Thank you to all of you who joined us during Graphisoft IGNITE 2025 – in person or online. It was a great pleasure to meet many of you in Budapest, and we hope you enjoyed every moment of the conference as much as we did!
If you couldn’t attend in person this time but would like to learn what happened during the 3 days of Graphisoft IGNITE, now is your chance to read about and see some insights.
About the event
Graphisoft IGNITE was a three-day conference in downtown Budapest, where AEC design innovation took center stage at the magnificent Corinthia Hotel. The action-packed conference began with a welcome reception on October 6, followed by two full days of keynotes and parallel breakout sessions. There were plenty of opportunities to connect during designated networking time and special evening programs hosted at the Exhibition Center and Graphisoft Park.
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Day 0 - Welcome reception and Community Meet-up
The conference began with registration, a partner exhibition, and a welcome reception, allowing attendees to check in, explore partner offerings, and network in a relaxed evening setting.
We were lucky to have so many people from the Graphisoft Community present at the event. Seeing you all together – this time in the offline world – was truly remarkable. It was a great time to catch up with long-lost friends from the other half of the world and get to know the people we all spend so much time with online.
Photo: András Cselényi-SzabóDay 1 – Focus on strategy and customer success
The conference opened with Yves Padrines, CEO of the Nemetschek Group, and Daniel Csillag, CEO of Graphisoft, who reflected on how Nemetschek brands are driving meaningful change across the AEC industry.
Photo: András Cselényi-Szabó
Together, they set the tone for an inspiring program that showcased innovation, authenticity, and collaboration across the Nemetschek ecosystem.
First, Fred Mills from The B1M gave an inspiring presentation about the power of architecture and construction in our modern times. He delivered an update about the AEC sector and explored the key challenges professionals currently face in the architecture and construction industries.
Later that morning, Márton Kiss and Julian Geiger, joined by Gordana Radonić, János Detre, and Zsolt Kerecsen, introduced Graphisoft’s Product Strategy, a vision for intelligent, connected design. The session connected product, community, AI, and technology perspectives, showing how our ecosystem evolves together to deliver the Best Design Experience.
We were honored that Gábor Bojár, the founder of Graphisoft, also joined us to see what is happening recently in the AEC industry.
There were also presentations by fellow Graphisoft customers, who shared their stories and projects from around the world.
Luca Bernardoni from Archilinea talked about the story of designing more than just buildings. In the heart of Emilia-Romagna, Italy, a region known for engineering genius and bold ideas, a seemingly impossible challenge set the stage for an extraordinary journey. What began as one project soon evolved into something larger: a test of endurance, leadership, and the ability to transform complexity into clarity. He told us how the team and the vision were formed in a way that unexpectedly opened doors to something far greater.
Then Marko Dabrović from 3LHD explained how the Rimac Campus, a large-scale, highly complex project combined with a strong design concept, became reality from the first sketches through the design process in Archicad until delivery with VOLUM3. Their story resonates with architectural teams facing similar challenges: how to scale up, stay coordinated, and make the right software choices to support complex design and construction processes.
Mark Hensler shared with us how Strada has used Archicad for the past 25 years as a multidisciplinary studio. They greatly benefit from Teamwork and Archicad’s 3D environment with partner add-ons, which allow them to execute large projects with focused design teams.
His presentation demonstrated how Archicad empowers Strada to fulfill its core mission of Design with People in Mind®, creating transformational spaces and impactful experiences that positively influence the communities it serves.
While addressing social and ecological issues in the present, with a relentless focus on the unconventional for our future, Delugan Meissl Associate Architects bring the tools to evolve their design process with research and development of new strategies.
Gregor Doblinger demonstrated how they integrate advanced BIM strategies to streamline collaboration and reduce digital complexity, using key projects like the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and Vienna TwentyTwo as real-world case studies.
Tamás Erős from DANU Engineering and Design introduced all of us to CIM – City Information Management. From contemporary museums and historic town centers to post-industrial districts, today’s architectural and urban projects demand a coordinated digital approach. His presentation explored how BIM and GIS can be effectively integrated to address the challenges of designing both individual buildings and their broader urban contexts.
Have you wondered how a design philosophy rooted in calmness, tactility, and atmosphere can survive the technical demands of digital design and documentation? Robert Antonio Graf from Norm Architects shared how the principles of Soft Minimalism can be carried into the architectural workflow.
The last presenter of the day was Lanre Gbolade from Gbolade Design Studio, who talked about making every day extraordinary through regenerative and sustainability-led architecture. He shared their BIM journey from 2018 to the present and how SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) can leverage the power of BIM to deliver sustainable projects with greater efficiency.
Once the presentations were over, all the previous presenters joined the stage to participate in a panel discussion about the common challenges and changes of the AEC industry. They discussed topics such as how architects can keep the balance between human creativity and AI as an assistant in their daily job, what’s the difference between different generations in the profession, and what kind of skills future professionals will need to be successful in this industry.
After the panel discussion, attendees headed to Graphisoft Park to enjoy a great dinner and get the chance to see our headquarters building and the legendary Graphisoft Park.
Day 2 – Product launch and innovation in focus
In the morning, Pelin Haynes, Tibor Szolnoki, Yasmin Herden, Zoltán Válé, and Renáta Jakab introduced the latest Graphisoft products and innovations to the audience.
Do you want to know what’s coming next? Watch the recording!
Following up on the previous day’s customer presentations, Francisco Rugeroni from Jacobsen Arquitetura presented a signature project that embodies a seamless blend of simplicity, elegance, and a profound connection with nature.
The partner session showcased advances in digital design and collaboration. Highlights included the enhanced Grasshopper-Archicad Live Connection workflow for seamless BIM integration, Chaos Cloud’s creative solutions, bimproject.cloud’s reliable data management for investor needs, and Lumion’s new tools for collaborative architectural work.
Sister brands highlighted product integration and innovation: Vectorworks showed seamless site modeling with Archicad, Solibri demonstrated BIM quality assurance and coordination, and Nemetschek dTwin showcased digital twins for real-time insights and sustainable management.
The afternoon was dedicated to customer presentations again. Attendees could get familiar with an openBIM survival guide by Agron Deralla from AllesWirdGut. He shared practical insights from small to large-scale projects, and how data became the common language in the AEC industry.
What happens when architects gain a digital counterpart? The audience could learn from Arno De Ryst about the ways LINK Arkitektur explores how interoperability across design tools can enhance architectural workflows. By integrating BIM, AI, and performance analysis into a seamless process, teams can make better-informed decisions, reduce inefficiencies, and regain creative focus in early-stage design. The result is a more empowered practice and smarter, more sustainable architecture.
Tom Cederqvist from ARCO Architecture Company presented recent winning proposals in architectural competitions. He shared his insights into design philosophy from the concept phase to the completed building, and how the comprehensive use of the Building Information Model in all stages of the design was one of the key components of this process.
Petar Smiljanić and Nikola Umićević presented the Nikola Tesla Museum from Belgrade, Serbia, that Bureau Cube Partners designed in collaboration with Zaha Hadid Architects. This winning project is now actively under construction in the former Milan Vapa Paper Mill’s historical industrial building, and the two architectural firms are actively collaborating on making the vision a reality.
The last presentation of the day was from Moiyez Buksh, who talked about how to impact the built environment with real collaboration. DKO Architecture, a residential architectural firm, achieved market leadership by implementing seamless workflows across disciplines within Archicad's BIM ecosystem, integrating with Revit and Revizto.
The second day was closed with another customer panel discussion. There were discussions about how the new Graphisoft product portfolio shapes the future of their offices, and attendees could ask questions of the panelists.
At the end of the customer panel, Daniel Csillag closed the formal part of the event with his speech. The last program of Graphisoft IGNITE 2025 was a dinner at the Millenáris, a famous exhibition space, function venue, and park in Budapest in the area of the former Ganz Works.
The insightful presentations, expert contributions, and engaging interactions made the event truly memorable. The enthusiasm and dedication of everyone involved inspired fresh motivation and new energy to carry forward into daily practice.
Insiders discussions
On Thursday, after the final day of IGNITE, we had the pleasure of gathering feedback and exchanging ideas with selected members of the Graphisoft Community and Insiders program. The discussions were inspiring and provided insights that will help us further improve our programs and strengthen the Community. We’ve summarized the key suggestions and action points from this session and shared them with the respective teams for follow-up.
What did the attendees say?
Nathan Hildebrandt | Skewed
Erik Björnhage | Insikt@mod
Ivanna Papushenko | fraulein_architektin
Teresa Serrao | Built Form Design Academy
Many of our guests also shared photos and Archicad and other Graphisoft product tips in our Community Gallery.
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