21–30 of 77 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds like an industry ripe for disruption.
Nope industry running on small margins and client with atypical expectations who probably doesn't want to pay for what the extra work costs
We made a foray into designing and building a brand new house and let me tell you, my fellow HNers, the state of affairs with the design part is ABYSMAL, even in a reasonably modern architect firm. Basically you first design, for look and feel, then you calculate technical details, then you build. Or rather the architect does all three, but you would normally want to "chip in" during the design phase - change the lay…
We made a foray into designing and building a brand new house and let me tell you, my fellow HNers, the state of affairs with the design part is ABYSMAL, even in a reasonably modern architect firm. Basically you first design, for look and feel, then you calculate technical details, then you build. Or rather the architect does all three, but you would normally want to "chip in" during the design phase - change the lay…
Small changes take only hours to complete? It takes only weeks to converge to a general design? Most software project managers would kill for that level of efficiency and predictability.
(A bunch of pictures made in Sketch is not the design. You can surely do that in a few days, but it’s essentially the same as making a bunch of facade drawings and pretending that’s the architectural design.)
We made a foray into designing and building a brand new house and let me tell you, my fellow HNers, the state of affairs with the design part is ABYSMAL, even in a reasonably modern architect firm. Basically you first design, for look and feel, then you calculate technical details, then you build. Or rather the architect does all three, but you would normally want to "chip in" during the design phase - change the lay…
I designed/built my own house too[1], giving sketches to an architect and working with him. Some major takeaways for others who have yet to build: * No one will care about your project as much as you and this includes the architect :( * Few(???) architects and zero builders seem to understand light/wind/circulation like people apparently intuitively did 200 years ago. You might be better off with the average curious…
Wondering how many commercial products have been jeopardised by this freeware sponsored by a corporation, and how many jobs have been put at risk?
The world is not here to ensure your business model can continue uninterrupted in perpetuity. The world moves forwards (well, mostly forwards), and it is up to you to adapt your business model accordingly.
We made a foray into designing and building a brand new house and let me tell you, my fellow HNers, the state of affairs with the design part is ABYSMAL, even in a reasonably modern architect firm. Basically you first design, for look and feel, then you calculate technical details, then you build. Or rather the architect does all three, but you would normally want to "chip in" during the design phase - change the lay…
In that same process now. I can recommend ChiefArchitect. So far it has been great. It is within reach for a technical person to figure out, especially with all the training videos available online for free. It is also powerful enough to do a lot of the details as well, which we are doing ourselves and then sending back to the architect for review.
One important note if anyone does try it, the system of measurement Can Not be changed for a file. I started mine in metric, because I generally prefer metric and it was a nice way to measure using a laser measuring tool. But I live in an imperial world (US), where all stores and contractors work in imperial units and there has been tens of times already that I wish my plan was also imperial. And Chief Architect can't convert the file. I can display imperial units, but the base units are always metric.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I asked all firms we spoke with how they work. None even had an option of making tweaks to the project with real-time 3D feedback. That is - change something and see how it looks in 3D on the second monitor, move the camera around, change time of the day, turn lights on and off, then try it differently, check again, try third, etc. Aim for dozens of "revisions" in a scope of one hour - that's not even remotely possib…
Changing most things is hard work, not something that can be done in seconds. Have you ever done 3D modelling?
Changes being "hard work" is a matter of a tool not being well adapted to the job, which is a problem with the tool, not the process. If I am playing with a floor plan, then certain changes, like moving walls and openings should be as easy to do as possible. If they aren't, it's the wrong tool for the job ... which is exactly what I mentioned in the first post - that the architects routinely use heavy-lifting ArchiCAD to do design phase sketching.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I designed/built my own house too[1], giving sketches to an architect and working with him. Some major takeaways for others who have yet to build: * No one will care about your project as much as you and this includes the architect :( * Few(???) architects and zero builders seem to understand light/wind/circulation like people apparently intuitively did 200 years ago. You might be better off with the average curious…
Drawing your plan on the floor sounds a good idea, but isn't there an effect where outdoor surfaces look much smaller than the same surface indoor? How do you account for that?
And during construction you are kind of thrown about by the perception of the size. When framing is done, it feels huge. Once all the plaster is on the walls, it feels extremely "small" at first because you were so used to the big openness of the frame, then finally as more finishes are applied it just feels correct at last.
It's hard to describe exactly what feeling happens. But suffice to say it's never easy to get "right" feeling simulations of a structure until you put up literal walls.
For this reason, if you want to build a 5x7 bathroom or 11x13 bedroom or whatever, the best possible thing you can do is find one that already exists. Or find a 11x11 room or something and try to imagine it with 2 more feet. Then you can carry these mental rooms around with you.
At least, that's what I did a lot of.
We made a foray into designing and building a brand new house and let me tell you, my fellow HNers, the state of affairs with the design part is ABYSMAL, even in a reasonably modern architect firm. Basically you first design, for look and feel, then you calculate technical details, then you build. Or rather the architect does all three, but you would normally want to "chip in" during the design phase - change the lay…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I designed/built my own house too[1], giving sketches to an architect and working with him. Some major takeaways for others who have yet to build: * No one will care about your project as much as you and this includes the architect :( * Few(???) architects and zero builders seem to understand light/wind/circulation like people apparently intuitively did 200 years ago. You might be better off with the average curious…
Drawing your plan on the floor sounds a good idea, but isn't there an effect where outdoor surfaces look much smaller than the same surface indoor? How do you account for that?
VR would work for me because the sense of space exists in VR where as it does not in floor plans nor on 3D renders views on 2D screens.