BIM – The future is already present

Andrea Menardo, Senior Engineer from BuroHappold in Berlin, recently took part in the review of BIM studies for master students of the Dessau International Architecture Graduate School (DIA) in Hochschule Anhalt. Run by Prof. Krassimir Krastev, the BIM Project, is part of the course in CAD Logic, one of the first to introduce Building Information Modelling into a German University.

Around 100 students of all nationalities took part. Working in teams they were tasked to study BIM from various angles: masterplanning and feasibility studies, building scale, engineering design and simulation. They reviewed construction details and design-for-fabrication, project management and cost control. To exemplify these, many of BuroHappold’s projects were taken as a starting point because as early adopters of BIM and Revit Autodesk in Germany (for projects such as the Berlin Opera House, Zalando HQ and the Berlin Entertainment District), BuroHappold was keen to be the industry partner of this academic initiative. Practically, the Berlin office will endorse it by offering internships to the most talented students.

Andrea Menardo reckons: “This is undoubtedly a win-win opportunity. The students will gain some professional experience and an insight into the professional world, likewise we as a company can benefit from the innovative and inspiring research they had been doing during the course. I was impressed by the variety and depth of the topics presented and by the students’ awareness of the implications and opportunities of using BIM. The industry keeps talking about it as the future of construction – but it is already present, today, and we’d better take the lead.”