We are full speed ahead in 2018, and as part of our annual series surveying upcoming advances in architecture (see 2016's "Tech to Expect" and 2017's "Tech to Master"), we asked nine leaders in digital practice and technology what innovations they expect to see in the profession this year—and to give us a peek into their current workload.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
Jonathan Bartling, AIA
Director of digital practice and vice president, HGA Architects and Engineers
Prediction: The intersection of architecture, design, and technology must center on people. Human experiences have been and always will be the cornerstone of our profession. The digital tool set has enabled us to transcend traditional architecture practice, albeit sometimes with a high barrier for entry. New developments in AEC have begun to democratize tool customization, providing more intuitive ways to explore and innovate.
This year, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and real-time rendering will continue to transform the way we design. Using these tools to design at a one-to-one scale provides the ability to inhabit a proposed design concept while iterating options within a continuous feedback loop. Developments in Enscape and Unity along with the upcoming releases of the HTC Vive 2.0 and upgraded wireless VR will continue to give us the opportunity to gain new perspectives that allow us to design in a more dynamic manner than ever before.
Project: Over the last couple of years, HGA has been leveraging VR for marketing, education, and design pursuits focused on buildings. In 2017, HGA’s Digital Practice group created the Empathy Effect, which received an honorable mention in ARCHITECT's 2017 R+D Awards, a VR experience that projects various eye deficiencies in the VR headset, allowing us to better understand the experience of others. Our team is currently developing Canary (see top image), a custom VR tool set that will leverage the immersive environment while catalyzing the convergence of simulation, computation, documentation, and visualization.
By integrating these subjects into one tool, we are able to both input and receive qualitative and quantitative data. Canary will offer a customizable tool set that is unique to the user, whether that is a designer, planner, engineer, client, or end user. Our hope is that Canary will foster new workflows and design innovation by creating a more effective relationship between technology and architecture, allowing us to build deeper insight in the design process, and thus ascertaining a more impactful outcome as a result.
Hilda Espinal, AIA
Chief technology officer, CannonDesign
Prediction: Virtual experiences through simulations holds great promise. To date, architects are mostly using VR to create environments that reflect space as it will be built. However, virtual simulations will allow us to see how these environments hold up during routine and surprise events. For example, we will be able to test how hospitals endure in the face of hurricane winds, or if shadows projecting on a floor will cause patients to slip or fall. When the simulations are coupled with audio playback, we will be able to model the sound from a local community pool to assess its impact on the appeal of new apartment complexes. We are barely scratching the surface of how we can be leveraging virtual simulations.
Project: We’re working on creating a new, truly immersive virtual reality experience for our designers and clients that counters the isolated experiences offered by most technologies available to date. Not only will this experience produce a wow factor on steroids, but the multi-user virtual reality capabilities will better connect our top designers, clients, and project teams in virtual spaces that can enhance our design solutions. This technology will knock down geographic barriers and allow client organizations to understand their real estate investments intimately months and years before they’re built. The benefits this can bring to innovation, communication, cost-control, risk reduction, and outcomes assurance will be significant.
Automation, the Good Kind
Bill Zahner, Hon. AIA
CEO and president, A. Zahner Co.
Prediction: For this year and beyond, Zahner will continue to push the intersection of art and architecture by focusing on the increased relevance of automation. In particular, we are using robotics to enhance the human application of surfaces on metal. We have always striven to integrate the handcraft exemplified in art with the algorithm-driven rigor offered by automation and digital integration into the business of making. For instance, if you could paint a room with a robot and leave the detail, edge work to the person, you can accomplish more without being overwhelmed with boredom and still achieve the individualistic, handmade look. A robot thrives in the mundane. Humans need detail.
Project: Currently we are exploring how to arrive at affordable surfaces with unique special finishes, such as blackened steel and blackened zinc, that possess the look of handcraft and art for the design world. We are also researching if modern automated systems can bring processes that are many centuries old, such as casting, back to the forefront of design materials. We want to expand the capabilities of designers by giving them new tools and materials to work with.
Focus on Digital and Data
Cory Brugger, Assoc. AIA, chief technology officer, HKS
Heath May, AIA, associate principal, HKS, and director of HKS LINE
Prediction: We see the construction industry adopting new, substantive technologies more rapidly than architects, with technology-augmented construction processes leading the way. The use of AR and reality capture for layout and field verification will likely become commonplace on most large-scale projects. Where they are not limited by regulations or liability, drones will be used to support site observation, field inspections, and reality capture. We also expect to see an increase in the scale and capacity of additive manufacturing processes, including 3D-printed cementitious materials, structural metals, and high-strength composites and polymers.
In support of the progress being made in the construction phase we expect that architects will aim—or be forced—to more effectively utilize 3D models and BIM through the pre-construction and construction administration phases. These changes will likely be driven by the expansion of new delivery models—including direct-to-fabrication, systems unitization and off-site fabrication, and large-scale prefabrication—that rely on consistent downstream digital integration among the designer, contractor, and fabricator.
Project: In support of our efforts to improve project outcomes, we are refining our data governance strategy. The application of a functional data management system will provide our design teams with access to information and key project metrics in support of contextualized design decisions. By clearly documenting and organizing our historical project data and market expertise, we are aiming to create a digital value chain that leverages the firm’s 80 years of experience to inform our generative design initiatives through the development of tools focused on automated design assistance.
These initiatives include system-based approaches utilizing weighted fitness criteria and the integration of construction and fabrication intelligence (collective DNA inheritance). We will also focus on developing tools that both augment and replace design activities. The evolution of more intrinsic computational processes will be in direct support of cloud-based design and simulation environments. Our objective of advancing design through data-driven design processes aims to improve the overall quality and performance of our projects through operational intelligence.
Kimon Onuma, FAIA
President and founder, Onuma Inc.
Prediction: We are seeing more apps, plug-ins, and customization of existing tools by AECO professionals. Some of these solutions are inward-facing and solve a specific need; others are set up to be used by industry. The most interesting ones are solutions that have open APIs and web services that enable plugging them into each other and for future expansion. As architects, we have a unique insight into the AEC industry that helps us to define use cases to create efficiencies and value with solutions. Rapidly being able to build on existing platforms helps us get there faster, and realizing the value of the network through open connections is the wave of the future. Being fearless about this opens up new opportunities, and the AEC industry should be the driver of these solutions.
We also need to expand the trend of sharing machine-readable data from owners, such as the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs on the SEPS (Space and Equipment Planning) to BIM initiative. Architects can bring value to owners by supporting the connection to their data, and then guide other owners to move away from static data trapped in documents and to machine-readable data that can then be linked to the tools we use and create.
Project: I hope to expand the concept of architecture as a platform—or engineering as a platform, owner data as a platform, et cetera. We plan on continuing this drive through projects that are ongoing with owners and others in the AEC industry and through our open sandbox on BIMStorm. The world lives on platforms. Our devices communicate to social media, maps, location services, Amazon, Apple, Google, and other apps. The gaping hole is architecture. Our projects are very inwardly focused, single-use, document-centric, BIM-centered masterpieces that have a hard time plugging into each other and the world. Once we finish the design and the construction is complete, others are moving in to scan and catalog the end result of our creations to harvest the data and help them plug into the world’s platforms. This can and must change.
It is not only about the technology but a process change and the will and courage to make this happen. Our current contracting language and stance of “owning” our designs and documents as the secret sauce of the buildings we design is seriously flawed and damaging to the profession and society. It is time to flip this around. We don’t have to start from scratch. The Internet is ready to be used as the platform for architecture. The profession needs to step forward and create a platform for architecture that extends to engineers, owners, operators, emergency responders, cities, and citizens.
Graphics courtesy Onuma Inc.
Yes, we will need to share information and knowledge. Yes, this could be threatening. But it is not an all-or-nothing proposition. The concept of radical transparency can be combined with protection of intellectual property and increasing business opportunities. Once off an isolated island, the chances of connecting to business opportunities dramatically increases while helping civilization to move forward.
Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain
Natasha Luthra
Virtual design and construction director of emerging technologies, Jacobs; 2018 chair, AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community
Prediction: The possibilities of what artificial intelligence (AI) systems can do for our industry are endless. From the seemingly basic tools (AutoDraw) to the ambitious (The Grid), smart cities are the obvious first place where these technologies will take root, given that any AI technology will need large data inputs to be successful. Philadelphia, where I live, was one of five cities that won last year’s Smart Cities Council Readiness Challenge Grant, and I am interested to see how the city uses the momentum from the grant to become smarter. A few companies in the construction space are already combining the needs of the building industry with machine learning. Smartvid.io is looking to identify safety issues on construction sites by using machine learning to comb through thousands of pictures and videos.
Project: Our goal is to make innovation a tangible goal. This year we intend to find ways to have more projects utilize new and emerging technologies so that they become instinctive and commonplace for us. We are looking at unmanned air services, laser scanning, augmented reality, and machine learning as tangible goals that we can implement right away. As chair of the AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Knowledge Community, I want to expand the conversation on how design should drive technology, instead of technology driving design decisions, within the AIA and around the country.
Brad Prestbo, AIA
Senior associate and director of technical resources, Sasaki
Prediction: This past year we have seen much excitement about blockchain, particularly around cryptocurrencies, or digital currencies, like Bitcoin. A blockchain is a non-corruptable ledger that keeps a record of all transactions that take place across a peer-to-peer network. There are two distinct types: one which adopts radical decentralization, as in that used for cryptocurrencies; and one that does not. Businesses would be more apt to adopt the latter. The incorporation of blockchain networks into the design and construction industry will have a profound impact, facilitating quicker and more secure transactions. Imagine how much more efficient an algorithmic governance model would be when processing real estate transactions and permitting.
I also expect predictive modeling to make greater inroads into design. Imagine incorporating the power of autocomplete—like that in texting—into your design process. One of the projects developed during the 2017 BeyondAEC Hackathon, hosted by Gensler digital design manager Kyle Martin, Assoc. AIA, myself, and others, explored how to use artificial intelligence (AI) to autocomplete modeling tasks. For example, a team showed how AI can automatically finish modeling the sides of a room, thereby saving production time. We can teach the AI to autocomplete many spaces and elements, especially those that follow a clear set of rules, like restrooms and egress stairs. This will allow designers to focus their time on the areas of the project that really demand attention.
Project: I'm a big proponent of making things, including bringing maker culture into the design process. I lead a group of makers at Sasaki and started an outreach program with the Boston Society of Architects called MakeTANK. This year I want to collaborate with area youth programs such as YouthBuild Boston, KidsBuild!, and NuVu Studio and help disadvantaged youth discover the art of making and using new technologies to design with their minds and to build with their hands.
New Materials and Mixed Reality
Steven McKay, Assoc. AIA, senior principal and global design leader at DLR Group; senior fellow and executive board member of the Design Futures Council
Prediction: We’re anticipating big things with a new research project around bio-phase change materials (bioPCM). Our research initiative Thermal Mass 2.0 aims to measure and prove the ability of PCMs to cool and heat facilities effectively, and to increase thermal comfort. The space industry has used PCMs for years, but these are often petroleum-based and break down after a few cycles of change. We are testing a vegetable-based composition that can change phase at room temperature—not at 32 F. We are partnering with Harvey Bryan, FAIA, a professor at Arizona State University’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; Phase Change Energy Solutions (PCES); the Agua Fria Union High school district; and Chasse Building Team. We have installed PCES’s BioPCM at a large, new facility at Canyon View High School just outside of Phoenix, and have integrated the monitoring and measurement into a living-lab partnership for the school’s curriculum.
Project: During the design phase of our renovation of the Portland Building we are using mixed-reality (MR) software to communicate seamlessly with the project owner team, the residents of Portland, and the invested design community. Contrary to how the augmented and virtual reality industry is moving toward one-size-fits-all solutions, the key for leveraging technology with this project has been finding the right hardware and software for the phase of design and for the audience. While Oculus or Vive are great tools for developing the design details with the team, Google Cardboard is ideal for public meetings and education opportunities. Choosing the right technology for this project meant maintaining true value, not shock value.
And because this is a building that the City of Portland will use to deliver significant public services, we plan to use MR applications as a teaching tool to help building users—both returning staff and the general public—understand the new space after construction is completed in 2020. We’ve also met with representatives of Microsoft HoloLens, Studio 216, Yulio, and others to discuss the future of the enterprise market for MR software applications in architecture.
Courtesy DLR Group
Note: This article has been updated since first publication.
