The Use of Building Information Modeling in Early Architectural Design: Case Studies with AEC Firms

Abstract

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has gained an important place in AEC fields. However, the use of BIM in early architectural design processes is still a relatively less known and underused aspect of BIM by many design professionals. BIM offers important features such as free form modeling, building performance analyses and parametricism that are valuable for decision making in early design processes. This study aims at understanding the use of BIM in the early design process using case studies with AEC firms. To accomplish this goal semi-structured interviews were carried out with these firms, and the verbal data produced were analyzed with the content analysis method. As revealed from the findings of this study, BIM comes forward as a design development environment in which early design ideas transferred from other design media are improved. © 2022, Springer Nature Switzerland AG.