The Evolution of Architectural Design

From the days of the drafting board to 3 dimensional parametric building modeling, architectural concepts, designs and presentations have been launched into a whole new world.

               

Autodesk has developed Architectural Desktop^® especially for architects. Architectural Desktop works as an intuitive building modeler and offers the comfort of being based on AutoCAD^®. This is great for the AutoCAD user that may not quite be ready for the big leap to Revit^®.

If you are currently an AutoCAD user, ADT is easy to learn. It is not like picking up brand new software and having to learn it from scratch. The user interface is very similar and there is still that good old command line. Commands are issued the same way as they are in AutoCAD; the only thing a new user needs to learn is the additional functionality provided by ADT and the ability to think in 3D instead of 2D. This really isn’t that hard to achieve - we do live in a 3D world after all.

Since ADT is based on AutoCAD, it includes all the functionality and ease that AutoCAD offers with the added benefit of intelligence. A wall in ADT is not merely a rectangle or a series of lines; it is a 3 dimensional intelligent object complete with thickness, material, and specific styles. It looks like a wall and acts like a wall, therefore, it is a wall. Because these objects are intelligent, pulling that information from the drawing simplifies drafting plans, views, bills of material, detailing and presentation. The result is increased productivity, which as we all know, equals increased cash!

ADT takes you from conceptual design to documentation to annotation to presentation.
Not only can you create precise engineering documents, but with the addition of VIZ Render^® you can go from concept to photorealistic. VIZ Render is a simplified and easier to use version of Autodesk^® VIZ. It provides the same quality rendering that VIZ users experience with full blown Autodesk VIZ. There is a vast material library provided through the content browser and you can easily create and modify your own materials. You can further your presentations by not only providing photorealistic images but fly-bys and virtual walkthroughs also.

Ask yourself these questions: Could drafting on a board offer you the ability to quickly revise a drawing? No! Could drafting on a board offer you the speed and flexibility that Computer-Aided Drafting could? No!  Now ask yourself this: Can AutoCAD offer the productivity of automated design documents? No! Can AutoCAD offer you the efficiency of intelligent architectural objects? No! Then there really is no question. 3D building information modeling is the way of the future. We can embrace it or stand in the unemployment line with you know who. Change can be great especially if it allows increased productivity and workflow, speed and efficiency. Back in the days of pencil and paper, the thought of drafting on the computer struck fear in the hearts of many drafters. Now the thought of going back is comical. CAD designers are now at a similar crossroad. It is time to break free of the plain, unintelligent 2D CAD drawings and move on to the 3D modeling intelligence waiting for us. In just the same way we think of drafting boards now, one day when someone mentions plain 2D CAD we will shudder at the thought.