CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 7
INTRODUCTION: DESIGN IN A TIME OF SIMULTANEITY, SUPERINTEGRATION, AND CONVERGENCE 8-19 Convergence Defined 8
Convergence Paradigms 13
Convergence Questions 18
CHAPTER 1
10 FACTORS LEADING TOWARD CONVERGENCE 20-39
Convergence and Integration 21
Convergence and Consolidation 21
Convergence and Automation 22
Convergence and Efficiency 23
Convergence Triggers 25
10 Factors Bringing About Convergence 25
Challenges to Convergence 36
CHAPTER 2 DATA AND INTUITION 40-63
A Look Back at the Data 41
Quantitative vs. Qualitative Data 47
Architecture Starts with Intuition 49
The Limits of Data in Architecture 51
The Convergence of Everything 53
What Convergence Works Against 55
Data and Intuition in Design Tools 60
CHAPTER 3 ANALYTICS AND MODELS 64-91
Integrated Analytics 64
Modeling and Simulation 71
Energy Modeling 72
Compliance Modeling 74
Geodesign, GIS, and BIM 77
Does Technology Facilitate Convergence? 79
Data, Accessibility, and Convergence 85
The Point Where All of the Intelligence Converges 85
CHAPTER 4 PARAMETRICS AND COMPUTATION 92-117
BIM Tools 93
Challenges to the Convergence 98
Computational Tools 99
On the Evolution of a Parametric/Computational Convergence 103
Simulation and Automation 107
The Algorithm of Everything 109
Algorithms and Machine Learning 112
CHAPTER 5 VIRTUAL AND PHYSICAL 118-141
Advances in Virtual Reality 119
VR and Reality Capture 121
Reality Computing 125
Uses for VR in Architecture 125
VR and AR in Architecture, Engineering, and Construction 126
Leveraging Video Games in AEC 129
Implementing Encapsulated Knowledge 130
BIM and Gaming 132
Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Machine Vision for BIM 133
Nature Abhors a Convergence 134
CHAPTER 6 CONCEPTION AND CONSTRUCTION 142-165
"When Does Design End and Construction Begin?" 143
Buildings as Documents 153
Fusing the Computational and Material 154
Convergence of Technology and Construction 154
CHAPTER 7 DESIGN AND FABRICATION 166-191
Your Next Building Will Be Manufactured 167
Reasons for a Design/Fabrication Convergence 168
Drones and Robots 169
Cross-Discipline Knowledge of Engineering, Architecture, Computer Science, and Management 173
Toward an Architecture of Everything 177
CHAPTER 8 PRACTICAL AND INEFFABLE 192-215
Ideation Is Almost Antithetical to Automation 192
Between Firmness, Commodity, and Delight 195
Start with Utter Practicality 211
EPILOGUE: AN IMPENDING PERIOD OF INTENSE CHANGE THE SOFTWARE OF EVERYTHING 216-225
INDEX 226-232