Building houses and other structures such as roads and bridges is one of the oldest works in history. The architect, civil engineer, and contractor were meeting with one person called the builder.
Building houses and other structures such as roads and bridges is one of the oldest works in history. The architect, civil engineer, and contractor were meeting with one person called the builder. It should be noted that this general idea has existed for thousands of years and it is represented in the massive monuments and miracles of the ancient world such as the pyramids.
George Wright wrote in his book Ancient Building in South Syria and Palestine: “The first real evidence of architectural drawings and manual shop drawings was discovered in the Middle East, specifically in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The details of elevations existed directly on plans into a single drawing which was a great way to maintain consistency between plans and elevations.
Certainly, building science improves with time in the used materials, mechanisms, and methods of building, design, and implementation.
Since the appearance of the computer in the middle of the last century, its applications began serving building science in various aspects. After the existence of two-dimension engineering programs, it improved to a three-dimension drawing which was a great step. Before the use of computers was part of our lives, the designer would redraw the entire drawing if he needed to change or correct an error, which increased production time and cost.
After the appearance of the computer, it has become very easy, fast, and low-cost. Dr. Ali Raafat says: “Architecture no longer needs to be linked with plans, sections, heights, and elevations to replace the traditional ways of dealing with the building from a two-dimensional image with dealing with the entire building through the 3D model.
Computer programs improved from architectural, structural, mechanical, and electrical design to accounting quantities and cost, planning, and scheduling, in addition to management and professional communication so the computer and the web become an essential part of the science of project management but the problem of compatibility between all these disciplines appeared in the same project and its output enough to satisfy the owner.
Here, the technology of building information modeling (BIM) appeared which included a set of techniques and work methods to create a model of a building in which all the physical and engineering information of each element of the building existed.
Chris Abel: “If Norman Foster and Frank Gehry had practiced in ancient Greece, I imagine that they would have worshipped very different gods. With his low-energy concerns and expertise in using natural light.”
The availability of information about the building elements, the ways of entering this information into the computer, and the ways of its presentation are the main reason for the development of engineering drawing programs starting from the two-dimensional drawing stage and passing through the three-dimensional drawing stage, till the stage of building information modeling (BIM). The information, its variables, and the mechanism of its control are the means to achieve the idea of reducing time and cost, as well as follow-up maintenance of the building after its implementation. Norman Foster himself says, "How do we find satellites around us and the technology that made humans go to the moon without using them."
Technology has certainly influenced the work of great architects. Chris Abel says: (If Norman Foster and Frank Gehry had practiced in ancient Greece, I imagine that they would have worshipped very different gods. With his low-energy concerns and expertise in using natural light).
“If the architects Norman Foster and Frank Gehry were in ancient Greece, their works would be different or not?” He answers this question: “It is clear that the creative thought of Norman Foster and Frank Gerry distinguished them and I expected that if their works were in ancient Greece, they would be distinguished through handling spaces, innovative lighting methods, and external solutions to masses.”
Actually, the idea of BIM is old but its name was not BIM. Since the methods of simulation began to develop - especially the emergence of the computer-, Scientists and innovators began to apply this method to visualize the construction process and simulate it fully in a manner similar to the truth, but it presents it in advance to provide a visual idea of the process of building the project and its steps for the design and construction team.
The BIM idea faced great obstacles such as the overlap of huge amounts of information of several specialized departments like architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical design with specifications, 3D dimensions, the cost, the schedules.... and other information.
The idea should have a strong basis to support it which is the modern BIM programs which also require powerful computers and a constant and strong connection to the web to accommodate this large amount of information and allow its transfer quickly and appropriately among the participants of the construction process to fulfill its purpose.
Thus, BIM systems improved to become a huge network that moves and directs information as their users want to do a service that the previous generation did not dream of. The user can see that every part and every element of the building are put in its place in its form, size, and real specifications and see its entanglement, integration, and intersection with other parts of the building in the same chronological order.
This is what opens up a new horizon for detecting problems, clashes and defects, thus giving the design and construction teams the opportunity to avoid these problems and to improve the design and construction methods before the project starts.
Can we consider that BIM is the end of what mankind can develop in the science of construction?
Of course not, Dr. Ali Raafat says: “Our conception of architecture is that it is related to the available medium for expression to convey our thoughts to the recipient and to the implementation." This two-dimensional medium began in the form of plans and elevations which are created mechanically or by hand. The documents are submitted to the consultants for revision and updating and all drawings are within a fixed two-dimensional frame. All ways become now inadequate for illustration and architecture benefited from the tremendous progress that happened in computer fields in the last half of the 20th century.”
BIM is an important stage that does great services that we should take advantage of as much as possible, but science does not stop until God annihilates the earth and what is on it. The more man learns, the greater his perception increases and the more he can do services to humanity, and this is what God wanted us to do: we should learn more to serve humanity when God said in the Holy Quran:
"ِ Are those who know equal to those who know not?”
Paul Walt, Regional Manager of Tekla Middle East, says: “Innovation in the construction industry is undergoing a major transformation in the Middle East, and the region's mega projects such as the World Expo 2020 in Dubai and the World Cup in Doha are opening up new horizons for design fields.
The government's mandate to expand applying Building Information Modeling software confirms the desire of the Middle East region to be on par with the world's leading innovation centers in the field of building and construction.
Starting from Building Information Modeling software passing through to the three-dimensional techniques software (horographic) till the building management programs, we will provide the best technical practices that help construction and engineering companies in the Middle East to achieve greater innovation and excellence."