I'm a 4th year architecture student. I've always had problems with designing using pen and paper. I can do it, but it never fully helps me when I want to have a detailed design.
(I have two projects this semester. One is a residential complex, and the other one is a school.)
I'm familiar with Google SketchUp and AutoCad, and I've learned a bit of the Revit software too.
Many of my professors in university tell me that AutoCad and Revit are great softwares for presentation of a project, but are not good choices for the design phase. They recommend using pen and paper for designing, and then moving to those softwares only for presentation.
On the other hand, the problem with Google SketchUp is that it's not as detailed as I would like it to be.
So, which software(s) is/are mostly used in the designing phase of a project?
accesskb
Jun 8, 14 9:35 pm
depends on what you like to design.. Any of sketchup, rhino, revit, autocad will suffice if your designs lean towards rectangular, box-like form mainly If you want to be more experimental and prefer fluid forms etc, I say sketch your ideas quickly on paper, then jump to a poly modelling software like 3DS Max, Maya or MODO etc (I've used them all and personally prefer MODO because it is very intuitive and seems like they really thought about every tool in there) You can use Rhino (and I depended on it and struggled with it during school) but I think it isn't well suited during design where you need to push/pull/cut/experiment quick. After I'm done with design and experimenting on a poly modeller like MODO, I either send it straight for 3dprinting/fabrication of models, or export it as a nurbs file to use in Rhino for further cleanup before fabrication or documentation.
Miles Jaffe
Jun 8, 14 11:14 pm
You've only wasted four years. Quit now before you waste the rest of your life.
First I tried to find something witty to say. Then I tried - really hard- to bite my tongue. Then I realized that very best thing I could do was tell the truth.
Four years in ... egad.
gwharton
Jun 9, 14 2:31 am
Can't design using a pen and paper???? O_O
You have bigger problems than needing to figure out which 3D software to use. Maybe Miles is right.
Abraham Melendez
Jun 9, 14 1:12 pm
You professors are absolutely correct. Put pen to paper, then move on to software. Saves time in the long run. Don't waste your time doing something they never asked for.
When you draft your details in CAD you will acquire a new skill that rarely gets developed in school. That is scale and lineweights. You will have to do some adjustments when you plot but that's minor. Don't expect software to do the work for you all the time. Some of the best engineers I worked for sketched out all the details free hand for me to draft in CAD. I could have just scanned and pasted on the sheet, they were so good.
Take this opportunity to learn some real job skills.
edvanard
Jun 9, 14 1:19 pm
That is correct Abraham. If you go to developed country like Indonesia for example. Pen and paper are the best tool for engineer and project architect to sketch in a little piece of paper and pass it through to drafter for more detailing. Almost all of them never heard of 3d software like revit, rhino, 3dmax, or even sketchup but they could produce such an amazing detail in real project just by using pen paper and autocad..
Radu Axinte
Jun 10, 14 1:29 pm
I recommend you have a look at Juhani Pallasmaa's "The thinking hand". It is a great piece of lecture and can give you a good idea about the answer to your question.
I don't think that anyone will have problems with your design process in school if the result is legible, original and of good quality. When working in a company, the process may vary due to their workflow.
AutoCAD, Revit, ArchiCAD, Sketchup....etc, are just tools in the design process, they adapt your way of thinking about architecture in an universal language.
mightyaa
Jun 10, 14 2:13 pm
Or there's old school if you can't just sketch. Clay modeling for massing. Something about touch and seeing how light really plays on the form tickles the creative process. Then photos, then sketch over that photo, then render the sketches.
To me, that's easier than battling the software to do what you want it to do, particularly if you aren't thinking of box and square.
stevenas135
Jun 10, 14 3:06 pm
Don't use sketchup it's a terrible design tool. Rhiiinnnooo
Miles Jaffe
Jun 10, 14 3:11 pm
Funny how many people think visualization tools are design tools.
Maybe they can't think in 3D?
Radu Axinte
Jun 10, 14 4:26 pm
I guess that everyone here can think in 3D, that's what brought us here, more or less.
Without a doubt that software helped improve design analysis and workflow, but I would take the initial topic a bit further and question if designing with certain software is more of a "fashion" in architecture lately.
RobSol
Jun 11, 14 3:08 pm
I'm really looking for something that would let me design a late Gehry.
Veuxx
Jun 11, 14 3:52 pm
In an academic setting I think Rhinoceros excels in the ability to not limit the geometry you can create while also providing sufficient tools to document your work to be presentable in a technical fashion.
ie: Make2D, Drafting, vRay rendering etc.
tduds
Oct 30, 15 6:14 pm
Plan 3D will give you stacks of pancakes. Furniture placement is not design.
Funny how many people think visualization tools are design tools.
I'm a 4th year architecture student. I've always had problems with designing using pen and paper. I can do it, but it never fully helps me when I want to have a detailed design.
(I have two projects this semester. One is a residential complex, and the other one is a school.)
I'm familiar with Google SketchUp and AutoCad, and I've learned a bit of the Revit software too.
Many of my professors in university tell me that AutoCad and Revit are great softwares for presentation of a project, but are not good choices for the design phase.
They recommend using pen and paper for designing, and then moving to those softwares only for presentation.
On the other hand, the problem with Google SketchUp is that it's not as detailed as I would like it to be.
So, which software(s) is/are mostly used in the designing phase of a project?
depends on what you like to design.. Any of sketchup, rhino, revit, autocad will suffice if your designs lean towards rectangular, box-like form mainly If you want to be more experimental and prefer fluid forms etc, I say sketch your ideas quickly on paper, then jump to a poly modelling software like 3DS Max, Maya or MODO etc (I've used them all and personally prefer MODO because it is very intuitive and seems like they really thought about every tool in there) You can use Rhino (and I depended on it and struggled with it during school) but I think it isn't well suited during design where you need to push/pull/cut/experiment quick. After I'm done with design and experimenting on a poly modeller like MODO, I either send it straight for 3dprinting/fabrication of models, or export it as a nurbs file to use in Rhino for further cleanup before fabrication or documentation.
You've only wasted four years. Quit now before you waste the rest of your life.
First I tried to find something witty to say. Then I tried - really hard- to bite my tongue. Then I realized that very best thing I could do was tell the truth.
Four years in ... egad.
Can't design using a pen and paper???? O_O
You have bigger problems than needing to figure out which 3D software to use. Maybe Miles is right.
You professors are absolutely correct. Put pen to paper, then move on to software. Saves time in the long run. Don't waste your time doing something they never asked for.
When you draft your details in CAD you will acquire a new skill that rarely gets developed in school. That is scale and lineweights. You will have to do some adjustments when you plot but that's minor. Don't expect software to do the work for you all the time. Some of the best engineers I worked for sketched out all the details free hand for me to draft in CAD. I could have just scanned and pasted on the sheet, they were so good.
Take this opportunity to learn some real job skills.
That is correct Abraham. If you go to developed country like Indonesia for example. Pen and paper are the best tool for engineer and project architect to sketch in a little piece of paper and pass it through to drafter for more detailing. Almost all of them never heard of 3d software like revit, rhino, 3dmax, or even sketchup but they could produce such an amazing detail in real project just by using pen paper and autocad..
I recommend you have a look at Juhani Pallasmaa's "The thinking hand". It is a great piece of lecture and can give you a good idea about the answer to your question.
I don't think that anyone will have problems with your design process in school if the result is legible, original and of good quality. When working in a company, the process may vary due to their workflow.
AutoCAD, Revit, ArchiCAD, Sketchup....etc, are just tools in the design process, they adapt your way of thinking about architecture in an universal language.
Or there's old school if you can't just sketch. Clay modeling for massing. Something about touch and seeing how light really plays on the form tickles the creative process. Then photos, then sketch over that photo, then render the sketches.
To me, that's easier than battling the software to do what you want it to do, particularly if you aren't thinking of box and square.
Don't use sketchup it's a terrible design tool. Rhiiinnnooo
Funny how many people think visualization tools are design tools.
Maybe they can't think in 3D?
I guess that everyone here can think in 3D, that's what brought us here, more or less.
Without a doubt that software helped improve design analysis and workflow, but I would take the initial topic a bit further and question if designing with certain software is more of a "fashion" in architecture lately.
I'm really looking for something that would let me design a late Gehry.
In an academic setting I think Rhinoceros excels in the ability to not limit the geometry you can create while also providing sufficient tools to document your work to be presentable in a technical fashion.
ie: Make2D, Drafting, vRay rendering etc.
Plan 3D will give you stacks of pancakes. Furniture placement is not design.
Funny how many people think visualization tools are design tools.
+100