MANILA, Philippines — A group of architects on Wednesday, October 2 pushed for the local adoption of three-dimensional modeling tools in architecture and design to help make the country in lockstep with emerging global standards.
Gianluca Nicholas Lange, regional industry manager of design software company Autodesk, said that compared to the current two-dimensional drawing tools currently used in the local field, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) will bring greater work efficiency, improve collaboration, reduce errors, and boost global competitiveness.
“BIM makes more things possible beyond what can be done in 2D. Inefficient and error prone 2D workflows are replaced with integrated BIM workflows yielding greater efficiencies, improved accuracy and predictability,” Lange said in a forum at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City.
Worldwide, overall adoption of BIM has increased from 17 percent in 2007 to 71 percent in 2012 according to data cited by Lange. Other countries such as the U.S.A., UK, and Singapore among others have helped usher in the technology by adopting BIM as an industry standard.
“Locally, the industry as a whole is still in a learning process right now,” Lange said.
“Majority is still moving away from the 2D workflow and still learning about the advantages of 3D,” Lange added.
Architect Felino Palafox, Jr., founder of Palafox Associates, said that the BIM has helped their design process.
“It improves our coordination and avoids repeat work. This technology has helped us a lot,” Palafox said. “We’d rather see our mistakes in drawing than in concrete. Otherwise, it would be a monument to our errors.”
Architect Christopher dela Cruz, CEO of Phil Greenbuilding Council, likewise stressed the inherent advantages of using 3D modeling.
“Simply put, with new ideas like green building, we need newer tools,” dela Cruz said. “Moving forward, everything gets done easier with the right tools.”
For the technology to widely adopted, dela Cruz said that the challenge will be for firms to see the advantages in investing on the technology and for advocates to help public awareness on its benefits.
“The challenge is to make city councils understand the benefits of acquiring BIM and allot time in investing in public awareness,” dela Cruz said.
“It should not just be an aspirational goal. This has to be the new business as usual,” dela Cruz added.
source: interaksyon.com
