Archinect - News

Construction tech start-up sends AI-powered "micro-factories" to the US to build affordable housing

2024-10-04T17:57:00-04:00

British construction tech start-up Automated Architecture (AUAR) is sending two of its pop-up, robotic micro-factories to the U.S. for the first time in a move to bring automated and affordable house building to North America.

Founded in 2019, AUAR functions by licensing its technology to builders and contractors to build low-energy homes at the price of normal homes, at scale.

Related on Archinect: Where Are All The Affordable Housing Startups?. Image credit: Katerra

The micro-factories will be deployed by real estate development and construction firm Rival Holdings, which aims to address the ongoing housing crisis by building thousands of sustainable, affordable, and high-quality homes across the Midwest. The partnership between Rival Holdings and AUAR was announced in March.

“We are really excited to partner with Rival Holdings to bring our cutting-edge Robotic Micro-factories to the United States,” said Co-Founder and CEO of AUAR, Mollie Claypool. “This partnership is our first ...

ETH Zurich researchers develop robotic process for impact printing earth materials

2024-09-23T12:32:00-04:00

Researchers at ETH Zurich have introduced a new robotic 3D printing method for cement-free low-carbon materials for a circular economy.

Using a technique called 'impact printing,' the team demonstrated a mixture of excavated materials, silt, and clay that was less dependent on additives for its structural strength due to the high-velocity deposition process. Their aim was to "increase the cost competitiveness of sustainable building materials through efficient and automated production."

Image: Girts Apskalns. Copyright: ETH Zurich - Gramazio Kohler Research, Chair of Sustainable Construction and Robotic Systems Lab

First, a custom printing tool was developed that can be integrated on multiple high-payload robotic platforms. The tool was then integrated with a high-payload Gantry system within the ETH's Robotic Fabrication Laboratory. The hardware is also compatible with an autonomous legged excavator system called HEAP, also developed by the Robotic Systems Lab. It has shown...

Why is technological progress still lagging in the building trade?

2024-05-27T11:00:00-04:00

Overall, across Europe and the US, stuff is still built in a pretty manual fashion - not very different to the way it would have been built 100 years ago [...] Construction is a bit of a digital laggard compared with many other industries. It's been slow to adopt digital in the widest sense

Consultant Sam O’Gorman and other experts speak to the BBC about the confounding gap between digital technology and the analog process for delivering residential architecture. Interesting projects mentioned are the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center’s attempts to develop the world’s largest 3D printer and the UK firm Automated Architecture (or AUAR)’s plan to create a network of ‘micro-factories’ capable of producing pre-assembled six-story timber design for just £250,000 ($320,000 USD) using robots.

Nidus3D completes North America's first 3D printed three-story building

2024-03-13T18:19:00-04:00

A new home design that stands as North America’s first three-story 3D printed structure has been completed in Canada using a special printer from the Danish construction technology firm COBOD.

The Toronto area proof-of-concept project from Nidus3D delivered what is reported as one of Canada’s first residentially permitted 3D printed structures. The 4,500-square-foot townhouse also includes the world's first 3D printed basement. It has a total of four residential units forming semi-attached homes made from locally sourced concrete and finished by a steel-frame roof and brick facade to match the local vernacular.

"Completing the world’s first 3D printed basement is another impressive achievement that only amplifies the technology’s potential to transform construction, and we notice with pride that multiple of our customers are pioneering what can be achieved with the 3D printing technology," COBOD's co-founder, Philip Lund-Nielsen, said in a news announcement.

Aerial view of the compl...

New AI resource guide details tech solutions for building contractors

2024-02-15T20:36:00-05:00

The industry group Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has just published a new guide to AI resources for contractors working closely with architects on building projects across the U.S.

“The possibilities of AI technology may sound endless, but we must first educate ourselves on the basics, and this resource is a starting point to understand AI and its potential impact on the construction industry,” said ABC Director of Construction Technology and Innovation Patrick Scarpati, who authored the guide. “The industry has immense opportunities to evaluate how we can better deliver projects, and we can lean on AI in achieving essential goals like upskilling, workforce development, knowledge transfer, supply chain optimization, enhanced safety design and planning and much more.”

Among the tools ABC says are supposed to make the building trade more efficient, safer, and productive are Autodesk’s new Construction IQ risk analysis software, the Hypar building modeling program that let...

MIT researchers develop rapid 3D printing process with liquid metal

2024-01-30T12:40:00-05:00

News is circulating about a novel method for 3D printing liquid metals that was developed by researchers working at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Self-Assembly Lab.

The invention can print furniture-sized components using molten aluminum and a ceramic nozzle graphite printer. They say their discovery works without re-melting the recycled materials, as is the case with many current technologies. It resembles a small furnace into which book-sized blocks of the material are fed. The technique, called liquid metal printing (LMP), creates material that is durable enough to withstand CNC milling and other steps in the post-design delivery process.

Image credit: MIT Self-Assembly Lab

The hope now is to refine the technique to allow for more consistent and higher-resolution prints. Such rapid and deployable solutions could become an attractive choice for architectural designers looking to scale up development and building projects in the future.

Image credit: MIT Self-Asse...

University of British Columbia develops ‘smart construction robots’ for basic on-site tasks

2023-12-01T12:00:00-05:00

A team at the University of British Columbia has developed “smart construction robots” for performing basic tasks on construction sites, such as lifting and moving objects. The team, led by Dr. Tony Yang from the University’s Smart Structures Lab, recently demonstrated the concept at a construction site in Richmond, British Columbia.

Photo credit: UBC Applied Science

The team’s process sees aerial drones fitted with cameras capture details that are used to create a digital twin of the construction site. AI-equipped cranes and forklifts use the information to move construction materials, such as beams and columns, around the site without a human operator.

Lead researcher Dr. Tony Yang observes as the robot decides how to navigate around the obstacle and complete its task, without n eeding a human operator. Photo credit: UBC Applied Science

“Our smart construction robots are able to recognize objects, performing detailed scans of structural components for quality assurance,” Dr. Yang ex...

Architects and builders detail Europe's first 3D printed school in Lviv, Ukraine

2023-08-07T14:45:00-04:00

The enormous effort of rebuilding civilian infrastructure in war-torn Ukraine has spurred a landmark example of the design and delivery of 3D printed architecture with the completion of Danish 3DCP Group‘s new Lviv School No. 23 project in the country’s internally-deluged western stronghold.

Their humanitarian design for clients Team4UA foundation was completed earlier this spring using a COBOD BOD2 printer and is now the title holder for the world’s largest 3D printed educational structure, simultaneously helping to bolster a key area of need in a community beleaguered by over 16 months of conflict and displacement.

Ukraine as a whole has lost some 277 schools since the latest phase of the Russian military invasion began last February, according to its Ministry of Education and Science. Jean-Christophe Bonis, a French-born entrepreneur who has resided in the country since 2019, took it as his charge to redirect his business activities towards the war effort, leading to the creation...

Role of artificial intelligence on construction sites expected to surge in coming decade

2023-04-06T11:12:00-04:00

A new report predicts that the global market for artificial intelligence in construction will experience significant growth in the next decade. The analysis by Research Dive reports that the market will grow by 34.1% by 2031 fuelled by AI-driven solutions and services, both on-site and remote.

According to the report, the implementation of artificial intelligence in the construction sector will be driven by a desire to improve worker safety on building sites and lessen health risks in the construction industry. The report cites data from OSHA that since 2020, “one in five worker deaths per year were recorded from the construction sector.” Research Dive, therefore, expects that the safety infrastructure on construction sites, such as cameras, sensors, and IoT devices detecting construction activity, will serve as foundations for increased integration of AI.

Advances in AI on the con...

Green construction startup Nexii achieves zero-waste certification with Squamish Manufacturing Plant

2023-03-31T13:21:00-04:00

Nexii Building Solutions Inc. has become the first construction manufacturing company in North America to achieve the Total Resource Use and Efficiency (TRUE) Gold Certification for Zero Waste for its Squamish Manufacturing Plant in British Columbia, Canada.

Administered by Green Business Certification Inc., the TRUE Certification for Zero Waste evaluates a company’s waste reduction efforts, including the use of extensive recycling and composting programs, materials used, and the diversion of waste from landfills.

Previously on Archinect: Startup raises $155 million to become ‘rising star’ in prefabricated construction

As stated in a press release, Nexii was able to significantly reduce waste produced by its plant by diverting over 90 percent of waste from landfills. The company also reached this milestone by developing business and education resources for all of its staff and creating a zero-waste purchasing policy.

"We're extremely proud to have achieved the Zero Waste certificat...

An industry expert discusses what’s holding back the use of 3D printing in commercial construction

2023-02-06T08:45:00-05:00

While the government has doled out grant money to research 3D printing capabilities in space, and several proof-of-concept projects from bridges to Army barracks have garnered headlines, the applied use of 3D printing in commercial construction remains nascent. Patti Harburg-Petrich, principal in the Los Angeles office of U.K.-based engineering firm Buro Happold, says the real culprit is likely one that all new building innovations are forced to navigate: the building code itself.

Harburg-Petrich pointed to the limitations of rebar on a recent design-build she advised at Woodbury University as evidence of the negative influence of building code restrictions, even in research and development. She also predicted airport design to be a potential growth sector and said the technology could perhaps be better applied to individual project components like (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) MEPs as it currently stands.

“If you can take advantage of industrialized construction and still be able to produce something that is bespoke, that leads toward a much faster pace of adoption,” she told Construction Dive. “If you can do something with less material, or put the pieces together faster, there are all kinds of cost savings right there, and all sorts of non-monetary benefits as well. “

...

Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot Atlas lends a hand on the construction site

2023-01-19T11:49:00-05:00

Boston Dynamics has released a new video showcasing the capabilities of their humanoid robot Atlas. The one-minute-long YouTube video is set within a mock-up construction site, with Atlas seen assisting a human construction worker on scaffolding.

Playfully titled ‘Atlas Gets a Grip,’ the video shows Atlas moving a timber plank around the mock-up site before picking up a tool bag to toss up to a construction worker on an elevated single-story scaffolding platform. As with past Boston Dynamic videos, Atlas ends the sequence in style by performing a backflip off a wooden crate.

Video via Boston Dynamics on YouTube

Entertainment value aside, the video offers an insight into the evolving capabilities of Boston Dynamics’ humanoid robot and its ability to manipulate the world around it. By interacting with objects and modifying its surroundings in pursuit of a defined goal, the company seeks to demonstrate the evolving ability of robots to assist in heavy-duty human tasks, including compl...

Construction robotics market could triple by 2030, reaching $164 million

2022-08-25T12:01:00-04:00

New research suggests that the global market for construction robotics will triple by 2030. The figures, generated by Straits Research, predict that the construction robotics market will grow from its current $50 million value to reach $164 million by the end of the decade, increasing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14%.

“Primary factors promoting the shift towards adopting robots in the construction industry are enhanced productivity, quality, worker safety, and global urbanization,” the research says, noting that robotics could eliminate or mitigate the risks of human error, operate in hazardous environments, and improve precession and efficiency during the construction process. Straits also identifies the “demolition robot market” as a submarket expected to experience growth.

Prefab construction startup Vantem plans 15 U.S. factories

2022-07-18T15:50:00-04:00

The company, which just raised a Series A round of investment from the Bill Gates-founded firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, builds homes using panels with a proprietary design that sandwiches an insulating layer between two structural boards.

Vantem announced it would use the recent funding from Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Quadrant Management, and TEM Capital to build 15 factories for prefabricated modular housing units across the U.S. by 2029. According to the company, its proprietary panel system has already been deployed in over three million square feet of residential space globally, including Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, and the Caribbean.

"Affordable housing is a global need that must be addressed," said Vantem CEO Chris Anderson, adding, "but if we build with traditional methods, we will solve one problem only to worsen another."

One year after ambitious construction startup Katerra went belly up, the market for modular, prefabricated construction is getting increasingly crowded with several players seeking to establish early dominance and disrupt the conventional model, including Vancouver-based ...

Startup raises $155 million to become ‘rising star’ in prefabricated construction

2022-06-28T09:00:00-04:00

One year after the failure of the ambitious construction startup Katerra, another construction technology company is seeking to pick up the mantle as a leader in sustainable, modular, prefabricated construction.

Based in Vancouver, Nexii Building Solutions has been described by The New York Times as “a rising star in the expanding green building industry,” combining a patented modular system with a reliance on 3D modeling software and third-party verification of its sustainability metrics.

Nexii's panels are fabricated in the company's two Canadian manufacturing plants. Image: Nexii/Twitter

Founded by entrepreneur Stephen Sidwell in late 2018, Nexii became the fastest company in Canadian history to reach a valuation of more than $1 billion, doing so in 31 months. Having recently completed its seventh round of funding, the startup has raised more than 200 million Canadian dollars, or 155 million U.S. dollars.

As described in a recent feature in the Times, Nexii’s patented building s...

Robotics company behind machine that automates construction layouts secures $9.4 million in Series A funding

2022-04-26T16:12:00-04:00

Rugged Robotics, a Houston-based developer of construction technology, raised $9.4 million in Series A funding. Similar to Dusty Robotics, Rugged offers a robot to automate construction layout. Rugged’s Mark I marks architectural and engineering designs directly onto concrete floors so workers know where to build. The robot is available for commercial use, which the company delivers via layout as a service (a derivative of Robots as a Service).

The funding round was led by BOLD Capital Partners and Brick & Mortar Ventures, along with Riot Ventures, Morpheus, Embark, Consigli Construction Company, and Suffolk Technologies. This latest capitalization round brings the company’s full funding to around $12 million. Rugged Robotics plans to use the investment to accelerate the robot’s deployment, expand its product offering, and make additional hires.

Rugged Robotics was founded in 2018 by Derrick Morse and Logan Farrell, a NASA engineer. In 2019, the company raised $2.5 million by way of a seed funding round.

The Dutch government is leading the fight to retrofit against climate change

2022-01-14T17:55:00-05:00

Energiesprong (which translates to “energy jump”), a nonprofit that the Dutch government helped launch a decade ago, is coordinating a system of mass retrofits. “We thought, okay, let’s make home retrofits into a scalable solution,” says Christian Richter, who works in the organization’s market development team in Germany.

The Netherlands has pursued an aggressive agenda which has meant a spate of net-zero residential conversions. Now groups are looking for ways to apply lessons from the program outside the country in the hopes of matching increased demands with advancements that have produced certain types of completed retrofit projects in less than a day.

“We know that roughly 70% of the buildings that exist today will exist in 2050,” Martha Campbell, the president of an energy nonprofit called RMI told FastCompany. “And if we’re going to hit net zero by 2050 . . . our estimates are that we need to hit a retrofit rate between 4% and 6%.” That adds up to as many as 6 million retrofits each year in the U.S. alone.

FBR's Hadrian X block-laying robot to construct up to 5,000 homes in Mexico

2021-11-03T17:20:00-04:00

FBR, the Perth, Australia-based robotics company behind the Hadrian X block-laying robot, has announced that it has signed a term sheet with GP Vivienda, the housing division of one of Mexico’s largest construction and real estate development companies, to supply its “Wall as a Service” (WaaS) for between 2,000 and 5,000 homes in Mexico.

As per FBR’s statement, the company will also supply all associated retaining walls and other brick and block structures on one or more greenfield residential development sites in Mexico following the completion of various required milestones. The milestones include receiving confirmation that FBR’s Hadrian X and Fastbrick Wall System are compliant with all relevant codes and regulations in Mexico, the completion of a collaborative commercial model, the completion of a pilot building program of 20 homes in Mexico with the Hadrian X, and the easing of Covid-19 travel restrictions.

FBR’s WaaS will supply the blocks and construct walls onsite to the s...

Australian robotics company signs multi-home contract to construct residences using its Hadrian X block-laying technology

2021-10-07T16:12:00-04:00

Perth, Australia-based robotics company FBR, the entity behind the Hadrian X block-laying robot, has signed another multi-home contract to supply its “Wall as a Service”.

Previously on Archinect: Bricklaying robot gets to work delivering "wall as a service" construction

The contract entails the construction of slab, footings, structural walls, second-story slabs, and roof trusses for eight two-story townhouses in St. James, Western Australia. According to FBR, work on the $5 million project will start as soon as practicable after all necessary approvals have been granted, and will be completed at commercial rates.

"We are pleased to be adding this large project to our pipeline of work, having spent the past 12 months introducing the Hadrian X® into the real-world building environment to validate our game-changing technology with some prominent Western Australian builders,” says FBR Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Mike Pivac. “Now that we have demonstrated all the bene...

The livMatS Pavilion at the University of Freiburg displays the strength of a more sustainable material

2021-07-20T08:00:00-04:00

A new “bioinspired” pavilion is opening in Germany thanks to some help from robotic hands.

The livMatS Pavilion has been successfully installed in the botanical garden on the campus of the University of Freiburg thanks to a cross-university team of engineers, architects, and biologists. The building is the first of its kind using a load-bearing structure that is entirely made of robotically-wound flax fiber.

Images courtesy ICD/ITKE/intCDC and the University of Stuttgart

Participants from both the University of Freiburg and the University of Stuttgart combined on the demonstration piece that showcases the material’s ductile capabilities in a spindly geometric form that simultaneously evokes both latticework and natural structures like cactus tissue and spiderwebs.

Images courtesy ICD/ITKE/intCDC and the University of Stuttgart

The pavilion’s prefabricated flax fiber truss was wrapped in a waterproof skin and wound together using a robotic process designed by the University of Stuttg...

Automated rebar prefabrication startup raises $8 million in Series A funding

2021-07-01T18:38:00-04:00

A New York-based construction robotics startup that makes prefabricated rebar cages for concrete structures has announced that it has secured $8 million in a Series A funding round.

The round was led by Tribeca Venture Partners and featured Blackhorn Ventures, Point72 Ventures, New York State, and Twenty Seven Ventures. This follows a $3 million seed round raised in late 2019.

The company, Toggle, was founded in 2016 by Daniel Blank and Ian Cohen. Toggle automates the rebar assembly process, combining its software with industrial robots and heavy material handling equipment. This allows the company to produce building materials in a safer, more productive, and more precise manner, thus able to deliver them at a lower cost and faster speed.

"At a time when global construction is accelerating at an unprecedented pace, Toggle offers a way to add capacity while saving time and cost on some of the largest types of projects," said Toggle CEO, Daniel Blank. "We are especially grateful f...

Autodesk acquires tech company that uses AI to help architects make design decisions

2020-11-18T18:05:00-05:00

Autodesk, Inc. today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Spacemaker for $240 million net of cash... The acquisition of Spacemaker provides Autodesk with a powerful platform to drive modern, user-centric automation – powered by AI – and accelerate outcome-based design capabilities for architects.

According to Autodesk, the Oslo, Norway-based Spacemaker "uses cloud-based, artificial intelligence (AI), and generative design to help architects, urban designers, and real estate developers make more informed early-stage design decisions faster and enables improved opportunities for sustainability from the start. By evaluating the best options from the outset, Spacemaker helps architects maximize their clients’ long-term property investments."

Tech company to create 'digital twin' of new SoFi Stadium

2020-11-16T16:00:00-05:00

Digital twin provider Willow has announced a partnership with Hollywood Park to create a digital twin of a 300-acre sports and entertainment development, including SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

According to Construction Dive, Willow will create a virtual copy of the stadium by capturing data in and around the area that will be "used to provide analytics and insight into the experience of attending a game there. This data will help SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park facilities managers to identify potential problems, optimize sustainability and manage risk."

Foster + Partners explores using robot dog on construction sites

2020-11-11T12:18:00-05:00

Foster + Partners has been exploring the use of Spot®, the robot 'dog' that can meander through construction sites to capture and monitor project progress. The architecture firm's involvement comes as part of Boston Dynamics' Early Adopter Program. Foster + Partners' Applied Research + Development group (ARD) has been working with Boston Dynamics to investigate the potential benefits of using Spot to capture changes on a regular basis, allowing the team to "easily compare the 'as=designed' models against the 'as=built' reality."

Spot can be controlled remotely and is capable of autonomously following a pre-mapped route while avoiding obstacles.

Martha Tsigkari, Partner, Foster + Partners said in a statement, "The ability of Spot to repeatedly and effortlessly complete routine scans, in an ever-changing environment was invaluable not only in terms of the consistency but also the large amount of high-quality data collected. Through this process we developed a sequence of scans that ma...

Robot builds two-story brick house

2020-10-29T12:03:00-04:00

Perth, Australia-based robotics company FBR – formerly known as Fastbrick Robotics – has built its first two-storey house using its Hadrian X block-laying robot, which has been in development since 2015.

According to Global Construction Review, "it was the first time the robotic block-laying approach incorporated steel reinforced concrete columns and a concrete floor slab placed atop the structure’s first story."

Balfour Beatty uses augmented reality eyeglasses on construction sites

2020-10-12T14:19:00-04:00

The company recently purchased three pairs of Vuzix Blade smart AR glasses that have a built-in camera that provides a view of jobsite walkthroughs or inspections, a boon during a time when travel restrictions can keep stakeholders away from a project. The smart glasses connect to hot spots on tablets or smartphones.

According to Construction Dive, Balfour Beatty US is using augmented reality (AR) eyeglasses on jobsites for safety and other inspections, meetings with clients and to work with drones. Cameron Wahl, the senior technology specialist with the company, has already seen "immediate benefits on RFIs and inspections" on Texas jobsites.

ICC releases recommended practices for remote virtual inspections

2020-09-21T11:03:00-04:00

"Recommended Practices for Remote Virtual Inspections (RVI)," is the first standardized program that offers advice on how to conduct these types of off-premises inspections. While the guidance is aimed at inspection professionals, contractors should also take note as some of the same procedural steps the ICC outlines in the new document could be adopted for in-house use if project managers or other supervisors need to check progress on a job from the office or another remote location.

The RVI program released by the International Code Council (ICC) includes some of the following tips for a successful remote inspection as reported by Construction Dive:

Ensuring all electronic devices to be used during the inspection are fully charged and that whoever is using the device at the location has a battery pack available.
Verifying that the jobsite has either high-speed Wi-Fi connectivity or a minimum of 4G cell service with a strong signal.
Making sure onsite personnel has the necessary physical tools — e.g. flashlight, tape measure and selfie pole to access elevated areas — to conduct inspections.
Ensuring good lighting and clear the areas to be inspected of clutter.
Making sure the lens portion of each device is clean to get clear shots of the work.

Construction tech developer ICON secures $35M in funding, BIG among investors

2020-08-20T14:02:00-04:00

ICON, developer of advanced construction technologies spanning from robotics, to software, and building materials, has completed a $35M series A funding round of financing led by Moderne Ventures. Among the series A round investors is Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).

"We believe additive manufacturing will play a transformative role in the future of construction and with our investment and partnership with ICON we can contribute actively to this ongoing transformation," said Bjarke Ingels, BIG's Founder and Creative Director in a statement. "The design industry has become revolutionized through the adoption of Computer Aided Design and Building Information Management...Robotic manufacturing will enable us to eliminate the loss in translation from data to matter and allow us to fabricate homes at great speed, with less waste, and with higher accuracy than today."

ICON. Six Home Project Community First Village. 3D-Print...

USC Viterbi School of Engineering launches Advanced Design and Construction Technology masters program

2020-08-12T14:39:00-04:00

The Viterbi School of Engineering at the University of Southern California has launched a new master’s program in Advanced Design and Construction Technology (ADCT).

The program, according to a school website, will explore an "integrative approach to design, engineering and construction technology, and in developing expertise in core topics including sustainability, data analysis and visualization, computing, modeling, simulation, process engineering and manufacturing, leadership, design and innovation" in order to "next generation of innovators to not only harness the power of technological innovation, but to bridge the industry’s fragmentation in order to foster collaboration, catalyze change, and offer advanced and sustainable solutions to global problems."

Tuition for the 28-unit, four semester master’s program is set at roughly $60,000 plus housing and fees.

A press release announcing the program explains that students will have access to "experts in computer science, construc...

ZHA, Grimshaw, and other large firms pen open letter decrying issues with Revit

2020-07-27T19:49:00-04:00

Anyone who spends time working in Revit has surely experienced the common frustration of not being able to accomplish seemingly basic tasks without the need for some type of convoluted "workaround." Well, some of the leading BIM-forward architectural practices in the world, including Zaha Hadid Architects, Grimshaw, Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and others have finally had enough.

An open letter published by the trade publication AEC Magazine highlights these firms speaking out against a variety of issues, both with Revit software itself as well as with Autodesk's business and licensing practices. The letter, according to the magazine, represents an unprecedented effort, with AEC's editors writing "In the thirty years we have been following the AEC technology market and the 18 years in which AEC Magazine has been dedicated to the BIM process, we have never seen the likes of this — an open letter from a community of national and international design practices venting their angst ...