Imagine an industry event in Monaco – imagina2011

Bonjour! Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of giving a keynote address during the Architecture day at imagina2011.

My biggest challenge was to speak slowly enough to enable the translators to communicate in French. Images work best in any language, and images of 3D models worked even better. The talk was entitled Complementing Digital Mock-Ups with 3D Printing for Integrated Project Delivery. You can guess what I covered in this presentation, but just in case you are new to this blog, here is the abstract …

While BIM and digital mock-ups have become increasingly important in AEC, the use of physical mock-ups remains critical in the design and approval process. In particular, affordable and fast 3D printing has enabled designers, architects and engineers to create multiple models to help accelerate approvals -- internal reviews, client buyoff, and regulatory agency go-aheads. Innovative firms, large and small, have incorporated 3D printing in their workflow and use physical models extensively during the schematic/concept phases (not just final presentation models). The speaker will present the benefits of 3D printing for AEC with several case studies and applications. A brief overview of workflow and scaling decisions will also be covered.

I found imagina2011 to be quite unique because it blended multiple disciplines such as healthcare, geospatial/urbanism, media & entertainment, and real-time simulation with architecture and digital design. Exhibitors ranged from the usual suspects like Dassault, Bentley and Autodesk to niche suppliers that I’ve never heard of before. Our French channel partner, 3D Avenir, brought their ZPrinter 650 to the conference and kept busy talking to prospects for three days.

A highlight for me was the presentation from Zaha Hadid on the use of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for the SOHO China galaxy project.  The complexity of this project drove home the importance of physical prototyping, both scale models and full-scale sections to demonstrate construction for double-fold geometry.

Free AEC Event (New York City):
How Leading Architects Leverage 3D Printing for Smarter, Competitive Design (Microsol Resources)
March 15, 2011, 5:30 - 8:30 PM
http://www.zcorp.com