Are Builders showing Architects how to do their job?

Kimon G. Onuma, AIA has written a very interesting article about how architects as a profession are in danger of making themselves more irrelevant by ignoring the very real development of Building Information Modelling (BIM) as the new paradigm for delivering buildings. Kimon argues that the opportunity is there now to take the initiative to regain control of the building process. Some of the things that need to be done to take on this challenge:

• Take control of the emerging technologies- i.e  tell the technologies "This is what I want from you." rather than asking them "What can I have? (like we did for years with CAD)
• Not waiting for the software companies to feed us with new technologies.
• Leveraging the new technologies to organise the various parties involved in the building process .(before those parties organise the architects.)

Master Builder: William Burges Architect of St. Finbarre's Cathedral, Cork

Kimon rightly argues in my view, that BIM is not about depending on one piece of software or another or even treating the smart 3D digital model as the definition of BIM, but its about grappling with the various Information Technologies as they are now and how they will be in the future so that we are in step with them. He finishes with a blackly humorous quotation by Stuart Brand: “Once a new technology rolls over you, if you're not part of the steamroller, you're part of the road. “