Building Information Modelling-the Quest for Simplicity Within Complexity

Abstract

There is a common expectation of technology to better help us manage the complexity of life and to simplify our daily tasks. However, these developments also raise a question of whether design technologies encourage complexity at the expense of simplicity in the design process. Does computation cause complexity? Or does it enable simplicity? This paper aims to answer these key questions, posed as the main focus of the eCAADe 2016 Conference, by confronting different approaches to teaching Building Information Modelling (BIM) in schools of Architecture. The scope of the paper is based on both the author's knowledge of recent BIM implementations in the academic curricula and experiments conducted at Lodz University of Technology. Necessary prerequisites enabling understanding the complex knowledge are discussed. What is more, the scheme for the integrated BIM pedagogy is proposed.