Session 2, Part A: Designing a Revolution
Instructors: David Conant, Autodesk Inc.
Class Description: Designing a Revolution: reflections on designing Revit, from napkin sketch to BIM
This presentation will review the function of design in defining Revit. It will look at themes and intentions as well as methods over the course of Revit's history. Using both public and personal material, I will discuss the role of design in the evolution of Revit and BIM from a set of ideas into the widely accepted design tool seen today. Design technologies such as building information models, and tools such as Revit are the product of lengthy processes. They are neither fully formed at the outset nor static as they develop. Just as with a building or a product, their evolution is an iterative process of design, construction, and testing. It begins with high level goals and a vision of what the end might be. Through Revit's now 12 year history, many of the goals and principles outlined in the earliest stages still drive its design and development. Their impact is visible in the program today. Some principles are recognized but ignored or poorly implemented, others are tested and found to be ineffective or invalid and have been discarded. New design methods are introduced, customer needs change as they accommodate new ways of working, and new technology makes old assumptions obsolete. These factors too have had an identifiable impact on the product. This presentation will take a few of these threads and follow them through Revit's growth.
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