HOW ARE WE WORKING WITH TECH?

We asked four industry figures for their predictions about how they’ll use technology in their practices over the next two years.

Goy Zhenru

Principal, Goy Architects

We are constantly on the look out for new apps and software that could streamline our design communications with clients and builders; also to facilitate an improved cloud based platform for collaboration with other emerging Southeast Asian designers. Our focus is to keep design development mobile and easily accessible with light hardware setup. We will be transferring more repetitive, non-creative administrative work to software, freeing up our time for more creative processes and development.

Currently our team is fully operating on cloud-based BIM software (ARCHICAD), which allows us to sync different parts of the design model simultaneously – independent of our geographical locations. This ensures that we are constantly acquiring a holistic interface of the model that informs us for our next design inputs. We are also using apps like BIMX that allows not only design collaborators but clients or builders to access and navigate though the model via their mobile devices. With the addition of a virtual-reality head mount (VR HDM), the model on their phones can be easily translated into virtual reality for basic experiential immersion in the spaces.

goyarchitects.com

Terence Seah

Director and Head of Singapore Studio, Benoy

Cutting-edge architecture and design is often a marker for the current state of technology. As architects and designers, we utilise research and development in technology to remain innovative and to push the boundaries. Everything from BIM, to digital fabrication, parametric design, design coding and AI is becoming more advanced and integrated as we propel forward. The traditional fields of design disciplines are also dissolving and becoming fertile grounds for fresh ideas.

At Benoy, as an inherent part of our creative and design processes, we are already utilising 3D printers and VR technology to work more closely with our clients. We no longer show clients static models and drawings but a computer model rendered in real time to help them move through space. It aids in understanding the complexity of space, programme, flow and building parts.

Robots and drones are also becoming more prevalent in everyday life and we’re seeing new smart mobility systems implemented into larger sites, so we are getting ready for this developing change. We also learn a lot by collaborating with tech specialists and other disciplines, understanding the technological shifts that are happening within their domains, which prepares us to better select relevant technology for specific design needs.

benoy.com

Manuel Der Hagopian

Partner, G8A Architecture & Urban Planning

‘The Paradoxical Effect of Technology in the

Architectural Practice.’

Today, with new technology so deeply ingrained in the construction industry, you would expect more innovative buildings. In stark contrast to the uber-teched context of Swiss design, G8A’s current practice faces new parameters in the environmental, economic, social and cultural climate of Southeast Asia, which demand the creation of robust and flexible buildings that can adapt and survive.

For some years now we have been developing a new type of building called ‘Sustainable Ruin’ – a concept that we have studied to suit the emerging and booming country of Vietnam. What is seen as high-tech and desirable in the West is only a hindrance to growth in the context of this enormous development.

These buildings are like exoskeletons that fulfill basic needs such as natural lighting and ventilation with low maintenance costs, huge flexibility potential and finally the ability to absorb any of the technology of the future!

g8a-architects.com

Tan Chee Yong Director, DP Architects

DP Architects (DPA) is a global practice with 16 offices worldwide and a reach of 77 countries globally. Directors at DPA are constantly on the move between countries and cities. Equipped with technology such as the iPad, Apple

Pencil and online communication platforms, we are no longer constrained by physical distance nor the need to work from an office environment. Oftentimes, readily available platforms are simple and effective – for example Skype, Whatsapp and WeChat; and they make communication between our global studios seamless.

Site videos and photos are immediately shared with teams at home base, thereby allowing for design discussions to take place in a timely fashion. Via technology, collaborative designs with our overseas offices and specialists are also conceived. When we work and collaborate as One Global Studio, it greatly increases our productivity and efficiency as we pool resources.

Technology-enabled flexibility and mobility have also allowed for increased interaction and engagement outside one’s immediate circle/work environment; which, in turn, drives creativity. This is key for us as architects because the designing of experiential spaces for users requires us to go beyond the functional perception of physical space.

dpa.com.sg