Today, the concept of connectivity extends far beyond internet access. From self-driving cars and interactive interfaces on buildings, to artificial intelligence units such as Alexa and Siri, smart devices are becoming necessary components of our daily life. To function effectively, these devices should be connected. Across the globe, intelligent companies are working on tech products to improve transportation, social services, and health and public spaces within urban environments.

Self-driving vehicles and smart city products are promising to revolutionize the way we live and move in cities which will greatly impact the built environment. Industries and cities are steadily moving towards an approach that makes buildings and transport sustainable, conserving both energy and space.

Urbanization and the Challenges that Cities Face

Urbanization is going through an unprecedented rate of growth at a time of rapidly changing global climates, a shift in energy systems, the emergence of new mobility services, increasing migration, and decaying infrastructure.

Cities are in peril. Billions need to be spent on climate mitigation solutions and on handling urban densification, especially the conflict between cars and urban spaces. Cars take up space in city centers, space that could otherwise be used for people.

Traffic congestion and air pollution are of particular concern today. Over 70% of the CO²released into the atmosphere comes from urban centers. To combat this massive challenge, people must become more conscious of their carbon footprint, and companies and city officials should consider how to transform urban infrastructures into more sustainable and efficient environments.

There are numerous opportunities to decrease traffic: to use new technologies and mobility solutions, and to share economic trends and energy harvesting techniques. These will help to create future scenarios for sustainable cities that take a growing population into consideration.

Adding Value and Quality to Public Spaces

How can we improve the quality of cities and public spaces? As a manufacturer and supplier for innovative sun and rain protection systems with over 20 years of experience in product development, MDT-tex has naturally been thinking about innovative products for public spaces. Their product portfolio includes storm-safe umbrellas and textile architectures, which are especially important for outdoor events and marketing activities.

One good example of an effective redesign of public city space is the 2012 Dublin Meeting House Square project, a joint venture between MDT-tex and Sean Harrington architects. The four XXL umbrellas installed by MDT-tex cover approximately 900 square meters, to maximize the available outdoor space for cultural activities. Audio speakers, as well as water and electricity, are incorporated to guarantee the best benefit for visitors and inhabitants.

The founder of MDT-tex, Markus Müller-Feist, believes that installations such as the Meeting House Square can increase the quality of life by adding value to unused outdoor spaces within our cities.

Innovative Solar Charging Shelters for Cities

The shift towards smart cities with new technologies, electric mobility and data gathering approaches across the world challenged MDT-tex to develop a new product solution that addresses the complex environmental issues within and without the city.

The company made their multi-award-winning tulip shape umbrella ceilings sustainable, thus combining their significant experience in innovative urban design with an environmental mission. The SmartSolarShelter is an aesthetically appealing, new solar shelter solution, and it is available in two formats: A symmetrical mast and an asymmetrical mast. Both masts span 5.3 meters, which provide generous shading. The 15 solar panels on their surface maximize energy generation which supply the city with much-needed resources that are both renewable and sustainable.

“As a result of climate change, we have to meet the demands of increasing temperatures in cities and add electrified e-mobility to our products.” – Markus Müller-Feist

In its organic design, the SmartSolarShelter can be embedded into various environments and augmented with a wide range of accessories, from EV charging systems to media concepts for the public sector. The mast is equipped with drainage pipes which filter rainwater and store it in a covered water tank for later use.

The SmartSolarShelter is available in two different formats, with the symmetric mast and an asymmetric mast. Both formats have a span of 5,3 meters which provide a generous shading and 15 solar panels on its surface which ensure maximum energy generation.

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In its organic design, the SmartSolarShelter can be embedded into various environments and augmented with a wide range of accessories, from EV charging systems to media concepts for the public sector. The mast is equipped with drainage pipes which filter rainwater and store it in a covered water tank for later use.

The SmartSolarShelter meets the changing urban environments in our cities by tackling spatial limitations with technological innovation. As our understanding of the problem improves, more of these smart space-economizing products will become available on the market.

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BIMMUNITY is a cloud-based system that aims at empowering all parties concerned with the efficient management of the built environment. It utilizes state-of-the-art concepts of building information modeling (BIM), geographic information systems (GIS), and database and server technology, to provide smart and real-time solutions, involving a variety of building types and stakeholders, within a fully integrated and customized platform.

BIMMUNITY solutions range from managing not only spaces and buildings, but also communities and cities, using its flexible and scalable “city-to-room” services. Rather than a “one-size-fits-all” platform, its fully customizable features address the needs of a wide variety of building types, including residential, commercial, educational, and mixed-use buildings, as well as stakeholders, including property holders, facility managers, service providers, and building tenants.

All stakeholders can navigate seamlessly through BIMMUNITY’s dynamic and user-friendly visual interface using its interconnected portals. Property holders can manage their properties worldwide and track income, expenses, and performances on their PCs or smart devices. Facility managers can issue tickets and work orders to service providers and monitor all building systems and operations. Service providers can monitor their stocks and inventory and conduct their assigned work orders. Building tenants can visually navigate through their units and perform a variety of requests including services, bookings, and maintenance and operation requests.

The system infrastructure comprises several cloud servers and databases, including MySQL database, Google Maps for general map navigation, BIM server for managing data translation from 3D BIM models, and GIS server for creating and managing GIS data, web services and applications related to worldwide maps. All server outputs are communicated through an API gateway to serve any type of devices including desktop and mobile applications.

One of the key added values of the system is the BIM/GIS integration, where GIS augments the value of BIM design data through the analysis and management of infrastructure and project elements. Using the analytical power of both BIM and GIS, building users, managers and owners can better understand the issues and impacts of their decisions. Other strengths include the support of data retrieval, tracking of component development and maintenance history, dataset availability for maximum on-demand use and recall, therefore supporting integration with other collaboration platforms.

The integration of BIMMUNITY and existing Internet of Things (IoT) systems including smart systems, home automation and sensor network technology offers yet a further competitive edge, where real-time data and feedback from existing operations are detected, monitored and processed to provide comprehensive and accurate data representation. BIMMUNITY introduces a solution that is much more than an efficient management tool. It extends to deliver smart solutions that involve enhanced scenarios of operation, automated workflows, performance monitoring and tracking, optimized management of building facilities and spaces, and informed real time decision-making.

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Architectural design is an inherently spatial discipline. Yet, for over 99% of its written history, architectural plans have been done in a medium that does not allow for experiencing the design before it is built. We made two dimensional plans and views on paper. We made small scale 3D models of the building to be built. When computers arrived, we used their power to create designs and plans that are three dimensional, but still rendered on a two dimensional monitor. Fortunately that has changed recently with the introduction of Virtual Reality that is taking architectural visualizations by storm.

For the first time ever, we can experience the three dimensional structure of the building in life-size scale without having to build an expensive and hard-to-change model. Since then over 10% of architects use virtual reality on a day-to-day basis, with the next 25% planning on buying a headset within the next 12 months.

When Maciej Fijałkowski started designing and building his climbing gym in Cape Town, he also started experimenting with virtual reality for entertainment but quickly realized the potential for design. He soon discovered that viewing in virtual reality is just the beginning. We will at some point move to designing directly in virtual reality.

Together with Armin Rigo, a brilliant programmer and Duncan Fraser, a professional architect they started working on VR Sketch. VR Sketch is a plugin for a popular 3D modelling software, Trimble SketchUp. It integrates with the existing workflow by allowing users to view and modify their model directly in virtual reality using a similar set of tools that are available in SketchUp.

Since the original prototype built in mid-2017, the team has embarked on launching a company centered around the product with the idea of revolutionizing how big and small architecture firms design. The potential was quickly realized by people from varying backgrounds, from large architecture firms like ZGF Architects, through interior designers, modern furniture designers like Stykka to hobbyists and academics.

VR Sketch allows for the design to be created or changed instantly while within the 3D space. That allows more experimentation and much better final results. As Bell Helicopters found out, using virtual reality for design shortens the design loop. It is much quicker to see how well the final design works with just a few strokes of the controller. Since 3D design is a discipline where customer satisfaction is critical, creating better designs makes everyone happier. For architects it shortens the feedback loop and creates much happier customers, who in turn are more likely to recommend their services. Soon we will be arriving at a point where customers will demand access to virtual reality from architecture firms.

VR Sketch is a small, yet dynamic company. It plans to revolutionize how people think about design and how quickly designs can be made. The landscape of hardware capabilities will only improve and we will see more and more design work done in VR. VR Sketch will keep iterating quickly to deliver cutting edge solutions for years to come.

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BIM (building information modeling) is a sophisticated program that allows architects to collaborate better with their teams and clients with real-time design that updates shared instantly in the cloud. It helps architects make better design decisions, alerting them to common errors such as misplaced windows before the first brick has been laid. Clients can use BIM after construction is completed to maintain and reduce running costs thanks to the information it provides. The software is even incorporating virtual reality to allow clients to walk around buildings that don’t exist yet.

Hospitals and universities are already using BIM to make sure these institutions run as smoothly as possible. In fact, BIM optimizes public building use to such a degree that the UK government has made it mandatory for architects to use the software in the design of any new projects.

Juan Lago-Novás, director of the Master in Architectural Management and Design at IE School of Architecture and Design, says BIM software such as Revit, AutoCAD and ArchiCAD is blending the design and management sides of the business seamlessly.

“The biggest advantage of BIM is that it allows you to pre-construct your designs” he said. “It’s like Formula 1, where instead of spending millions on building a car then realizing it doesn’t work as expected, they are able to build it digitally and test it in a simulator.” BIM can detect where there might be problems with an electrical supply or perhaps a rafter that’s going to obstruct something.

BIM is an essential tool in explaining a client’s return on investment and what the running costs of a building might be. Whereas previously it’s been hard to sell a client on the virtues of investing in good design, BIM makes it a simple matter of math.

“You don’t need to be a designer to get information from BIM; it can connect to an app that any building manager can use,” says Lago-Novás, who is also principal of DSC Architecture in Madrid. “It knows the model numbers of machines in the office so it can tell clients what filters, cartridges or maintenance costs they might incur over a given period.”

When teaching the course, Lago-Novás says he likes to encourage his students to think of BIM more as building information management due to how well the software handles the business side of things. However, he envisions that BIM will be fully implemented in the design industry onces BIM stands for Business Information Management.

“An architect begins his design with a pencil, and CAD programs is really no different. A hand-drawn line on paper and a digital vector line on the screen are still just two points joined together.”

The difference with BIM is that it understands that those lines equal a wall. It knows what the wall is made of. It knows if that wall has a skirting board or not. You can ask it how many walls are in the building. This can be very useful when working on larger-scale projects.

Some say there are limitations to BIM, suggesting that it may stifle creativity if an architect no longer needs to come up with novel solutions to design issues. But Lago-Novás argues that while BIM solves a lot of problems, it doesn’t solve design.

He adds:

“The principles of architecture haven’t changed. These tools allow us to design the types of buildings that would have been impossible in the past. But there’s no substitute for a great designer.”

Juan Lago-Novás is director of the Master in Architectural Management and Design at IE School of Architecture and Design. The course is intended for those who see the potential of business opportunities in architecture and the new roles emerging from the industry’s evolution.

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