Xpresso newsletter, released back in the fall. To gain timely access to this and similar leading-edge content, subscribe to Xpresso now. It’s free, and you won’t miss or be late to the exciting and exclusive content we are working on for 2022! 

IN EARLY MID-OCTOBER, Procore held its 2021 Groundbreak event virtually, as most companies do for their conferences since the global pandemic. Before that event, we heard from the company directly about major announcements coming at Groundbreak and new technologies and offerings on schedule for the first half of next year. To be sure, Procore, Inc., a company located in Carpinteria, California, just south of Santa Barbara, has fast become one of the most important AEC software companies in the world.

What we want to do in this article is run through their major announcements and provide some context and analysis toward the end.

Procore’s Global Growth

While the company began in the United States and will need to contend with strong native rivals in foreign markets, Procore today is being used in over 125 countries by over 1.6 million AEC industry professionals, including owners and operators of building infrastructure.

Wyatt Jenkins, Senior Vice President of Product, told Architosh at a press-only event that a big reason why construction companies select Procore over rival solutions is because of their customer service. But unlike some rivals who have disparate solutions with often varied user interfaces and user experiences, Procore provides a unified platform. “Users love the platform because they can always count on the platform to feel the same regardless of what tool they are using and which part of construction they play a part in,” says Jenkins.

Now the company wants to leverage that common user experience (UX) and start building in a level of customization and precision to what each AEC participant is focused on, across scales of projects and companies, and across the globe where regional processes and players vary.

Procore has expanded its global infrastructure with 11 new data centers for file storage. Now at 15 data centers, customers can store certain project data locally while also boosting speed and performance working with that data. Procore offers enterprise-grade security and privacy features such as data encryption-at-rest, weekly pen tests for vulnerabilities, and more; it meets the EU’s GDPR, California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Australia’s Privacy Act of 1988.

Procore had dramatically expanded its global data centers to better serve its growing base of customers around the world. The company has added 11 new data centers.

To help address global customer needs, Procore’s solutions now enable complete custom data fields, so users in Australia or Germany can configure Procore to meet their regional industry standards.

“Procore is a big part of creating a global development platform, where we can benefit from what teams in Australia are doing and learning, and that can actually translate to what we’re doing in North America on projects, and then also to our teams in Europe on projects. Procore is at the center of collaboration that activates this global pool of expertise,” says Dean Hopkins, chief operations officer at Oxford Properties.

Collaborative Document Management

Procore announced their new Collaborative Document Management (CDM) system, which entered a pilot deployment in the fourth quarter of this year. The new CDM enables all participants to collaborate across documents based on a granular set of permissions that customers can fully customize.

The system is ISO compliant (ISO-19650) and can conform to other CDE standards (BS-1192) as needed and standardized across global regions. Jenkins says that the new Collaborative Document Management (CDM) offers a single-source record from precon (pre-construction) to close-out.

“This can only happen on a platform that has unlimited users, unlimited data, and unlimited collaboration on every project,” says Wyatt Jenkins, “so we are feeling really good about this.”

Procore’s new CDM will offer customers an integrated markup experience and the ability to configure customer approval workflows with fine granular file-level permissions—all the capabilities that meet common data environment (CDE) requirements and ISO compliance standards.

New Mobile Tools

Procore has new mobile software tools coming. The company is highly focused on creating a unique user experience for every stakeholder in construction that is optimized around their role and needs. A big part of that mission is to allow their mobile tools to address that unique experience from the home screen.

The new Home Screen on Procore’s mobile app, that will allow streamlined and focused UX design for each type of user by role.

The new mobile home experience, available in the last quarter of 2021, prioritizes daily work with quick access to check in on progress, change status, or create a new item like RFI, Observations, or Punch.

Procore Technologies has made two key acquisitions in the recent past in the areas of AI (artificial intelligence). The company acquired INDUS.AI and Avata Intelligence, bringing key AI and machine learning (ML) technology to the Procore technology stack. This will unlock the value of project data and tighten efficiencies across its digital tools. (see: Architosh, “Procore Acquires Construction AI Company INDUS.AI,” 27 May 2021)

Procore Quick Capture

One area where AI is now emerging is the new Procore Quick Capture features in its mobile app. Quick Capture is voice-enabled input technology that will launch in 2022. It will simply data entry in the field where users typically stand and move frequently.

For example, to create a punch item, a user may take a picture as part of the Procore mobile app or capture a video and then simply talk to Procore. Through AI and ML, Procore will create the punch item, attach a photo, and even assign it to the appropriate trade. The AI is trained to recognize keywords in AEC that will enable automated assignment to the correct trade (e.g., speaking about an outlet or switch will enable the system to know it is an electrical trade item).

AI-based Quick Capture features in Procore mobile app will be coming in 2022 and will speed up data entry in the field by up to 50 percent.

Early testing is showing that punch walks with AI/ML voice technology deployed can reduce total punch walk time by up to 50 percent.

New Procore Conversations

New Procore Conversations is “contextual messaging for construction,” says the company. The new Procore Conversations technology aims to combat fragmented communication across multiple channels and technology, including email, SMS, messaging, Slack, and even Microsoft Teams.

Available in pilot in the last quarter of this year, the 2022 technology roll-out will significantly benefit users of Procore as they can now keep communications squarely attached to objects (i.e., in Procore parlance, an “object” is something like a punch item, a submittal, a document, an observation, or an RFI).

Procore Conversations is a new technology that will be fully available next year and contextualizes communication flow to objects like “observations, RFIs, Submittals, etc.”

Users can use @mentions to loop individuals into these contextual, object-based conversations, whether mobile or web.

“For the past 18 months, we met with customers and challenged ourselves to rethink how we innovate and improve the lives of everyone in construction,” says Wyatt Jenkins, Senior VP of Product, Procore. “We are building solutions that connect the field and the office across mobile, leveraging AI, voice commands, and messaging with Procore Conversations.”

Final Comments

Also coming in 2022 is the Procore Construction Network, a free online business directory for AEC professionals but primarily centered on owners, contractors, and sub-contractors. Architects and engineering firms are also welcome, but their network utilization is likely less impactful for them.

Procore held its virtual conference, Groundbreak, between 12 – 14 October 2021. Readers can watch sessions and keynotes on-demand here. During the CEO keynote, one learns about how Procore was used to build the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, one of the largest stadiums ever built. The Mortenson McCarthy joint venture broke ground in 2017. The total design through owner occupancy was 41 months, and the construction schedule was 31 months. At one time, they had over 12,000 individuals working on the project, and the project had over 10,000 RFIs.

There was little room for collaboration to fail with that much simultaneous activity. And with that much activity, the amount of traffic in communication on the stadium coming through Procore was quite astonishing. Procore’s Founder and CEO, Tooey Courtemanche, noted during his keynote that the UN estimates that the amount of building required by 2060 will total 2.5 trillion square feet. That’s equivalent to building a city the size of New York every month for the next 40 years.

Architosh Commentary and Analysis

So that is a lot of work to do. And it will be hard to see it all happen facing pressures like skilled labor shortages. It will be easier if the people doing the work today and in the future can eliminate re-work and inefficiencies. “Re-work” is work done twice or more when it was already done once. Entering data into a computer software system manually again after it was already entered once into a different system is re-work. But that is just one example. 

Procore is far from the only AEC company addressing these huge challenges. Eliminating re-work and even eliminating work done by humans by allowing AI systems to do that work is on the minds of every AEC technology company. But even before getting to AI and machine learning, there is a lot of low-hanging fruit to capture to gain efficiencies. 

When I asked Wyatt Jenkins of Procore about their new Procore Conversations technologies, I asked about systems like Slack which became more popular during the global pandemic. I wondered if API integrations were going to be central to Procore Conversations. He said they have a two-phase strategy where in the first stage, they want to focus on conversations attached to the object and optimize that approach. Then in the second phase to “reach folks to where they are at.”

Slack and Teams are part of the near-term integrations, and Jenkins said, “that’s because lots of our customers use that today.” But he noted that when you get into the teams of sub-contractors, you need to start thinking about more consumer apps like WhatsApp because that is where many of them are at. That’s how they communicate amongst themselves. 

Jenkins spoke about layers of an onion, and the analogy seems very appropriate. They will build out their communications technologies to reach out more deeply to include all the places where people communicate so that folk can stay grounded and connected to the projects. 

The post Procore’s Latest Innovations—Platform Updates and Global Expansion appeared first on Architosh.

For a company that has always prided itself on the power and economic advantages of its “all-in-one” CAD/BIM software package, this signal of change with the new Vectorworks Partner Network will need some explaining. Recently we spoke with Jeremy Powell, Chief Marketing Officer, Vectorworks, Inc., about the new network and why it matters.

The Power of One + Many

Some software solutions—and we won’t name names—rely heavily on the power of vast and robust third-party solutions that surround their core products rather than trying to fulfill their users’ every need internally within the core product. Vectorworks has been primarily focused on the latter paradigm for a long time. So why the change now? And what exactly is changing?

“As a company, we have always prided ourselves on providing the great ‘all-in-one’ solution story about design. In fact, we still do,” says Powell, “but there is a lot of value to be added through strategic partnerships, particularly through technology hardware and software partners.” Powell talks up the incredible innovation that so many partner technology companies contribute to the AEC and CAD industries.

Foundational changes at Vectorworks Inc. regarding how the company looks at technology partners have changed the velocity of the global BIM/CAD platform’s technology offerings.

These partner companies operate within an overall software industry context that is increasingly cloud-based and inter-connected. In other words, the software industry is blooming around so-called “integrations.” And while the AEC industry is still largely desktop-based or desktop-bound, integrations via APIs are everywhere.

So while Powell says Vectorworks still differentiates itself by its all-in-one powers, it now looks to leverage the expansive marketplace of best-in-breed point solutions populating the AEC industry. “The number one goal for us is to identify those partners who are going to innovate and provide a better solution together with us,” says Powell.

Underlying Technology

Vectorworks has long had available third-party APIs and SDKs with which to work. The difference now is that the company has developed Vectorworks Graphics Sync technology.

“The Graphics Sync pipeline allows us to integrate partner solutions more easily,” he says, “and each time we do that with a new partner, we gain knowledge and use that knowledge to improve the technology.” “The Partner Network is helping the company stay focused,” says Powell on the underlying technologies and how they are evolving. The goal is to lower the barrier to entry for plugin and synchronization solutions and decrease overall development costs.

Their Graphics Sync technologies first got deployed with Lumion, the rendering application. Now, all of Lumion’s interactive real-time rendering competitors have, or are coming, onboard via Graphics Sync to provide their rendering solutions to Vectorworks users.

Vectorworks and Solibri integration has existed for a few years but continue to advance in deeper capabilities. It is one example of Nemetschek Group sibling company integrations focused around the strength of their BIM applications working in unison and offer Group ecosystem advantages.

Other third-party solutions have driven different ways to integrate Vectorworks, including things like web browsers in tool palettes and web interfaces inside of Vectorworks. “mtexture, Mosa, AutoTURN by Transoft Solutions and BIMObject integrations are these types of partner developments that happened quickly because of these technologies,” adds Powell. Suddenly with a few smartly crafted technology developments, Vectorworks has experienced unprecedented expansion with top-tier third-party digital tools.

Expanding Content 

While the new Partner Network expands on the ‘digital tools’ front, Vectorworks is also actively growing content that its users can leverage in their projects. “Anybody who has ever been involved in trying to work on content understands it as a pretty tall task,” he cautions, noting that developing BIM, 3D, and 2D content is labor-intensive. Yet the new Vectorworks Partner Network actively seeks this expansion.

Powell says the company has a three-prong approach. “The first thing we do is ask, what can Vectorworks create?” he says. That process involves getting manufacturers to grant permission to build native Vectorworks libraries of their manufactured content. “We find most people agree to it,” he says, noting that it can take time and effort and is not the preferred pathway for such content.

Vectorworks’s partner system ecosystem offers ‘targeted’ solutions in pedestrian and vehicular simulation and design systems, both highly useful for urban design, planning, and building projects. Shown here is AutoTurn by Transoft Solutions.

The second pathway to such content is through the custom plugin object. “BIMObject is an excellent example of that system, and I think it is incredibly fruitful. “What that does is instead of Vectorworks being on the hook to schedule and create that content, partners like BIMObject are on the hook and create the content; the plugin for BIMObject allows users to gain access to that content immediately.”

Powell says the third pathway to content is something the company is spending research on. It involves so-called ‘content aggregators,’ and he says, “we are on the lookout for particular organizations that are willing to open up relations with us.” Finally, Powell answered my question about user-generated or ‘crowd-sourced’ content by saying, “there are certainly interesting possibilities here. We’ve observed pros and cons to ‘crowd-sourced’ content over the years that has led us to stick with creating and organizing high-quality content libraries ourselves. At the same time, we want users who are interested in something like crowd-sourced content to talk to us about it,” noting that the more users communicate an interest, the more they can convince them to change course.

Expanding Awareness

The Vectorworks Partner Network is more than about value-add technology integrations and expanding content. The Partner Network boasts awareness of Vectorworks itself to new audiences around the globe and tangent markets.

Vectorworks reports that the Twinmotion integration has been very successful and popular with the Vectorworks installed base. This is likely due in large part because Twinmotion supports the macOS platform natively and is powered by the well-regarded Unreal Engine technologies by Epic Games.

“Depending on where you are in the world, you may not know Vectorworks or have a different perspective about what Vectorworks is all about,” says Powell. “Of course, this works vice versa; a lot of these partners aren’t necessarily so well known amongst Vectorworks customers.”

Nemetschek Group Synergies

This concept applies to other Nemetschek Group sister companies as well. While many, if not most, Vectorworks customers know of sister brand Maxon’s Cineware rendering engine as the base renderer in Vectorworks, they likely don’t know about its recent Redshift Render acquisition. “Redshift and its integration are another of the render engine pipelines that offer great awareness potential for us,” says Powell.

Redshift’s higher-end GPU rendering power bodes well for Vectorworks in general as customers are always looking for faster ways to accomplish what they want. 

Maxon isn’t the only prominent Nemetschek sibling in the Vectorworks Partners Network. Powell says there are important future Solibri initiatives to expand upon Solibri integration today.

Mutual Benefitting

The Vectorworks Partner Network is building successes one technology integration at a time. Powell says the network to future partners goes beyond just technology integrations. “It is a lot about co-marketing successes and building awareness around workflow stories that give mutual customers options and point solutions,” he says.

A recent highlight has been wrapping in promotional offers on Partner solutions for all Vectorworks Service Select customers. “We just rolled that out with our new partner Epic Games with Twinmotion, and it has been widely successful with Vectorworks customers, taking advantage of the special promotion,” says Powell.

Enscape will close the trinity of the new leaders in real-time, interactive rendering solutions, joining Lumion and Twinmotion (already on the Vectorworks platform) as popular rendering solutions. Enscape’s solution will be new on the Mac platform and may encourage Lumion to one day join Twinmotion and Enscape in Mac support.

The Vectorworks Partner Network contains many of the AEC and CAD industry’s hottest new names. Lumion, Bluebeam, BIMobject, Enscape, Epic Games (Twinmotion), Revizto, and Solibri are critical leaders in AEC/O and complement a growing body of smaller or regional technology offerings, like SimTread by A&A Co. Ltd, and crowd:it — both tools focused on pedestrian simulation solutions, plus tools like Mosa, AutoTurn by Transoft Solutions, and NBS Chorus.

“I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our partner Enscape announced they are working on a Mac version, and this is welcome news for Vectorworks users. Vectorworks will be working with Enscape to ensure the robust workflow link between Vectorworks and Enscape works great for Mac users,” boasts Powell. “I’m excited about that and the growing momentum in the network and what it is doing for the future of Vectorworks.”

The post Vectorworks Partner Network Boast Innovative, Popular Expansions appeared first on Architosh.

Technologies like Omniverse Avatar and Omniverse Replicator will make working in the Omniverse a powerful tool for interacting with AI and building digital twins. All of this is driven by the effective use of RTX. 

Richard and Andrew give us insight into how professionals in AEC will use these technologies for both collaborative work and visualization. Designing projects will have a new set of powerful tools to create what is in your imagination in real-time.  

The Interview

(Akiko Ashley) Hello Richard, would you mind telling us about your experience in creative development with technology and how you found your way to NVIDIA?

My career spans Alias Wavefront, Apple, and Lucasfilm, which combined driving marketing and product development to bring new ideas to life. During all that time, I was a customer and a fan of NVIDIA; in fact, I presented at the first GTC while I was at Lucasfilm. It was just a matter of time until I found my home here. 

Hello Andrew, can you tell us about yourself and your role at NVIDIA?

I lead industry marketing strategy at NVIDIA for AEC, based at our HQ in Silicon Valley. Part of my role is staying on top of industry trends, particularly on the technology side. I’m in my ninth year at NVIDIA; there have been some tremendous advances in technology in that time that have delivered benefits to companies all over the world. 

As a side note, I’ve traveled to more than 80 countries, which has given me a global perspective on the challenges companies face, and that’s proved helpful for exploring how leading-edge technology can help enterprises transform their approach to business.

Richard, can you tell us about Omniverse and how this technology will connect architects and other professionals working together and increase their ability to collaborate in real-time?

NVIDIA Omniverse makes it possible for designers, artists, and reviewers to work together in real-time across leading software applications in a shared virtual world from anywhere. 

MORE: NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang Dazzles with Key Announcements and New Tools for Omniverse

Architects can meet virtually in a building they are working on. For example, a team could meet on the 36 floor—walk around the entire floor and iterate on texture details. They can also simulate what it would look like during different times of the day or how the light will reflect on the outside of the building before they have to build it in the physical world.

Andrew, can you tell us about NVIDIA RTX technology and how it has changed in the past two years?

NVIDIA RTX technology truly was a giant leap forward in compute and graphics acceleration with a fusion of raytracing, deep learning, and advanced shading. 

Bentley Systems is a globally leading AEC industry software company that has recently announced it is partnering with NVIDIA to bring Omniverse technology to its building and infrastructure design applications.

With NVIDIA’s invention of RT Cores (dedicated hardware on the GPU for raytracing) and Tensor Cores (for hardware-accelerated deep learning inference), not only did we achieve a massive boost in GPU performance with RTX for various professional workloads, but for the first time, we could achieve real-time raytracing. This meant users could interactively render massive scenes at cinema-quality, which, of course, is a phenomenal boost for visualization workflows for creative professionals. 

In the past two years, the NVIDIA GPU microarchitecture moved up from the Turing generation, which introduced RTX technology, to the Ampere generation. NVIDIA announced this latest GPU architecture in 2020, and it features next-generation RT Cores and Tensor Cores and doubles the GPU memory for our professional GPUs. These second-generation RT Cores and third-generation Tensor Cores offer users unprecedented graphics, rendering, and AI performance. 

We recently announced the NVIDIA RTX A2000 desktop GPU, making RTX technology more accessible from a price perspective for millions of designers and architects.

Richard, can you tell us how Omniverse will bring various aspects of NVIDIA technology together in one place?

Omniverse is the culmination of over 20 years of NVIDIA technology, bringing together real-time ray tracing, AI, DL, ML with PhysX engine, DLSS, etc.

Omniverse Enterprise runs on certified Omniverse RTX/workstation configurations. 

Richard, can you explain the role of USD in Omniverse?

Pixar’s open-source Universal Scene Description is the foundation of Omniverse. It enables large teams to work simultaneously across multiple software applications on a shared 3D scene. This open standard foundation gives software partners multiple ways to extend and connect to Omniverse, whether through USD adoption and support, building a plugin, or via an Omniverse Connector.

Richard, can you talk about the Physics extension developed by Apple, NVIDIA, and Pixar and how it works?

Apple, Pixar, and NVIDIA have collaborated to bring advanced physics capabilities to USD, embracing open standards to provide 3D workflows to billions of devices. 

NVIDIA recently brought its RTX technology to its Ampere-architecture-based A2000 desktop GPU, making RTX technology more accessible from a price perspective for millions of designers and architects.

Rigid body dynamics is the first part of this, and there’s more to go. The important thing is that companies are working together on this critical initiative. In much the same way HTML unified the web experience, we believe that USD will do so for 3D virtual worlds. 

Richard, do you need RTX GPU to use Omniverse, and does Omniverse support first-generation RTX GPU’s? Do CPU cores matter with Omniverse?

Yes, you need an RTX-based machine to use Omniverse. That is correct. Optimally, it will be a better experience to use a GPU card with a good amount of memory. 

Andrew, can you talk about accelerated raytracing using RTX and how it works, and how it will develop in the future?

Raytracing is massively computationally intensive since it calculates the color of the pixels you see on your computer display by tracing the path that light would take if it were to travel from your eye throughout the scene you’re viewing. 

For example, in a raytraced visualization of a building interior with physically based materials and lighting, the GPU calculates how natural and artificial light is reflected off objects such as polished marble tiles or refracted by passing through glass, or how the light gets blocked by objects and causes shadows. The benefit is that what you see on your display is exactly how that building interior will appear in real life under various lighting conditions.

Until the introduction of NVIDIA RTX technology, this computationally expensive type of photorealistic rendering would take a long time. 

Depending on the complexity of your scene, it could take several hours to render an image when using CPUs. With NVIDIA RTX, the combination of RT Cores, Tensor Cores, and CUDA Cores accelerate raytracing calculations to such an extent that rendering becomes real-time. 

The Tensor Cores speed up AI-augmented applications such as NVIDIA Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and rendering denoising. NVIDIA’s AI-accelerated denoiser was trained using tens of thousands of images, enabling it to make an intelligent prediction on what each pixel in the render should look like. This means designers can pan, zoom, and rotate their model and instantly view the render from that new perspective without having to wait a few minutes (or longer) for the image to resolve. 

Twinmotion by Epic Games is RTX hardware-accelerated for real-time raytracing rendering. Tensor Cores speed up AI-accelerated denoiser algorithms to improve rendering image quality, all in real-time. (Image: screenshot from AEC industry session at GTC 21, Belinda Ercan, Twinmotion, Epic Games)

So now, design teams can quickly iterate on models using raytraced renderings with full global illumination for animations such as architectural walkthroughs.

In the future, we can envision raytracing being used much more widely than just for visualizing 3D models of buildings and products on computer displays. For example, raytraced virtual reality environments could make scenes indistinguishable from real life for an even more immersive experience. 

Andrew, what is CUDA’s role in RTX?

As a bit of background, NVIDIA introduced the CUDA programming model in 2006, which opened the door to using the parallel processing capabilities of the GPU for general-purpose computing. Today, CUDA is the most powerful software development platform for building GPU-accelerated applications. 

CUDA Cores are parallel processors that handle all the data fed into and out of the GPU. NVIDIA RTX GPUs have thousands of CUDA Cores (the ultra-high-end NVIDIA RTX A6000 has 10,752 CUDA Cores), which rapidly process the innumerable calculations required for fast, accurate raytracing and real-time engineering simulation, as well as boosting frame rates. So, CUDA Cores are a critical element for improving RTX GPU performance with the many design and visualization software products used in AEC.

Andrew, can you outline a roadmap for RTX & RTX GPU graphics cards in the future?

I’ve been with NVIDIA since the Kepler generation of GPU microarchitecture (five generations before the current Ampere architecture), and each new generation has delivered impressive advances in GPU technology. While I can’t share specifics on our future GPU roadmap, it’s reasonable to assume NVIDIA GPUs and drivers will continue to deliver industry-leading performance and reliability with each new generation. 

Richard, how will Omniverse influence NVIDIA’s RTX technology development?

Omniverse is based on our RTX hardware for real-time raytracing, photorealistic imagery, and more. It’s built on over 20 years of NVIDIA technology. We built this platform because we use it ourselves to simulate everything that is built. We also run visualizations of the things that we are going to develop. All teams at NVIDIA work and learn together. 

Richard, can you talk about how NVIDIA’s GPU technology for raytracing acceleration works with Omniverse, and what results can we expect?

The industry breakthrough of real-time raytracing made possible with RTX is truly a game-changer. Photorealistic real-time rendering means true to reality simulations and workflows. You can expect digital twin virtual worlds identical to the physical ones, better productions being done in real-time, and much more. This is the most significant change in computer graphics history, and we’re just getting started with this new platform.

Richard, can you tell us how audio works in Omniverse? 

Several companies are exploring how to implement audio using Omniverse. We have basic support but are also exploring these areas with partners and developers. More to come on this topic. 

Richard, can you give a simple explanation of the first steps of how a first-time user can use Omniverse and become familiar with it? 

Anyone can download Omniverse in open beta if you are using an NVIDIA RTX. We have over 150 tutorials online to help you learn how to use it. The community has been great as well, customers helping customers. 

A large customer in Asia is creating digital twins of their hospitals using RTX-powered Unreal Engine technology. (Image: screenshot from AEC industry session at GTC 21, Belinda Ercan, Twinmotion, Epic Games)

Omniverse is a complex software platform capable of many things. The best bet for customers is to bring their existing workflows to Omniverse and extend them. 3D creators and designers have seen immediate success when connecting their core apps to the platform and taking advantage of all the new capabilities Omniverse brings to them. 

Omniverse Enterprise is more complex and is designed for multiple team members. Ideally, the facility (or firm) has development support and an experienced IT department to deploy the platform successfully. 

Richard, how do you see architectural visualization harnessing the power of NVIDIA technology in the Omniverse? 

AEC visualization is a key market for Omniverse because of true-to-reality simulation. We work with our software partners to extend and enhance their customers’ workflows, which allow them to utilize real-time simulations to aid in their visualizations.  

Andrew, what is the role of RTX in Architectural Visualization?

With NVIDIA RTX-powered desktop and mobile workstations or a virtual machine running NVIDIA RTX vWS (virtual Workstation) software, design teams can instantly view physically accurate and predictable visualizations of how building interiors/exteriors will appear in real life. 

An example of real-time raytracing powered by RTX technology inside Twinmotion. HKS is an architectural practice already working with NVIDIA on exploring Omniverse technology for their workflows. (Image: screenshot from AEC industry session at GTC 21, Belinda Ercan, Twinmotion, Epic Games).

By enabling real-time ray-traced rendering, RTX helps designers remain in the creative flow as they iterate on design options. They can quickly consider various options to create the most compelling renders faster. The accuracy and realism offered by RTX rendering with physically based materials and lighting help drive better and faster decision-making so that teams can keep projects on track under tight deadlines. 

NVIDIA Omniverse provides a virtual collaboration and simulation platform for teams working on a conceptual design to collaborate in real-time on a common model and take advantage of the RTX Renderer to create beautiful renders for design reviews and competition/bid submissions.

RTX-powered mobile workstations and RTX vWS software enable users to be productive from wherever they are working with their advanced visualization tools. The larger GPU memory in NVIDIA RTX professional GPUs provides the capacity to work with massive, complex architectural models and scenes.

Richard, can you name any architectural firms that are testing Omniverse?

We work with several architectural firms like Foster + Partners, HKS, and KPF. Many others around the globe. We featured a few in our recent GTC events (spring & fall) and will continue to highlight the amazing work they’re doing. 

Andrew, what architectural, CAD or engineering software takes advantage of RTX?

There are over 40 RTX-enabled software products, including Blender, Chaos V-Ray, Enscape, Unreal Engine. You can see a complete list here. 

Andrew, what would you say is the most significant role RTX will play in the Metaverse?

Not sure I can narrow it down to just a single significant point, but for example, RTX technology could help make the Metaverse more realistic from a visual and physics-based perspective. 

With real-time raytracing, we could achieve photorealistic, dynamic digital twins of everything in the Metaverse, so we’d have realistic avatar simulation and an accurate digitally built environment that respects the laws of physics.

Richard, what is your favorite thing about Omniverse, and what would you like to see happen in Omniverse?

My favorite thing about Omniverse is team building; we have some of the most innovative developers and creators from across the globe, most with a strong history in production, toolmaking, and breakthrough technologies. They have come together to build this platform, along with our software partners, and it’s revolutionizing multiple industries. These are the days we will all look back in 20 years and see it as a moment that changed computer graphics for everyone. 

Thank you, Richard and Andrew, for answering these questions and helping us to understand both Omniverse and RTX. 

Additional Notes

Omniverse Enterprise was released during GTC, and with this release, companies can collaborate with teams in different locations in one place. RTX is a growing technology becoming faster, more precise, and powerful with each generation. It should be noted that both are only available on Windows and Linux. I hope we see Omniverse on the Mac soon, and perhaps RTX.

An open beta for Omniverse is available here. https://developer.nvidia.com/nvidia-omniverse-platform

Image Credits

Format equates to “party with copyright” / “party with reserved rights of use.” (eg: image: Epic Games, Inc. / Architosh. All rights reserved.) 

Title image credit: screenshot from Belinda Ercan’s GTC 21 session A31745 showcasing NVIDIA’s real-time raytracing technology powered by RTX inside of Epic’s Twinmotion visualization software.  ( © Epic Games, Inc. / Architosh. All rights reserved.) Non-credited images are copyrighted to Architosh. All other images are copyrighted, as noted in the image credits. 

The post NVIDIA Execs Talk Omniverse and RTX with Architosh appeared first on Architosh.

The industry acronym AECOM (not nearly as common as AEC) in some ways sums that up, though the “M” can also stand for management. Architosh had a chance to speak to Nicolas Mangon, VP, AEC Strategy, Autodesk, about its investments in iOFFICE + SpaceIQ, to understand what this all means for Autodesk and its ability to close the loop in AECOM for its customers.

Closing the Loop 20 Years Later

“You know when we started with BIM, it was 20 years ago here in Waltham,” says Mangon reflecting on the company’s history with Revit. “It started with architecture, and then we moved to structural and MEP engineers.” Over the past half-decade, the US-based design software company has then delivered software for construction professionals as it marches through serving all the constituents of the AECOM industry.

“Back then, with people like Phil Bernstein, we talked about taking BIM to construction and facilities—this was 20 years ago,” he adds before acknowledging that the BIM transition within the building industry has taken longer than imagined. But Mangon is enthusiastic in our conversation, noting that this latest investment is one of Autodesk’s first and latest moves to address operations, maintenance professionals, and building owners.

Autodesk Tandem is the company’s flagship digital twins platform but connects data across other post-construction tools. The company intends Tandem to be the “digital handover” that correlates to the “physical handover” a contractor delivers to an owner. (Image: Autodesk)

This latest round of investments pairs up with Autodesk Tandem, the company’s “digital twins” platform, and recent acquisitions like Spacemaker and Innovyze. “What you are starting to see is we are more involved in post-construction,” he says. “What you will see in a complex building like a hospital is that 70 – 80 percent of the total cost of ownership is in the operations phase, over a typical 20-year period. So, there is a lot of value that can be created in post-construction.”

Beyond Predicting Failure

The AECOM industry is currently searching for new technological solutions that leverage not just shared data—to eliminate data replication and data silos—but access to the right data. On the operations side of things, owners are finding great value in being able to predict failure in the many building systems in their building assets.

IoT sensors today feed continuous data streams into computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) software. This is one aspect of Innovyze’s water plant infrastructure software where system downtime can be financially punishing for owner-operators. Yet, Mangon says much more can be done than sensor data for operations.

He makes the note that the vast majority of buildings in operation today, even ones with LEED AP Platinum certifications, we don’t know how things are performing. “Is that thing performing like it was designed?” he asks rhetorically. “I think we don’t know.”

Connecting building systems to IoT sensors and that data to CAFM software is the lower hanging fruit in closing the loop in AECOM in the era of digital twins. The industry can go way beyond predicting failure.

Autodesk wants to drive this data loop around for years across hundreds of thousands of buildings and infrastructure and then utilize AI-based design tools like Spacemaker to help asset owners make intelligent decisions early in the pre-design planning stages for capital expenditure.

Today Spacemaker largely works with data about its physical context and its climate. In the future, data from actual digital twins will feed into Spacemaker where AI will use it to help generate smarter solutions that combine with AI-generated solutions about a building’s site and climate.

“Today, what Spacemaker does is utilize data about its physical environment and its climate,” he notes. “What we don’t take into account is past experience.” Spacemaker, which Architosh has written about in detail, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate design options around design input criteria. (see: Architosh, “INSIDER: The Fourth Revolution—How Spacemaker AI Optimizes Architecture Development,” 26 July 2021)

In the near future, Autodesk might be able to leverage data connections for many hospitals in a particular region and take that data into a tool like Spacemaker. Once inside Spacemaker, that data will be translated into rich information helpful in designing better and more performative hospitals.

Tools for Owners

“Performative buildings” is a broad term. Mangon admits it can mean many things—from how a building functions for social distancing during a global pandemic like the one we are now facing; to how a building encourages creative interaction, like how Steve Jobs imagined the circular Apple campus building by Foster + Partners; to how satisfied Millennial employees are with their workspaces.

“These days, Millennials are thinking about their spaces where they work and if they are good for the environment. All of it goes up on social media,” he says. “So owners want to look at some of the trends in terms of satisfaction and help predict if people are going to renew their leases.” Mangon says this kind of data is the kind of data that SpaceIO and iOFFICE can collect, and it helps building owners know if they should renovate, tear the space down, or buy the next building two blocks away and do the same thing.

Autodesk Revit and a connection to a SpaceIQ application running on an iPhone. (Image: Autodesk)

iOFFICE + SpaceIQ (merged companies as of this year) offer tools for building owners that span the gamut from “workplace” or employee experience, to facilities management, to real estate management software systems. With over 10,000 customers globally, the two combined companies possess millions of data points that can serve as a starting basis for how Autodesk can strategically align data with their pre-design and digital twins software systems.

“There is already some integration of data today,” says Mangon, “but it is mostly going from design and construction into that space. Most of the time, it is 2D drawings or text data. It brings value, but it only scratches the surface of what can be done.”

Digital Twins

So as we look at how “closing the loop” means taking data from operations and maintenance and generating rich information that can inform decision-making, Mangon says that for Autodesk, the centerpiece technology is digital twins. And their digital twins’ technology platform is Autodesk Tandem.

“Historically, we build tools for architects, designers, and engineers—like AutoCAD and Revit and Civil3D,” he says. “Then we brought to market tools for construction companies. However, Tandem was built for owners. We had never before built a tool for owners from the owner’s perspective.”

He explains that one key thing owners do is “capital planning,” and Spacemaker is in that area and helps serve that function. He says that owners during the capital planning phase want to interact with the architect and the construction company and get what they need, but they have trouble getting it. “They don’t care about clash detection or on-site logistics. So they need a tool for them.”

“So the goal is—just like a construction company delivers a physical asset—Tandem delivers a digital asset,” says Mangon. He notes that owners don’t embrace BIM more because they never get what they want. Tandem is designed to give them exactly what they want.

With Autodesk Tandem at the center of the digital twin deliverable to owners, Autodesk can now connect other software systems such as Innovyze, Spacemaker, and the solutions from iOFFICE + SpaceIQ, bringing data full circle in the design-build-operate lifecycle.

The End Goal

Nicolas Mangon is ending the conversation by talking about different levels of digital maturity. From the owner’s side of things, the more sophisticated owners of the world, like Microsoft, are 100 percent BIM-centric with operations and maintenance. “That said, a large majority of the world continues to use 2D plan views in operations. So we can streamline this operation of getting data from Revit and AutoCAD into Tandem and tools like SpaceIQ,” he said. “We need to have different steps for different folks as we move customers from 2D to BIM and from BIM to the cloud.” The end goal is closing the feedback loop, and there will be different ways to get there.

The post Autodesk and Closing the AECOM Feedback Loop—Why It Matters appeared first on Architosh.

Editor’s note: This feature ran first in the October edition of our newsletter INSIDER Xpresso. To gain access to our top content faster and stay ahead of leading-edge technology, please subscribe to our free Xpresso newsletter.

ARCHITOSH HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK with Steve Johnson, Chief Technology Officer, Vectorworks, a few weeks ago about the new M1-native Vectorworks 2022 product just released.

In this interview, we cover how the M1 SoC is different in many respects, including memory limitations and the complete transition to the Metal graphics API for the Mac version of Vectorworks 2022, which is integral to the big picture M1 story.

Strap in as we talk tech shop about the AEC industry’s first BIM program on the ARM chip architecture.

The Interview

(Anthony Frausto-Robledo)  Thanks, Steve, for talking to me so extensively about the M1 or Apple Silicon transition with Vectorworks. Before we dive into that, what is the status of the Apple Metal transition?

(Steve Johnson) — You’re welcome. I’m giddy with excitement, as I just got my personal ARM M1 MacBook yesterday. You know, all of our reengineering over the years is really coming to a head! The M1 system-on-a-chip (SoC) and the unified memory, GPU, and cores are exciting, and Vectorworks 2022 shines on this platform.

The M1 chip maxes out at 16 GB of memory. How does this affect large 3D model performance?

SJ — So the 16 GB is a limit, but we see the paging out to virtual memory, and the engineering that Apple has done with the M1 is superb and makes that limitation almost go away. And, of course, we have the M1X chip coming soon, which will go beyond the 16 GB limit. (note: Apple just announced new M1 Pro and M1 Max chip due in November)

It’s a complex story to tell because it is not a straightforward task to compare a system-on-a-chip (SoC) implementation to a separate CPU and GPU. Things work differently between these hardware chip setups.

But you have done lots of testing, right? And what about beta testers and what they are saying?

SJ — Well, getting back to the full Metal implementation, we have been working with beta testers for a while now, and we see good reactions about Vectorworks 2022, which is full Metal on Apple, and the response is that it just feels much faster.

I realize that when we are talking about the full Metal implementation in the new Vectorworks 2022, we are, of course, talking about Metal on both Intel and the new ARM architecture Macs.

SJ — Yes, that’s correct. So, the performance in graphics with Metal can vary depending on the age of the Mac hardware and the specific OS version they are running.

Which macOS is required now as the baseline for version 2022?

SJ — macOS 10.15 Catalina is the oldest Mac operating system this latest version of Vectorworks runs on.

I know we will touch on Metal throughout this conversation about the M1 because the full Metal implementation is a big deal. Still, I want to focus on the M1 because readers and many of your users will be curious about it.

The M1 chip is a system-on-a-chip (SoC) and wraps CPU, GPU, memory and specialized machine-learning processors, and other specialized cores all together on the same silicon die. It’s precisely like the chip in all of our smartphones, but bigger. But what is unique and perhaps confusing to CAD/BIM users is that its memory is “unified” and shared among CPU, GPU, and the Neural Engine. At just 16 GB total, for these days, that seems like a real limitation for professional CAD industry work.

SJ — When the M1 was out, the first system we got for testing was the MacBook Air M1 with 8 GB of memory. And we ran it with our standard models—and yes, the file sizes were pushing out over that limit—yet you don’t really notice it much.

So Apple’s M1 chip and its motherboard is handling virtual memory that well that you don’t feel it paging out to the SSD drive?

SJ — Yes and no. Recall that back last November, we were doing our testing on Vectorworks 2021. There are a couple of things here and there with specific operations that cause some slow-downs with the paging, but really the transition is just smooth. Things, of course, are even better in 2022, which isn’t using any Rosetta.

Right. So once Apple ships the M1X that goes beyond the 16GB limit, the performance limitations of paging to virtual memory will essentially vanish. What is the largest BIM model you use in tests?

SJ — We have models that push out over the 16 GB limit.

Apple just released new Macs and new Mac chips. The M1 with 16 billion transistors is now surpassed by the M1 Pro with 33 billion transistors and the M1 Max with 57 billion transistors. Architosh has much more info published on these chips. A good place to start is here. (see: Architosh, “Thoughts on Apple’s M1 Pro, Max and the MacBook Pros,” 20 Oct 2021)

Apple’s M1 chip has industry-leading single-core performance at the performance per watt level and nearly absolute level. But what many don’t know is the M1 has stunning floating-point calculation performance as well. That’s going to impact Vectorworks 2022 on M1 well, correct?

SJ — Oh, absolutely. Floating-point comes into play across multiple areas, including the geometry engine and much of the vector-based rendering that architects like so much. So that work is all highly floating-point intensive.

The single-core performance of the M1 is interesting because most CAD software is still so dominantly single-core intensive. For example, the folks at BOXX make this point very clear when they talk about their workstations for Revit or SketchUp.

SJ — Yes, while you can compare applications to applications, we at Vectorworks have a lot of multicore stuff going on. Our single-core bottlenecks have, over time, become multithreaded. Some still exist, and the M1 Mac users will see good speedups. But you are right; single-core processing is impactful with BIM applications.

The CPU speeds are certainly going to be a big hit with our M1 users. That and the work we have done with Metal will wow users with the latest Vectorworks 2022. And the unified memory is just as fast.

The Vectorworks BIM/CAD platform in version 2022 is fully modern in the sense that it is developed for both ARM and Intel X86 Mac and Intel X86 Windows operating systems, with full utilization of low-overhead graphics APIs in Metal and DirectX on Windows.

Now that you are the AEC industry’s first BIM program native on Apple Silicon (or ARM Architecture) and have moved Vectorworks entirely off OpenGL onto bear-metal programming APIs, do you now see opportunities to speed up the application even further?

SJ — Absolutely. We already do that regularly as part of our reengineering efforts with each release. But I understand your question. Now that we are thoroughly modern—meaning we are on DirectX and Metal and off OpenGL and Intel X86 and ARM architectures—we can find areas where we can target performance optimizations, including GPU compute.

Won’t GPU compute be tricky working both across platforms and across chip architectures from Intel to ARM?

SJ — Well, it will be whatever makes the most sense in our cross-platform environment. Some of the texture preparation stuff may make good candidates.

A part of my question about being the first BIM on ARM architecture also gets to the point about Windows and ARM. So, the work you have completed now to get Vectorworks on ARM for Mac will provide you some advantage in getting ready for Windows on ARM once that becomes meaningful, correct?

SJ — Absolutely. There are various ways our work with ARM for Mac helps us down the road for prospects on Windows on ARM. For example, our work in the VGM (Vectorworks Graphics Module) enabled us to switch out OpenGL for Metal for Mac and DirectX for Windows. But that also means we can move to Vulkan if we want to. So that’s the GPU side of it.

As for ARM, there will be some challenges, and some algorithms may ultimately need to be tailored for each platform. We shy away from doing those things because we try to focus on cross-platform technologies. But Apple is leading us to ARM, and we are shining there, and that story will turn into a good story for our Windows users at some point down the road.

I know that Parasolid moved over to ARM on Mac rather quickly for their clients, of which you are one. Are further optimizations still out there that center on the geometry kernel for the M1 to take advantage?

SJ — I think there are. When working with Parasolid on our M1 migration work, we faced some challenges related to the Mac threading model. And we worked with them extensively to overcome those challenges. And I think the push to ARM in the industry will ultimately help them more.

For example, when we had to cache the Parasolid geometry calculations rather than do it on the fly, we used more memory in the background, which has its downsides. But as Parasolid gets better with multithreading and their further advancements with their ARM implementation, Vectorworks on the Mac will be a key beneficiary.

These sound like exciting times. Thanks for talking to me about your M1 ARM transition work.

SJ — You are very welcome; it was my pleasure.

The post The ARM Wars: Vectorworks 2022 is the First BIM on ARM—the M1 Interview appeared first on Architosh.

Last October, Wheelis joined Nemetschek, as VP of Industry Strategy for the Build & Construct Division, under Division Chief Officer and Nemetschek Executive Board member Jon Elliott.

Venture Funding

The Nemetschek Group of Germany appears to have a new leg for growth via strategic financial investments. “Last month, we hired Tanja Kufner, an expert in corporate venturing and deeply connected with the world of startups and venture capital. As head of Venture and Start-up, she is focusing on venture funding full-time,” says Wheelis.

Matt Wheelis joined the Nemetschek Group in the fall of 2020, as Vice President of Industry Strategy for the Build & Construct Division. (Image: Nemetschek Group / All rights reserved.)

The Nemetschek Group’s activity in the market has been quite intense, and Reconstruct isn’t the only funding activity for the Group. Before Reconstruct, the Group participated in a Series-A financing round for Sablono of Germany.

Wheelis says that the Group’s strategy with investment funding is tied to areas where the Group has long-term strategic interest.

AI in Construction

One particular focus already communicated by Nemetschek is the area of artificial intelligence (AI) and construction.

Reconstruct focuses on the utilization of computer vision and artificial intelligence to provide remote quality control and progress tracking in the construction industry. “Helping the industry advance AI and machine learning in the construction space will be an important factor moving forward,” says Wheelis.

Reconstruct software ingest reality-capture data from 360-degree cameras, drones, and point clouds, and compares it to drawing and BIM data using AI to understand what is built and what work remains. (Image: Nemetschek Group / All rights reserved.)

Reconstruct has the technologies that “close the gap,” as he calls it, between “the plan versus the actual performance.”

“Getting closure against how you are executing against the plan has been a challenge,” he says. “You can talk about clipboards in the field or these days about an iPad, which is often just a digital clipboard. In both cases, it is still a human manually verifying progress in the field.”

Typically construction superintendents or their assistant superintendents walk the job site to verify the progress being made by all the trades on the job. It’s an activity that requires depth in construction experience to understand and relate progress against sequenced project schedules.

Reconstruct’s software systems assist these efforts by ingesting reality capture data, including off-the-shelf 360-degree photography, drone data, and point clouds captured by laser scanners, comparing it using AI to drawings and BIM models, and then making intelligent assessments of progress status. Reconstruct has multiple patents on automated detection technology—recognizing from photography the rich complexity of building components as they relate to various trades and work in the building.

MORE: Nemetschek Group — Begins 2021 with Double-Digit Revenue Growth

The architect and owner teams are also benefitting from Reconstruct’s technology. “The architect can virtually visit the site to do their observational or inspection work,” adds Wheelis. “Or it can be the owner’s representative who visits the virtual world of the site versus the actual physical world of the site, yielding more frequent and less expensive progress reviews.”

Funding Acceleration

Reconstruct has been on a fast uptake since its founding, with 300 percent growth over the past two years. The AI-based construction software is active on projects for global brands like 7-Eleven, McDonald’s, and Pfizer. The latter company has deployed Reconstruct on its production facilities worldwide.

The US, Australia, Europe, and Japan are all major global markets for Reconstruct, and these markets match well with other Nemetschek AEC software brands. “The uptake in Japan has been strong,” adds Wheelis, “and some of the investors in the Series B round are from there.”

In May of 2020, Professor Georg Nemetschek, founder of the Nemetschek Group, established an Innovation Foundation in Munich, Germany. The Nemetschek Innovation Foundation is set to focus on AI as one of the pillars of the construction industry’s future. “Our founder made a significant financial contribution to the University of Munich to found the Institute of Artificial Intelligence for the Built World,” says Wheelis, “and there is a lot of synergy in that effort and our efforts behind Reconstruct.”

The post Nemetschek Talks to Architosh About Reconstruct and AI in Construction appeared first on Architosh.