CAD Anxiety

[Gus]

The improvements that are occurring in architectural software are happening at such a fast rate that I can't keep up with the changes. I feel as though I'm spending 3/4 of my time (non-billable hours) learning what's new with the software every year and I'm still falling behind. I can't be the only one having these problems. How is one supposed to practice architecture now days? Do we learn to do it one way, and become obsolete in 6 months and just continue to work in an obsolete manner for 5 years until things are so different that we have to completely retrain ourselves again? In the old days architects learned how to draft and model once then they did it the same way for the rest of their careers, focusing on building design not on how to draft and how to model. Now days I feel as though I'm spending very little time designing buildings and most of my time learning how to use the latest software. This isn't what I thought architecture was going to be like, when I began my career. Are we ever going to be able to focus on architecture instead of software? After 10 years of practice, why am I still spending most of my time learning how to draft? I would love to hear other people write about how they feel about all this.

[Anonymous]

The last few versions of Archicad have been very powerful considering just a few years ago how many people on this forum were worried Archicad was going to get left behind.

My main concern is that as the software gets increasingly powerful/complicated, users are still being made to use AC as a computer geometry program with all the work arounds that go with it.

I feel that GS's next great challenge/aim should be to take this powerful program and remove these user experience obstacles. Architects are designers at heart who don't want to be distracted struggling with expressing their ideas through an computer program that needs nurse maiding to get the required results. it gets in their way and gives them headaches.

GS, take the challenge! and take a page out of the late Mr Jobs book. Give us a user experience that more naturally reflects our building architect mindsets, not those of your software architects!

[Anonymous]

Gus wrote:
. . . Now days I feel as though I'm spending very little time designing buildings and most of my time learning how to use the latest software. . . . After 10 years of practice, why am I still spending most of my time learning how to draft? . . . .

We work with 4 or 5 registered architects who feel the same way. They want to design and build. Not mess with AC all day long. Thus we have work . Just letting you know other architects do feel like yourself.

[Anonymous]

In case of anxiety you can stop any-time the upgrade for 2 - 3 Archicad consecutive versions . You can upgrade only from Ac14 to AC 18 without loosing too much .

Under ideal conditions architects would deal exclusively with the architecture of the building without CAD or details editing obligations .

In practice especially under small firms you are not allowed to work as 50 years ago (when drafters manually changing dozens of drawings for a design change) and you can use the virtual model to communicate your ideas with clients .

When you control a BIM model you can feel the pressure of the CAD tools which are not as inoffensive as your pencils .
Yes CAD tools are good or bad - depending to may circumstances .

[stefan]

The day the architects in the Office are only concerned with the design and not the CAD/BIM elaboration, neither the detailing, you are loosing quite a lot.

To me (currently as an academic, but with some years of practice in the past), the hands-on activity of drafting, modelling and tweaking the design, including the detailing is essential to go from a pretty picture to something that can, one day, be built.

But I guess there are many architects who would love to only do the fancy stuff and don't bother with the rest anymore.