The AR LAB: A Vision

Paul Seletsky, AIA
Digital Design Director, KieranTimberlake

A dear architect friend, having recently toured the architecture facilities at Yale, left impressed with the wide range of fabrication tools available to its students—from highly sophisticated 3D printers and digital routers to plastic and foam laser cutters. He surmised there must be a whole new range of methods being taught using these tools and began contemplating matters. It dawned on him that students had access to such resources only during their time at school, and once past graduation, they would never again see such sophisticated machinery. It struck him as sheer folly that they would be taught on one level of technology, only to practice for decades on another level using outmoded means—the equivalent of surgeons training with robotic equipment and then having to perform actual operations using hand drills from Home Depot.
 
Let’s consider the development of a new approach: Applied research centers, across the U.S., which would bring architects, universities, and the public together to advance Building Design using the latest Digital Design tools. Think of them as Apple Stores for Architecture. Under the imprimatur of the AIA and its local chapters, and in affiliation with local universities, well-equipped and staffed architecture research labs (can we call them AR Labs?) would enable students and practitioners to develop design ideas both physically and digitally, build 3D mock-ups, learn new fabrication methods, and perform energy analyses and simulations via Building Information Models (BIM). Public participation would be actively sought as a means to evaluate and gauge the efficacy of these technologies, and to openly demonstrate the range of new design services architects can provide. The AR Labs’ focus would be on clients’ needs and not solely on generating interesting new forms. Kitchen designs and supertall buildings could both be studied.

That one could never imagine medical research lacking adequate funding signifies the value we place on sustaining our health. Yet, given the tremendous amount of natural resources buildings consume and their direct impact on our planet’s future, it is perplexing why architects are not equally funded, given their expertise sustaining our health through proper shelter, albeit over a longer timeframe. If everyone, for example, left their automobiles running 24 hours per day we’d certainly take notice. The fact that buildings operate in a similar manner barely goes without passing. Is it acceptable that we have advanced technologies in so many other fields yet conceive and construct buildings in essentially the same fashion as 5,000 years ago? Are we surprised that architects pay so little attention to their buildings (or clients) once they’re completed? It’s like saying: “The doctor will see you now. However, there is no interest in follow-up visits or annual checkups.”
 
Architecture grads recruited into firms typically perform drafting, modeling and rendering services as one condition of their apprenticeship; repetitive, technical tasks that, although instructional, can now be cheaply outsourced—and increasingly are. Some of them work with renowned architects for low wages, certain that they will learn unique design skills through observation or exposure to specialized methods, as in the craft guilds of old. What they quickly discover are the dual tyrannies of project deadlines and client budgets, and how much or how little can be garnered from their university degrees. Their self-esteem suffers as design and technique remain distinct entities, the established norm in many firms. The fortunate few will actually get to “design.”
 
Architectural education, apprenticeship and practice clearly demand a more creative approach. The design resources and methods fostered in academia need to merge with the necessities and urgencies of practice, utilizing the latest digital resources to benefit both constituencies—and the public’s desire for beauty, affordability and, now, sustainability. This should not presume abandonment of core academic foundations or suggest more vocational approaches. It is imperative, however, that we fully comprehend how digital technology can actually transform current practices into vital roles, and certainly as more than just producers of beautiful buildings.
 
Architects can become paramount arbiters of the built environment—as central as doctors are to health—by interpreting digital information through an integral part of their workflow. What’s needed is analogous to driving a car: Putting one's foot on the gas pedal, seeing the reactions on the dashboard gauges relative to how fast one is traveling, how much fuel is being consumed, and then deciding how far to go in order to reach one's destination while driving. In current practice, architects are confined to reading the gauges well after they've driven the car and taken the trip! Their inability to visualize concepts while simultaneously interpreting the ramifications of those concepts on the environment is a critical void, especially as traditional wind, energy and lighting studies remain too expensive, time-consuming and separated from iterative design studies. Enabling architects to control how, when, and where others utilize their information, throughout the lifespan of all buildings, is a game-changing opportunity that has not appeared on the radar screen of professional leadership. AR Labs would begin to address that opportunity. 
 
A vast majority of U.S. architecture firms consist of six people or less. Few can afford the technologies or resources to experiment, let alone do research, beyond very basic and immediate project needs. In comparison to the development of new automobiles and airplanes, architects’ methods appear anemic—a single mock-up is the finished building itself. Furthermore, the impact architects have on an increasingly specialized building industry has become marginalized. In a bad economy, architecture is seen as a luxury service that’s simply beyond one’s financial reach (and, sadly, the reason why so many architects currently find themselves out of work).
 
A compact between the AIA and academia in leading and developing AR Labs could alleviate these situations by giving the public and industry-related professionals (residential real estate brokers, for example) a new avenue by which to meet and work with architects, publicizing new opportunities for collaboration. It would give new meaning and vitality to professional licensure and academic accreditation. A satellite network of AR Labs could be established throughout the country, allowing strategic relationships to form in each geographic venue. 
 
The AR Labs as envisioned would entail the following features and costs:

• 1. A dedicated space, centrally located in each region, with extended hours of operation 
• 2. Sufficient equipment and technology for advanced collaboration and multiple users 
  
• 3. Training programs to certify participants on equipment and software
  
• 4. A dedicated staff comprised of:
  
  • a. A Director to lead in developing training, research and technology programs
    
  • b. A Master Fabricator to manage equipment, classes, and guide seminars 
    
  • c. A Shop Manager to supervise operations and safety
    
  • d. A Scheduling Coordinator to organize classes, events and credits

What would the AR Labs provide? 

Each AR Lab would host the latest visualization hardware, fabrication equipment, and energy analysis and simulation tools. Already a staple in several AIA chapters, training in specific commercial software would be provided. Most significantly, the AR Labs would give students the opportunity to teach practitioners software programming, so they could interoperate between the various commercial software tools, or develop useful new tools in the following areas:
 
1. Conceptual sketching on digital tablets for converting freehand ideas into more rigorous BIM geometry; incorporation of laser-driven and digital photo site planning for integration of pre-existing exterior and interior conditions.
 
2. Spatial programming and program analysis on electronic whiteboards and iPads for calculating occupancy, air handling and lighting loads, or analyzing massing configurations. 
 
3. Integrated cost analysis linked to BIMs for generating cost reports throughout the various design and operation phases; interactive cost analyses based on product selection.
 
4. Product specifications linked to barcodes within BIMs, and presented on iPads and smartphones to generate interactive contract documents; enabling of materials presentations and interior layouts.
 
4. Embodied energy analysis defining materials’ properties and carbon footprint; a central online industry database enabling architects to evaluate material and product selections.
 
5. Predictive energy usage simulated through BIMs displaying interactive energy analysis throughout the design phases; training to validate proper calibration methods.
 
6. Actual energy usage via electronic sensors applied to physical spaces and building products, displayed visually via BIMs (using BIM like a car dashboard gauge as described earlier).
 
7. Construction logistics via BIM, enabling architects to coordinate with Construction Managers, provide sequencing and identification of potential site hazards, and display interactive visual timelining to inform clients of work impediments and substantial completion.
 
8. Building occupancy, safety and security via BIM to provide:

• Home / commercial automation tools: BIM as the new “owner’s manual” to control and monitor door locks, light dimmers, switches, mechanical equipment and thermostats; provide direct online access to manufacturers’ data to place orders and replace parts.
   
  
• Egress/Ingress Analysis: BIM to visually address code requirements, analyze pedestrian behavioral patterns, potential crowding situations, or crisis and emergency conditions.
   
  
• First Responder Training and Implementation: BIM to train firefighters, provide live building navigation, and orient safety workers through life-threatening conditions.

Why are the AR Labs necessary?

Architects’ project deliverables and instruments of service must reflect a new digital age. As the music, movie, and newspaper industries have discovered, publishing and distribution of traditional media has been radically altered. Architects are story-tellers who strive to maintain their content and intent exactly as written. Contract documents must be transformed from static entities on paper (or computers) to interactive, dynamic records on iPads to keep ideas intact. Steve Jobs showed the way. Will architects now be prepared to publish or perish?
 
Architects need to control their own destiny by learning how to program software. Practitioners must be able to create open, interchangeable software tools as they see fit, to guide rather than follow commercial software developers. These tools must be unaffiliated with any one specific software developer and allow for true dynamic data interpretation (DDI)—the free flow of performative information independent of any associated software’s design geometry.  

Practitioners need a central library of certified building knowledge and software utilities.  An online, non-denominational (Wikipedia-type) library of building products, components and assembly methods would present practitioners and the public with codified design knowledge. Manufacturers could upload BIMs of their products, certain they would work in any software program (by enlisting an open “cooperative” approach among software developers) and contain all authorized performance and visual criteria. [One possible avenue for this idea is the National Institute of Building Science’s Whole Building Design Guide, but in a more interactive and editable version than currently exists].
 
Architects and their clients need better methods to experience the Work before it is built. Immersive display rooms (widely used in automotive and aerospace engineering but too costly for architects) would enable everyone to investigate design concepts and experience spaces to validate lighting conditions, views, and occupant comfort. Contractors could be guided through complex assemblies or innovative installations. These spaces could also be rented to hold “immersive” teleconferences, where meeting minutes could be digitally recorded and transcribed.   

Robotic construction, digital urban design and mapping, and material analyses are needed. Multimedia surfaces and conductive materials, demographic and climate data embedded into BIMs all lead to better informed decisions. Tying physical and virtual performance environments together will simply allow us to “see” building designs in ways we have never seen them before. 
 
The AIA and academia must modernize outdated practices and become exemplars of change. Government support is unnecessary. Technology developers and industry manufacturers can be enlisted to provide equipment and financial support. (If the AIA can produce offerings on discount car rentals and insurance, then corporate support for the AR Labs would be a “natural.”) 
 
Architects deserve a higher plane of recognition for their services. Technology itself is not the answer but presents the most viable opportunity for professional transformation that architects have had in years. The public deserves to understand the lasting value better informed architects (and inspirational architecture) can bring to their lives each and every day. Now is the time to achieve this through the creation of AR Labs.

About the Author

Paul Seletsky, AIA, is the Digital Design Director for KieranTimberlake, an architecture practice based in Philadelphia, where he spearheads Building Information Modeling-based research, development and migration efforts. A licensed architect, Mr. Seletsky leads critical discussions on the interrelationship between conceptual and performative design as manifested through the use of digital technologies, and regards the strategic implementation of Digital Design as an ongoing process, applying research and development initiatives in conjunction with active projects. Mr. Seletsky is the active co-chair of the AIANY Technology Committee, presiding for the past nine years over a monthly lecture series highlighting technology and its impact on practice. He previously served as the Director of Digital Design for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. Mr. Seletsky received his degree in architecture from Cooper Union in New York in 1982 and has managed Digital Design in both the public and private sectors for over twenty-five years. He has lectured at numerous academic and professional venues, including MIT, RPI, Catholic University, RISD, EcoBuild 2006 Los Angeles, eCAADe 2007 Frankfurt, SCI-Arc, OMA (Rotterdam), and Vienna’s ArchitekturZentrum.

For more information on Mr. Seletsky, please visit:

http://www.architectmagazine.com/bim/role-models.aspx http://archrecord.construction.com/features/interviews/0803SOM_BIM/0803SOM_BIM-1.asp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQEPucmAUa4
http://www.core.form-ula.com/the-digital-design-ecosystem/ http://www.aecbytes.com/viewpoint/2005/issue_19.html

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