BIM Is Changing The World. KCC 2017 Review

The KCC of this year in Kyoto was something like a master class – case study. The experience and knowledge that was shared among all participants from every part of the world was incredible.

Far from be a geek IT 3 days seminar about how to use a piece of software. It was a gathering of architects and professionals that shared their ideas, experiences, motivations and inspirations about architecture, sustainability and society.
I wish I had time to describe in this post every interesting chapter that was shared by the speakers of the seminar. It would be too long.. I would like to highlight some crucial parts of the event.
As professional interested in the new release of the upgrade of BIM tool I use in my daily work, I would say that the ARCHICAD 21 premier was amazing.
– New stair tools, upgrade in data classification, improvements on the ARCHICAD – Grasshopper connection, enhancement of properties management, new editing commands, etc..

Peter Koncz Showcases the Improvements of the Stair Tool in ARCHICAD 21

Akos Karoczkai Presenting enhancements of the connexion ARCHICAD – RHINO – GRASSHOPPER
I know you may had a look already to what I am talking about. Videos featuring these upgrades are already available online and very soon we will be able to use them ourselves..
But of course the key points of these three days were the experiences shared by speakers. It was really inspiring.
This year the guest were from Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia, UK, Hong Kong, and China. Every speech was a great case study of Architecture in practice..
Companies from Japan showed their achievements using ARCHICAD in combination with other softwares. Hidemi Hikeda from Takenaka, Kazumi Yajima from Kajima, and Kensuke Yasui from Nikken Sekkei represent different faces of big companies in Japan exploring the advantages of using BIM. This benefits can be seen at different levels from the design stage, during the documentation production and at the construction stage. Large offices with hundreds of employees face a huge challenge when they need to implement a different workflow in their teams. They have already managed to master the use of BIM and It is a great opportunity for architects to listen to it from the “big guys”.

Kensuke Yasui from Nikken Sekkei, Japan showcasing examples of their practice.
Surbana Jurong from Singapore explained how they also develop their own tools to enhance the use of BIM in residential projects. Jianyi Investment from Beijing showed that they have already years of experience using ARCHICAD to develop accurate models for their projects. GS E&C from Korea explained their strategies to use BIM also as a mechanism to optimise production and save errors and cost.
LWK from Hong Kong was the surprise of the year. William Cheung showcased how in his office, after less than one year implementing ARCHICAD they were able to submit their projects to the Building Department of Hong Kong for approval fulfilling all Graphic and Calculation requirements. This type of submission called GBP (General Building Plans), has very specific requirements that are hard to fulfil and BIM users have always found it a very hard task to extract this type of documentation from their model.. We already knew that it is not hard for ARCHICAD users… But was LWK who proved it in real projects. As Hong Kong firm I must say I was impressed for the precision and clearness of their work.

William Cheung from LWK & Partners answers to questions on the round table.
The guys from FJMT from Australia showed their impressive Architecture designs. Another example of how ARCHICAD can boost the design process from the beginning. Is exactly what we promote from Enzyme.
Along these impressive and inspiring presentation I would like to highlight two more that for me gave very strong message to those who are still not convince of the use of BIM and a great example of how to master its application in real jobs for those who already use it (I include myself among this last group). It was the case of Pantelis Ioannidis from John Robertson Arch, UK and Darren Tims from HDR Rice Daubney, Australia.
Pantelis resume in his 30 min presentation all you need to know about interoperability in BIM. It was like a master class. How the use of IFC to exchange models and data really works, meets the standards of UK and allows to check your model in Solibri to audit it. I appreciated this presentation because it breaks the myth of the barrier that exist in-between BIM tools. But also described how ARCHICAD highly enhance an Open BIM collaboration among them.

Pantelis Ioannidis explains Data Structure inside ARCHICAD
The case study we got from HDR Rice Daubney was how a huge project can be handled in between stake holders that collaborate in it by using ARCHICAD, Revit and other BIM tools. The project was a huge hospital complex. It was breakdown in modules and handled in different models, some of them in ARCHICAD and some of them in Revit. Also the fact that this project is built and was started many years ago is a great breakthrough. They manage to implement in a very complex and big project a way of collaboration that some people nowadays still find hard to believe or even to consider.

Darren Tims Describes common Mistakes among Firms that transit to a BIM environment.
Another crucial message to highlight is when the speakers were asked in the last panel discussion about when was the best moment to implement BIM in a project. All speakers agreed that the best way to implement BIM during the development of a project is from the beginning. It is possible to combine BIM tools with other softwares such as Sketchup, Rhino, etc. But this point is important in order to get the full benefits of using BIM.
Open your eyes world! Things are changing and an Effective Design Process can be part of every professional’s from the AEC Industry daily life.
I think there is not much more I can say to describe the event without getting in too much detail. No need to explain the privilege cultural experience of visiting some prime locations in Kyoto where the seminar was celebrated. Sharing these experience in such stunning architecture heritage of Japan was an unforgettable experience..

Last group picture of the speakers at the Galla dinner opening the Sake casks.
It was also one of the best environments to share and enjoy knowledge connecting with worldwide expert users and professionals.

Jorge Beneitez shares with an spontaneous group of users some tips about the RHINO – GRASSHOPPER –  ARCHICAD connection.

Enjoying traditional Japanese Whiskeys with new friends from all over the world.
I hope this article enlighten a bit more what I believe is an intuitive way of making better projects. BIM is a great methodology that as already been there waiting for us to use it since many years ago..
I would conclude this lines with a sentence that Patrick MacLeamy, Executive Officer from HOK, once said in a previous Kcc.. “you are changing the world, we need you”.
Thanks for reading us!