Designing and Making with BIM and Parametrics Architectural design students work under the direction of Mark J. Clayton, PhD Since leaving administrative duties in 2008, I have taught a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses, most frequently design studios. A constant theme has been the use of Building Information Modeling software to create complex form juxtaposed against fabrication and assembly of models and full-size structures. This combination of digital and tactile assignments can enrich a student s imagination and engender confidence that he or she can be a good designer. Doctoral projects are less photogenic, but our team is challenged to do one project each year with architectural design content. Two projects are appended to the studio work.
Fabricated Dinosaurs. To learn about materials, construction, and digital fabrication, second year students worked in teams of two to copy and enlarge wooden kits of dinosaurs and other animals.
Langford Architecture Center Intervention. To learn about materials, construction, and parametric modeling, fourth year students worked in teams of three to design and fabricate a structure for installation in the College of Architecture. The Plywood Mesh 002 was designed and installed by Nick Schaider, Laura Hensley, and Josh Canez in 2010 and remains on display. It was featured on the main page of the ACSA web site during the 100 th year anniversary celebration.
Langford Architecture Center Intervention. Working in teams, fourth year students designed a wall for a classroom that would serve the dual purpose of reducing reverberation and providing aesthetic interest. They mocked up the design at full size using laser cut and CNC cut material.
High Performance Residence. Second year students working individually gain ability in Building information modeling, modern theory, and performance-based design by designing a modest house for a local site. Students present there projects using immersive visualization.
OTG Residence. Second year students working individually gain ability in Building Information Modeling, modern theory, and performancebased design at the sophomore level by designing an off the grid vacation lodge for a site in a remote part of Texas.
Affordable House. Second year students working in teams of two or three were challenged to show their skill with BIM and design by designing a house in one week..
Affordable House. Second year students working individually designed modest houses using BIM and explored modernist theory.
Verge Houses. As a response to the disasters from Hurricanes Katrina, Ike, Sandy and others, second year students explored the concept of a raised platform for a neighborhood. To understand the speed of designing with BIM, they were challenged to design five houses in a short period of time.
Real Project. Second year students competed to design and build a house for a local affordable housing corporation. The selected house was framed by students and then completed by a builder.
The Train Station. In this sophomore design studio project, students working individually are challenged to use Building Information Modeling software to design a train station canopy and waiting room structure. They must then construct a large scale model, approximately six to eight feet long, to portray the design. The project engages them in creating expressive, contemporary form using parametrics and challenge them to learn about real materials and connections by using our wood shop.
Langford Architecture Center Intervention. In an exploration of parametric modeling, second year students working in teams of two or three students designed a functional and expressive intervention for the College of Architecture.
Urban Mixed Use Intervention. While participating in a study abroad program in Italy, third year students working in teams of three or four were challenged to develop a concept for a mixed use development on a site near the train station of a small town. They used BIM to develop their designs and undertake lighting studies, bill of materials and quantities extraction, and energy analysis.
Interdisciplinary Capstone. Fourth year students teamed with students from the Construction Management program and the Land and Property Development program to design a residential primary and secondary school for an actual client in Fort Worth. They learned about Integrated Project Delivery and the use of BIM to support comprehensive design.
Interdisciplinary Capstone. Teams consisted of one undergraduate Environmental Design student, one graduate Land and property Development student, and two or three graduate Construction Management students.
Interdisciplinary Capstone. Faculty contributors were Dr. Julian Kang, Department of Construction Science, and Geoffrey Booth, Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning.
Rolling Wall. To learn about materials, construction, and parametric modeling, second year students worked in teams of two to design and fabricate a wall, 2 x3 x6 4, mounted on casters. One side of the wall provides pin-up space while the other side is a sculptural element derived from mathematical formulas.
Rolling Wall. Two teams coordinated their design for the rolling wall to portray waves in water. The wall was featured in the student art exhibit of 2015 in a prominent spot to attract visitors.
Construction Model. To learn about common materials and construction, and gain practical experience working with materials, second year students worked in teams of two to model a fragment of a house. Models are at 1:8 scale to force students to mill hardwood to the correct dimensions of nominal sizes of lumber.
Interdisciplinary Capstone. Working with university officials and Midway Companies developers, teams of students planned and designed Phase II of the Century Square project in College Station. Phase I will open in fall of 2016. Teams were led by Bachelor of Environmental Design students and supported by Bachelor of Science in Construction Science students and Master of Land and Property Development students. Teams produced urban designs, pro forma profit projections, construction cost estimates, construction schedules and 4D CAD animations, structural concept design, and energy audits for the urban district scale project.
Presentations were made to a panel of professional developers, architects, and contractors using the Satterfield and Pontikes BIM CAVE. An array of 36 high resolution screens were coordinated in an integrated display to achieve an immersive experience. Full motion video was used for walk-through and time-lapse aspects of the projects.
Harbin Workshop. A select group at Harbin Institute of Technology were instructed in using BIM, parametric modeling, and digital fabrication. They designed and produced models offree-form canopies for a train station using Autodesk Revit, 3D printers, and laser cutters.
Campus Model. As a challenge to doctoral students to learn about digital fabrication, our research team constructed a model of the Texas A&M University campus. Students wrote software to translate GIS data into BIM data, and then used the BIM to generate contoured panels to represent the site and shapes to be laser cut to represent buildings. The model was on exhibit at the main university library lobby for over a year.
QNV IV Analysis. A team of graduate students working under the direction of architecture, construction science, and land development faculty created a parametric urban model of a site near campus to support the study of economic, environmental, social and sensory performance. The model was also examined in an immersive visualization setting.
Parametric Aesthetics. Doctoral students have been exploring the use of parametric and constraint models to represent aesthetic issues such as symmetry, alignment, proportion, and pattern. Concepts such as line of symmetry, layers of penetration, syntactical center, and others may be modeled as masses, tagged and revealed using visualization and graphic settings. The methods enable rapid variation of prototypes, such as the Villa Rotunda, and Meier s Smith, Douglas, and Rachofsky houses.
Dissertations. Doctoral students in the CRS Center BIM SIM Group engage in advanced research in topics such as BIM adoption, energy modeling, urban modeling, pedestrian modeling, and software development. Recent and current projects include: Dr. Jong Bum Kim. PhD in Architecture, 2014. Parametric Urban Regulation Models for Predicting Development Performances. Dr. Duygu Yenerim. PhD in Architecture, 2014. A Process Using Building Information Modeling (Bim) for Improving Self-Help Housing in Texas Colonias. Dr. Woonseong Jeong. PhD in Architecture. 2014. Integrating Building Information Modeling with Object-oriented Physical Modeling for Building Thermal Simulation. Dr. Jose Luis Bermudez Alcocer, PhD in Architecture. 2014. An Analysis of a Low- Energy, Low-Water Use Community in Mexico City. Professor, ITESM Campus Estado de México y Campus Ciudad de México. Dr. Manish Dixit, PhD in Architecture, 2013. Embodied Energy Calculation: Method and Guidelines for a Building and its Constituent Materials. Assistant Professor. Dr. Francisco Farias. PhD in Architecture, 2013. Contemporary Strategies for Sustainable Design. Dr. Simge Andolsun, PhD in Architecture, 2013. Small Residence Multizone Modeling with Partial Conditioning for Energy Efficiency in Hot and Humid Climates. Dr. Edelmiro Escamilla, PhD in Architecture, 2011. Investigation of Project Management Planning Practices for Renovation of Historical Buildings in Urban Contexts Located in Texas. Professor Greg Luhan, PhD in Architecture, expected 2016. Measurement of Self- Efficacy, Predisposition for Collaboration, and Project Scores in Architectural Design Studios. James Haliburton, PhD in Architecture, expected 2016. Building Information Modeling and Small Architectural Firms: An Analysis of the Impacts of BIM Transition on the Small Architectural Practice. Saied Zarrinmehr, PhD in Architecture, expected 2016. A Simulation and Evaluation Model of Building Occupancy Scenarios at Design Phase Using Pedestrian Dynamics and Agent- Based Systems. Ehsan Barekati, PhD in Architecture, expected 2016. A BIM Compatible Schema for Architectural Programming Information. Hyoungsub Kim, PhD in Architecture, expected 2017. A Model for Performance Evaluation Of Climate-Adaptive Building Envelopes Using Parametric Models and Multi-Criteria Optimization. Chengde Wu, PhD in Architecture, expected 2017. BIM-Based Smoke Propagation Simulation for Instant Design Feedback. Jawad Altabtabai, PhD in Architecture, expected 2017. Parametric BIM-Based Design Review Using a Game Engine.