Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel

frame · March 15th, 2004

A revolution in how computers are used to model buildings is taking place, and at the heart of this revolution has been a debate about what three letter acronym to use that best describes the technology driving the revolution forward. The default term is currently BIM (Building Information Modeling), although there have been many other attempts, and recently a proposal was made to call it PEN (Parametric ENabled) . The search for a three letter word is clearly tied to the legacy of CAD (which stands for Computer Assisted Drafting or Design) even though the essence of this new technology makes a decisive break with the CAD paradigm. That CAD can have such a grip on the thought process is evidence of a conservative tendency in the AE profession that manifests itself even at the high-tech fringe. The BIM apologists have begun to see and imagine new opportunities and methodologies as a result of emerging technology, but have fallen short when trying to come up with a catch-all acronym that rolls easily off the tongue and embodies a new spirit.

References to bygone tools have no place in the realm of next generation design tools. The world has moved on, the information age, the post-industrial society, is here and now, and continues to expand. The machine age, having run its course, is coming to and end. Likewise, the age of mechanical drafting and tireless abstract revisions is primed for extinction. The computer has been freed from the mundane task of representing lines in a banal coordinate space. No longer can the computer be thought of as a device that simply mimics the conventions of hand drafting. The floor plan is ceasing to be an end in itself, and instead becoming a mere by-product of a hyper-coordinated design process. The great modernist Le Corbusier stated that the plan is the generator of form. In the post-industrial era, it is form that generates the plan, and the section, and the elevation, and the perspective, and the schedule…on and on, all in real time. The list of possible deliverables and consequences of using the computer to truly model buildings is nothing short of mind blowing.

Today, we have new ways of creating architectural representations, and the information built into these representations exceeds the implied meaning of lines projected onto a 2D surface. Every object can be imbibed with and described by parameters that inter-relate with other objects and their parameters. The information, stored in centralized database that can manage and negotiate changes, allows the creation of “live” models that are always in sync, and represented as explicit graphical and textual controls. This technology enables the age-old process of building physical models to be intimately tied to all other means of representing a building. Now, 2D, 3D and 4D co-exist in single design environment and are all linked together.

These tools are the tools that can, and will ‘do it all’, tools that enable total collaboration across disciplines. Tools that provide total syncopation of a single database of parametrically related, intelligent components that can be analyzed, modified, and published--on the fly. A tool that can do that much--allow for creating truly virtual models of a system--is more than Building Information Modeling, it is HYPERMODELING. Model are referred to as HYPERMODELS, not BIMs. The Hypermodel is a way of interfacing with information, not modeling it. Who wants to model information? No, we want to Model, and have information become a dynamic expression of modeling. Also, the hypermodel is not reserved for mere “buildings”—it can be atomized. Is a window a building? No, but one can imagine entire companies that do nothing but crank out Hypermodel content. Hypercomponents that work in the context of a building, but are not themselves buildings. A photorealistic rendering, or walkthrough, is not really building information modeling—but clearly that is a critical piece of this new paradigm. Think of visualizations as an aspect of hypermodeling; or better, as an opportunity that hypermodeling provides.

The chains of the three letter acronym now broken, we can imagine a new paradigm taking hold. We can imagine a new generation of HYPERMODEL designers emerging, while simultaneously, ‘CAD technician’ becomes an obsolete pursuit. We can imagine a whole new definition of labor divisions, of highly collaborative design-build firms, of new types of hybrid AE companies coming into being. We can imagine using the HYPERMODEL to redefine how projects are bid upon, how they are won, how they are implemented, how they are administrated, how they are evaluated. Ask yourself this, do you want to be known a BIMMER or a HYPERMODELER? Will your firm gain leverage by promoting the use of BIM tools, or HYPERMODELS?

To embrace Hypermodeling is to finally take the step into the current of the Information Revolution: to take advantage of it, rather than shy away from it. In doing so, we open the door to new processes, new business models, new methods, and ultimately, a New Architecture.

ch83575 · March 15th, 2004

Wow, very prophetic. Sounds like the kind of thing I might have read (or wrote) in design class at school. Please email me a demo copy of your HYPERMODELing program for evaluation. Untill you can do that your post is simply an argument of semantics.

-Chad

frame · March 15th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by ch83575

Wow, very prophetic. Sounds like the kind of thing I might have read (or wrote) in design class at school. Please email me a demo copy of your HYPERMODELing program for evaluation. Untill you can do that your post is simply an argument of semantics.

-Chad

for starters, go try Revit. Revit, and tools that follow in its footsteps are hypermodelling platforms.

kid · March 15th, 2004

hypermodel eh!?

when polygons and vertices can offer the same tactility and seductiveness as offered by wood, metal, plastics, plaster, resins, paint, paper, cardboard and so on, then I might regard revit, et al, as design tools, till that day, they will remain communication tools in my mind.

the cad technician might be communicating with a 'hypermodel' instead of representations of 2-d lines...sure, a massive step in communication! but not a huge step in design...

maranello55 · March 16th, 2004

I think this is the beginning of the Parametric Age. Revit is an example of this evolution. Updating 2D tender drawings one by one is not only tiring and inefficient, but there is better way of doing it coming to be. This is a good chance to breed a new group of pioneers in this field, definitely.

IC · March 16th, 2004

Is it just me or is all this grandiose terminology a bit ott?
You sound like Scientologists.
As with every revolution, I'll believe it when I see it.

mbr · March 16th, 2004

Quote:

Originally Posted by IC

Is it just me or is all this grandiose terminology a bit ott?
You sound like Scientologists.
As with every revolution, I'll believe it when I see it.

I've got a thing about 'trendy' words, which I think are fine, but the term 'hyper' has been played out many years ago. "Hypersurfaces" (see Marcos Novak, a great teacher and influence, at http://www.centrifuge.org/marcos/ ). His stuff was 'new' about 8-9 years ago and he introduced myself and others to abstract 3D (in Form-Z). There were others, Lynn, Rashid, Stan Allen, etc., etc., that all looked at surfaces and hyper this and that. Same kind of thoughts about technology changing everything. Well, it didn't, not really. It was trendy and came and went. Certainly influential, but not revolutionary.

Perhaps programs like Revit and Generative Components (Bentley/Microstation) will revolutionize the industry, but it's a long ways off. I just see a red flag when I hear this approach, as it seems slightly out dated and almost too easy. Of course technology will change the future, but how? Why? Too much of this thought seems like an add for the software and not a true theoretical investigation (or technological, as the case may be).

This is just a general opinion, though. But there have been many posting similar things here for thesis projects or whatever. Just be careful that you are not just writing what you've read.

4DM · March 17th, 2004

I know what you mean about trendy words, mbr. Personally, I am immediately dismissive of any article or manifesto that includes the word "paradigm". And this one does it three times !

OK, so some software updates everything as it goes along. That's nice!

frame · March 22nd, 2004

I am not trying to alienate anyone here, only to paint a picture of a possible future to look toward. To be sure, we have a long ways to go, but the seeds have been planted. If we are not willing to explore and extrapolate on the future of technology that directly influences the profession, then we miss an opportunity to influence the development of such tools. The consumer must be proactive, and begin to request, if not demand, hypermodality. Is using CAD that much of a pleasure? Isn't it time we moved on? Isn't it time we started using technology to push architecture forward, and at the same time actually make money doing so?

The word paradigm may have left a bad taste in your mouth, and I do apologize. The point here is not that of semantics; call the new technology what you want, the point is that a new era of connectivity is surrounding us, and extending the concept of the model to take account of this is a necesary step, and one that will re-define the art and science of building.

Sawyer · March 22nd, 2004

Sounds just like the stuff I was thinking the first time I saw ADT. I thought - GEZZ BOYS THIS IS WHERE ITS AT.

Now I want to go back to paper and pencil. I have a top of the line computer, cutting edge software and I am pretty damn good at what I do but the problems at work are that 2 people are never able to communicate to each other. Give me a software that does the consultants work for them & I will be happy.

I am serious I dont need more or newer software I need to know people can communicate and understand information.

March 15th, 2004	#1 (permalink)
frame Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Cambridge, ma Age: 34 Posts: 6 Name: frame Demchak	Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel A revolution in how computers are used to model buildings is taking place, and at the heart of this revolution has been a debate about what three letter acronym to use that best describes the technology driving the revolution forward. The default term is currently BIM (Building Information Modeling), although there have been many other attempts, and recently a proposal was made to call it PEN (Parametric ENabled) . The search for a three letter word is clearly tied to the legacy of CAD (which stands for Computer Assisted Drafting or Design) even though the essence of this new technology makes a decisive break with the CAD paradigm. That CAD can have such a grip on the thought process is evidence of a conservative tendency in the AE profession that manifests itself even at the high-tech fringe. The BIM apologists have begun to see and imagine new opportunities and methodologies as a result of emerging technology, but have fallen short when trying to come up with a catch-all acronym that rolls easily off the tongue and embodies a new spirit. References to bygone tools have no place in the realm of next generation design tools. The world has moved on, the information age, the post-industrial society, is here and now, and continues to expand. The machine age, having run its course, is coming to and end. Likewise, the age of mechanical drafting and tireless abstract revisions is primed for extinction. The computer has been freed from the mundane task of representing lines in a banal coordinate space. No longer can the computer be thought of as a device that simply mimics the conventions of hand drafting. The floor plan is ceasing to be an end in itself, and instead becoming a mere by-product of a hyper-coordinated design process. The great modernist Le Corbusier stated that the plan is the generator of form. In the post-industrial era, it is form that generates the plan, and the section, and the elevation, and the perspective, and the schedule…on and on, all in real time. The list of possible deliverables and consequences of using the computer to truly model buildings is nothing short of mind blowing. Today, we have new ways of creating architectural representations, and the information built into these representations exceeds the implied meaning of lines projected onto a 2D surface. Every object can be imbibed with and described by parameters that inter-relate with other objects and their parameters. The information, stored in centralized database that can manage and negotiate changes, allows the creation of “live” models that are always in sync, and represented as explicit graphical and textual controls. This technology enables the age-old process of building physical models to be intimately tied to all other means of representing a building. Now, 2D, 3D and 4D co-exist in single design environment and are all linked together. These tools are the tools that can, and will ‘do it all’, tools that enable total collaboration across disciplines. Tools that provide total syncopation of a single database of parametrically related, intelligent components that can be analyzed, modified, and published--on the fly. A tool that can do that much--allow for creating truly virtual models of a system--is more than Building Information Modeling, it is HYPERMODELING. Model are referred to as HYPERMODELS, not BIMs. The Hypermodel is a way of interfacing with information, not modeling it. Who wants to model information? No, we want to Model, and have information become a dynamic expression of modeling. Also, the hypermodel is not reserved for mere “buildings”—it can be atomized. Is a window a building? No, but one can imagine entire companies that do nothing but crank out Hypermodel content. Hypercomponents that work in the context of a building, but are not themselves buildings. A photorealistic rendering, or walkthrough, is not really building information modeling—but clearly that is a critical piece of this new paradigm. Think of visualizations as an aspect of hypermodeling; or better, as an opportunity that hypermodeling provides. The chains of the three letter acronym now broken, we can imagine a new paradigm taking hold. We can imagine a new generation of HYPERMODEL designers emerging, while simultaneously, ‘CAD technician’ becomes an obsolete pursuit. We can imagine a whole new definition of labor divisions, of highly collaborative design-build firms, of new types of hybrid AE companies coming into being. We can imagine using the HYPERMODEL to redefine how projects are bid upon, how they are won, how they are implemented, how they are administrated, how they are evaluated. Ask yourself this, do you want to be known a BIMMER or a HYPERMODELER? Will your firm gain leverage by promoting the use of BIM tools, or HYPERMODELS? To embrace Hypermodeling is to finally take the step into the current of the Information Revolution: to take advantage of it, rather than shy away from it. In doing so, we open the door to new processes, new business models, new methods, and ultimately, a New Architecture.

March 15th, 2004	#2 (permalink)
ch83575 Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Michigan Posts: 45 Name: Chad Huard	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel Wow, very prophetic. Sounds like the kind of thing I might have read (or wrote) in design class at school. Please email me a demo copy of your HYPERMODELing program for evaluation. Untill you can do that your post is simply an argument of semantics. -Chad

March 15th, 2004	#4 (permalink)
kid Veteran Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 629 Name: ad hominem	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel hypermodel eh!? when polygons and vertices can offer the same tactility and seductiveness as offered by wood, metal, plastics, plaster, resins, paint, paper, cardboard and so on, then I might regard revit, et al, as design tools, till that day, they will remain communication tools in my mind. the cad technician might be communicating with a 'hypermodel' instead of representations of 2-d lines...sure, a massive step in communication! but not a huge step in design... __________________ cabbages

March 16th, 2004	#5 (permalink)
maranello55 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Age: 30 Posts: 22 Name: Nazirull Safry Paijo	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel I think this is the beginning of the Parametric Age. Revit is an example of this evolution. Updating 2D tender drawings one by one is not only tiring and inefficient, but there is better way of doing it coming to be. This is a good chance to breed a new group of pioneers in this field, definitely.

March 16th, 2004	#6 (permalink)
IC Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Age: 36 Posts: 2,259 Name: Iain Collins	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel Is it just me or is all this grandiose terminology a bit ott? You sound like Scientologists. As with every revolution, I'll believe it when I see it.

March 17th, 2004	#8 (permalink)
4DM Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: London, UK Posts: 198 Name: Danny Meyer	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel I know what you mean about trendy words, mbr. Personally, I am immediately dismissive of any article or manifesto that includes the word "paradigm". And this one does it three times ! OK, so some software updates everything as it goes along. That's nice!

March 22nd, 2004	#9 (permalink)
frame Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Cambridge, ma Age: 34 Posts: 6 Name: frame Demchak	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel I am not trying to alienate anyone here, only to paint a picture of a possible future to look toward. To be sure, we have a long ways to go, but the seeds have been planted. If we are not willing to explore and extrapolate on the future of technology that directly influences the profession, then we miss an opportunity to influence the development of such tools. The consumer must be proactive, and begin to request, if not demand, hypermodality. Is using CAD that much of a pleasure? Isn't it time we moved on? Isn't it time we started using technology to push architecture forward, and at the same time actually make money doing so? The word paradigm may have left a bad taste in your mouth, and I do apologize. The point here is not that of semantics; call the new technology what you want, the point is that a new era of connectivity is surrounding us, and extending the concept of the model to take account of this is a necesary step, and one that will re-define the art and science of building.

March 22nd, 2004	#10 (permalink)
Sawyer Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: CA Age: 34 Posts: 1,563 Name: Sawyer Fischer	Re: Toward a New Architecture: The Hypermodel Sounds just like the stuff I was thinking the first time I saw ADT. I thought - GEZZ BOYS THIS IS WHERE ITS AT. Now I want to go back to paper and pencil. I have a top of the line computer, cutting edge software and I am pretty damn good at what I do but the problems at work are that 2 people are never able to communicate to each other. Give me a software that does the consultants work for them & I will be happy. I am serious I dont need more or newer software I need to know people can communicate and understand information. __________________ And you may ask yourself What is that beautiful house?

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