If you’ve ever wondered what qualifies someone as a pioneer it is the willingness and ability to see new possibilities and have the courage and enthusiasm to embrace new ways of doing things. Much of what we do is rooted in traditions that have been long-established and are embedded in our cultures, our psyche, and our work routines, yet these are times of groundbreakingly fast technological evolution in which ever-faster tech improvements are ‘disrupting’ the conventional economic environment and shaking the ground under our feet. The Austrian-American economist Joseph Schumpeter called this process of new technologies destroying old industries and in the process creating new ones, ‘Creative Destruction’ – pretty much what we today understand as ‘Disruptive Technology’.

Schumpeter’s is a beautifully coined description, as this is exactly what is happening right now – a destruction of many of the old ways of doing things and from their ashes the birth of new possibilities. We’ve seen it happen before, when the mechanisation of the Industrial Revolution became known as the First Machine Age. ›

It changed the world profoundly, leading both to the prosperity and the problems we have today, and according to many we are now in the midst of a Second Machine Age – another period of great change that threatens to leave much of the old behind and replace it with the promise of new possibilities far beyond the paradigm of what we have thus far imagined possible.

Technology And Architecture

Architecture and technology have always had a close, even entwined relationship. This is true of classical times and also of the Renaissance, when the people who built great edifices were also at the forefront of the rediscovery of maths, physics, and science in general. All of this made the Industrial Revolution and the world we live in today possible, and it seems ready for another leap. And yet, today architects seem to have lagged behind a little, producing often futuristic looking designs but still using yesterday’s methods to get there. In other words, architecture has fallen well behind IT, engineering, scientific research, and other technical disciplines in its use of modern technology – and the opportunities and toolsets it offers.

The technology has been there for some time, and by this we don’t mean AutoCAD, which has been around long enough for it to be called ‘yesterday’s’ technology. Yes, most architectural firms have left the drawing board behind in favour of this kind of software, but as Miguel Fontgivell, founder of Oboria Digital Architecture realised early on in his career, this approach is increasingly outdated and out of touch with the technology and possibilities available right now.

Oboria Digital Architecture

“I wasn’t too far into my career as an architect when I realised that we were working in much the same way as the professors who taught us had done. That is to say, like the previous generation, which is fine except for the fact that we are now designing for an increasingly complex world that has to incorporate more and more electronics and data. The tools that help us to do so efficiently and accurately are at hand and improving all the time, but as of yet only a very small percentage of architects are using them.” Looked at from this perspective, there is then an increasing disparity between the complex requirements of modern-day construction and the methods used to solve them.

Oboria Digital Architecture was born out of a new world of possibilities that digital technology makes possible, for Miguel realised that his field, and the world around it, was going to become more, not less complex, and required the right methodology to tackle it. “We no longer just design and construct a building with heating, lighting, electricity, and an Internet connection. Everything is increasingly interconnected and complex, and much of it revolves around data, and the accurate and efficient processing of it. Most architects use AutoCAD to create designs that need to function in this environment, and well beyond into the future, when things will be even more advanced. However, designing simple lines in abstract that then have to be translated into the ‘language’ of engineers, electronics specialists, and builders, as well as eventually hooked up to city-wide digital smart systems, is not the ideal approach.”

He emphasises that it is a time-consuming method that is also susceptible to human error, especially on the technical side, where getting calculations and specifications right is of great importance. “At Oboria we make full use of digital tools that ensure that when we design a structure, what we draw are not just ‘lines’ but are charged with the kind of information that allows the system to immediately recognise it as a loadbearing wall, a stairwell, or a conduit for piping or cabling. You would be amazed how important this leap in intelligence and efficiency is, as the software instantly calculates the length, depth, and even the technical specifications and materials required. This needs to be checked by humans at the end, but it means that not only can you move so much faster, focusing on the creative problem solving and aesthetic part of the job and leaving the donkey work to the machine, but you’re building an entire interactive 3D model that is fully compatible with what engineers work with. It means you can collaborate with them in real-time and make changes and adaptations – which is common during the course of most projects – as you go along, without having to laboriously redo everything. You see, the system incorporates all the changes and then updates the entire design accordingly.”

Smart Design

What Miguel is describing is at the heart of next-generation integrated design-to-construction systems such as BIM, but whereas his methodology is in perfect sync with it, mere AutoCAD designs fall short of the real concept and requirements of BIM. “Our system adapts in real-time as the project evolves, whereas most studios have to spend a huge amount of time retracing their steps each time something is changed. This represents a huge saving in time, efficiency, leads to fewer human errors, and allows us to focus on the main tasks at hand – creative design and problem solving.” Not surprisingly, this also translates into significant cost reductions and makes possible construction projects that were once deemed too expensive and complex.

The expertise he and his team have built up in this as yet highly specialised field of architecture makes Oboria Digital Architecture a world leader that is not only contracted by top developers and construction corporations, but also by engineering and architectural firms. “Perhaps our most famous project to date is The Sphere in Las Vegas, where the benefits of digital architecture were truly highlighted in a building with a curved, organic skin made up of hundreds of small tiles. After modelling the dome, a traditional architect would create the tiles and then the drawings. In our case, the geometry of the roof is an input and its partition into tiles a single process. If anything is changed with the design, it is automatically recalculated and updated – and you have a perfect new design. This is exactly the kind of quantum leap in workflow that will make avant-garde projects possible and bring buildings to ‘life’, providing valuable data that will lead to further advances in efficiency.”

In short, digital architecture is the future and it is here already.