By Renee Cheng, head

Imagine sketching your dream home, or a concert hall, or a new office building. As you draw, every line becomes more than a line; the rectangle that defines the window knows how much the window costs, its energy efficiency, even where the other windows are. If you move it an inch to the left, all the other windows you've drawn know it's been moved, too.

It's not imagination. Building Information Modeling or BIM, the latest generation of building and design software, is a reality. And while many universities are just starting to teach it, the University of Minnesota School of Architecture has been working with it in some form since 2002, and in a concerted manner since 2005.

BIM has the potential to be a leap from previous programs, which helped speed the design process but didn't necessarily change it. BIM encourages the integration of elements such as materials with energy analyses and other data. In this way, students learn how quantitative feedback can make the design process richer and more informed. Representation becomes three-dimensional, and the data, formerly in the form of tables of numbers, is much more intuitive. The result is a model that allows students to see massing, plans, quantities, and energy behavior so they can envision many aspects of their designs. This type of design process can result in buildings that are reactive, more attuned to their settings, perhaps even more interactive with its users and more effective in energy usage.

The software clearly offers advantages for practice, providing accurate information on costs and construction. Although theoretically more information is better, a plethora of data can be overwhelming for students. The question then becomes how to carefully integrate BIM in the studio, by asking students to apply it in focused exercises and tutorials developed for specific design exercises. Most important is educating students to use BIM with a considered, thoughtful approach. To that end, the School of Architecture is committed to making a connection between digital and analog; for example, using hand sketches and models alternating with digital media. BIM continues the school's legacy of innovative, yet grounded, work.

Besides BIM, another even more futuristic scenario is taking place in the School of Architecture. Students don a headset or body suit, step into a room and step into a virtual space, generated through photos or three-dimensional models. Though only used in special classes, virtual reality is a true reality at the University, thanks to a collaboration between the computer science department and the School of Architecture. It's one of the few in the nation with such set-ups. [See page 10.]

Twenty-first-century students are highly attuned to the possibilities of many visualization technologies and are fluent in mixing them with analog techniques, which has created enormous opportunities; digital media allow us to test more quickly and with fewer physical limits than traditional tools. It has also, however, brought challenges at the most basic level. The risk with powerful new technologies is that they don't always deliver on all they promise, or, riskier still, become an end in themselves, rather than simply another means for rigorous exploration. In the School of Architecture we remain committed to ensuring that such technologies, whatever the media, always serve our fundamental goal of good design.

The School of Architecture won one of six 2008 education honor awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). "An Incomplete Curriculum for Transformation," directed by architecture faculty Ritu Bhatt, Renee Cheng, John Comazzi, Ozayr Saloojee, and Marc Swackhamer, explores an "evolving curricular structure" that builds on tradition, embraces challenges, and expects change. The award was presented at the national AIA Convention in Boston, May 14-17, 2008.