Datasheet

BiM and Process change
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If you understand the basic premise of an integrated building model, then you’ll by now have
realized that BIM removes the concept of drawing lines to represent objects. Instead, you build
walls, roofs, stairs, and furniture. You model the building and its systems. Figure 1.2 shows a
3D sectional view of a Revit model. You can see that the model incorporates façade elements,
floors, roofs, parapets, curtain walls, and materials. All this information is modeled and must be
designed as it is to be built. You then add information to the drawings to explain the model in
the form of parametric tags and keynotes. Although the end result is still a set of printed lines,
you rarely draw these lines. This concept of modeling is so simple, and matches more closely the
process of building design that you as an architect are familiar with, that you’ll get used to the
idea in no time.
Revit is excellent at managing changes and keeping your model interconnected. Unlike
CAD, the intent of BIM is to let the computer take responsibility for redundant interactions and
calculations, leaving you, the designer, with more time to design and evaluate your decisions.
With a BIM tool such as Revit, be prepared to change your expectations of how to use design
software. Remember: you are modeling a building now—not drafting lines. You’re doing what
you do best: solving complex spatial problems.
Figure 1.2
The BIM model
keeps you honest
and focused on
solving problems
of a model, not
lines.
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