How architectural visualization is going to change the future of construction projects in 2021?

Technological interventions are sweeping every human pursuit. Architecture is not an exception. If we go by the trends that are rocking the architectural space recently, an exciting future can be easily projected.

Architecture, from the viewpoint of the construction industry, has been witnessing significant changes in last many years. The spatial norms that once were valid are being redefined.

The ways technology has been revolutionizing construction projects are many. Use of compost as a building material, collaborative design, crowdfunding, green infrastructure, and energy efficiency solutions are a few examples.

Keeping pace with these changes, architectural visualization tool has been getting a facelift. The catalysts of change are Virtual and Augmented Reality, BIM, 3D printing and a host of other futuristic elements.

Dynamic Designing with Augment and Virtual Reality

The ability to experience the space before it is modeled physically has been one of the greatest accomplishments of human history. This has been facilitated by Augmented and Virtual Reality.

On the virtual canvas, using digital tools, impeccable 3D models can be built which replicate the proposed construction completely. Walkthroughs can be designed to traverse the space and view the project from different angles.

Innovative designing allows optimum architectural visualization with the ability to modify an element in real time to meet the expectations of clients. Customized tools allow exploration and alteration intuitively.

Real-time rendering driven by these two techniques would continue to evolve our designing capabilities. Options can be repeated innumerable times to incorporate feedbacks. Designing is done on a 1-to-1 scale for spatial consistency.

Newer perspectives are being increasingly secured through advancements in software like Unity, HTC Viva 2.0, Escape, wireless VR etc. Dynamic designing is all set to be taken to the next level with more sophistication.

Automating the Construction Process

Visualization and subsequent 3D designing of building components within the controlled environment are bound to minimize manual work at the site. This is becoming possible with advanced 3D printers with cutting-edge abilities.

Printing out tailored and complex designs through economical and easy to access 3D printers is facilitating pragmatic boosting of the building process. The printers are widely used for fabricating intricate architectural components.

Homes, bridges, furniture, interior designing elements, and other architectural objects can be fabricated with 3D printers. The extreme potential of these printers would render the future of building more promising.

Architects’ are facilitated in their designing and building processes by advanced robotic techniques too. Robots are being deployed for executing

· Labor intensive jobs in an automated manner

· Hazardous jobs without risking lives

· Tasks which were earlier impossible to do with manual labor

Surveying of sites, as well as expeditious delivery of building materials, is being increasingly done by drones. Even a Swiss company has taken lead in deploying drones for assembling bricks at site flawlessly.

Cross-functional Collaborative Approach

The basic concept of architecture, as well as the primary responsibilities discharged by architects, would dramatically change in the future. This would call for more cross-functional and inter-discipline collaboration in construction.

Environmental scientists, social anthropologists, 3D designers, creative artists etc. would work in tandem to render the design more vibrant, eco-friendly, sustainable and viable.

Construction would require the active participation of experts from various knowledge fields. This would potentially put an end to numerous existing profiles in the construction domain to promote better collaboration among experts for ensuring the integrity of structural complexities.

Digital Overhauling of The Construction Industry

Innovative and ground-breaking technologies are being increasingly assimilated in the construction processes. All major projects executed on large scales are leveraging augment reality, 3D layout planning, automated on-site monitoring etc.

After seeking explicit legal permissions, drones are being deployed for

· Inspecting work progress on site

· Field measurements

· Reality capturing

· Site Observation

Digital technology is also progressively used for 3D printing construction raw materials like cement products, metallic structural reinforcements, polymers, and composites of exception strength.

3D renderings and Business Information modeling(BIM) are also leveraged by architects to render the pre-construction phase fool-proof. Administrating the actual construction process for compliance to plan is also becoming easier.

New construction models are also driving digital overhauling. Architects, manufacturers, designers, and contractors are exchanging digital information among them for ensuring consistency in outputs.

Delivery models are being given a facelift with

· Unitization of systems

· Prefabrication of components on a larger scale

· Off-site fabrication and integration of modules at the site

· Direct fabrication

Leveraging Big Data

Big Data is much talked about these days. The potential of it is yet to be explored in totality from the perspective of the construction industry. However, the insights offered by the analysis of relevant data can provide vital inputs for planning large-scale projects.

With a growing population and shrinking resource base, it has become imperative to optimize limited facilities available. Smart cities hold the key to the economic use of resources and construction materials. Big data can offer valuable inputs for developing smart cities in collaboration with the Internet of Things.

Sensors are being placed in large numbers at strategic locations for capturing data from interconnected devices in metropolises. The sensor generated data would be interpreted by intelligent programs for monitoring and managing city-related issues like lighting, managing wastes, energy usage, the condition of civil infrastructure etc.

Such an intelligent arrangement would pave way for optimum use of available resources, slash energy usage and increase the efficiency quotient of human habitats. Here, big data would play a critical role in offering insights about:

· Movement of people in cities

· Pattern of energy usage

· Infrastructural set-up and interaction

· Other vital aspects of smart city life

Enhanced demands due to the increase in population would be complemented by construction methods underpinned by inter-connected devices and integration with big data. Such steps would also facilitate a safer, comfortable and cost-effective building for human residence.

Business Information Modeling (BIM)

Architectural landscape is already being powered by BIM for more efficient construction modeling and error-free planning followed by execution on-site. BIM relies on the implementation of relatively independent principles like:

· Developing 3D models for the project to highlight various aspects

· Modifying the 3D model throughout project lifecycle based on feedbacks

· Apart from volumetric representation, a 3D model would hold metadata

· Metadata relates to construction materials, dimensions of building etc.

· Sharing of 3D models by all stakeholders to ensure the expedited outcome

· Better coordination among team ensured by allowing ease of access to 3D models through storage in the cloud

· Assigning responsibilities to individual team members by precisely defining the roles in the project through the 3D model

· IFC categorization used for classification of the entire array of construction elements

· Inserting of construction products library which helps in actualization even if software module undergoes updates

These promising aspects can be realized fully for streamlining construction projects by eliminating resistance among team members. Architects need to be provided with extensive resources for learning and getting trained on BIM.

The possibility of newer software needs to be explored for ensuring interoperability and prevent costlier software versions from becoming an industry standard. However, in coming years, BIM would be the primary designing tool in the architectural segment.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI would permanently change the face of planning from the viewpoint of the construction industry. AI can accommodate huge volumes of data for devising smart and planned cities using tools like Auto Draw to the advanced ‘The Grid’.

Governments too are incentivizing those planners who are increasingly using AI for planning futuristic cities in combination with machine learning. For catering to the safety quotient of construction projects, tools like Smartvid.io are used in conjunction with machine learning for scanning millions of pictures to point out hazard sources.

Visualizing Architectural Projects with newer Materials

New advancements in the scientific domain, as well as process automation, are allowing utilizing of elements in the construction industry which earlier were overlooked or not discovered. These non-conventional components are paving way for bringing down building costs and offering expansion to architect’s visualization skills.

Environmental friendly, non-traditional and sustainable elements are being used like

· Bacteria grown bricks

· Concrete that self-heals

· Pavements that absorb the pollutants intuitively

With more and more such innovations sweeping the infrastructural development process, the constructional designing process is propelled ahead decisively.

Parametric Design

The parametric design in architecture is essentially generative in nature. This implies that parameters of the design can be adjusted for computation of various output types to facilitate the creation of structures and forms which earlier seemed impossible.

For parametric modeling, a geometric programming language is used internally which can be coded directly. Else, Rhino 3D software’s extension known as Grasshopper can also be used for designing parametric aspects. Through a user interface, the model can be made apparent to all stakeholders. The proposed structure of the building would be shown by Grasshopper which also offers intuitive handles for controlling the design elements.

Grasshopper has taken 3D modeling one step ahead by allowing execution of visualization tasks which earlier seemed not possible. A number of constraints and parameters can be used for controlling the building’s shape which redefines interaction with finished buildings.

This architectural visualization allows a confluence of human imagination and computer’s processing power. Architectural designing is made more programming oriented which means underlying codes can be changed to create anything imaginable.

The codes can be shared and libraries can be made for future reference. There would be no bar on the potential of parametric modeling and the constraints faced by traditional visualization software would be overcome conclusively.

Architectural robotics

Construction process carried out earlier has undergone dramatic changes and is slated to experience more modifications in the future. This is ushered in by architectural robotics.

Soon, assembly robots would be put in service for construction processes involving designing and on-site execution. Human laborers would work hand in hand with assisted robots on construction projects sooner.

Just like 3D printers, newer algorithms on the horizon can be used for value engineering the structure. They would facilitate optimum material consumption as well as bring about more flexibility in structural processes.

Parametric design tools are already being used for developing unbelievable structures. They are aided in their capabilities with the use of large-sized 3D printers which are able to print out construction material on large scale and are overcoming the limitations of building technology.

Sustainable Architecture

The construction projects of the future would be more environmental friendly through sustainable architecture. Climatic changes and biological degradation can be stopped only when resources are utilized economically.

Sustainable architecture emphasizes the reduction of wastage. Wastes can be physical in nature or the energy that is being overly consumed. Optimizing of energy consumption in smart buildings and cities would lead to less generation of energy. As lesser amounts of energy would be used without compromising our comfort quotient, our resource efficiency, as well as environmental friendliness, would grow. This would make climate changes less drastic.

To minimize the impact on the ecological system, we need to consider a number of factors like:

· Type of construction material used for building

· Construction project’s energy efficiency

· Geographical location of the building

The last factor can be understood from the fact that even if the building has been designed in energy efficient manner with newer building materials, but the same would be rendered ineffectual if the environment suffers because of construction. A holistic approach is needed to reconcile all the factors and make buildings more responsive to environmental needs.

The future of architectural modeling

Architectural modeling is being increasingly powered by changes in 3D rendering and visualization capabilities. Virtual Reality and AI along with machine learning would influence the construction designing process more impactfully.

In the near future, we would experience living experiences that would emulate the science fiction’s wild imaginations. Architects, designers and all stakeholders are collaborating to make such a future possible.

3D simulations and prototypes of the proposed construction are being increasingly used by architects and designers to shape the way building turns out. This is being practiced universally of late which is throwing open the doors of further innovation and development.

Potential customers are benefitting from advances in architectural visualization. They can experience the outcome well in advance without having to visit the site or wait for the construction to get finished. This would also help in making an informed and conscious decision of investing money in a project that is energy efficient, infrastructurally sound, and eco-friendly. Visual walkthroughs are rendered more compelling with techniques like virtual staging.

Architectural rendering is slated to experience more growth in the future starting with 2021. The conventional way of visualizing projects would be completely overhauled with newer digital interventions. The phase of discovery is still underway. In the coming decade itself, phenomenal changes would sweep the rendering industry with only imagination becoming the limiting factor.

Here, mainstream 3D rendering companies would have an important role to play. They would be the game changer by becoming harbingers for ushering in a new wave of architectural modeling. Real estate and construction dynamics would be uplifted significantly with the leveraging of advanced modeling tools that would facilitate better architectural visualization and subsequent designing.