The Autodesk AEC Tech Day culminated with a Q&A session with all of the AEC executives. A question that addressed the difficulty that users have in keeping up with all of the latest technology evolved into a broader discussion of the evolution of the model-based approach, and the vision for a more streamlined toolset that is project-centric rather than tool-centric. Phil Bernstein, the resident theorist of the Autodesk AEC group, sketched a diagram on the room’s whiteboard to outline the design/build process from models, to project organization, to building performance.
The move to a BIM model-based approach coincides with a desire and need for software that works for you and with you to streamline workflows. Autodesk has been working on the foundational pieces to evolve toward model-based design that reduces abstractions and eases communication. This move is a big shift that’s echoed in many other software spheres, making the tools easier to use and a much less difficult process to learn than the early adopters have faced.
All the pieces aren’t yet in place to streamline this project-based approach. The cloud certainly will factor into this move to integrate different elements. Autodesk has in its stable quite a few overlapping and even competing products, particularly in the visualization space, and I think we can expect next moves to consolidate functionality and streamline project workflows.
