Defining and Encoding Architectural Information for Digital Archives

1. Defining and Encoding Architectural Information for Digital Archives Hybrid Architectural Archives: Creating, Managing and Using Digital Archives Session 4 Users: Expectations and UseJune 12, 2009 Kristine K. Fallon, FAIA Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc. Chicago, IL USA

2. Acknowledgements • The Art Institute of Chicago, Department of Architecture and Design and the Schiff Foundation: • Collecting, Archiving and Exhibiting Digital Design Data study • Specification and implementation of the Digital Archive for Architecture system (DAArch) • Pilot project to validate the system • Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Institute of Museum and Library Services • Future-Proofing Architectural Computer-Aided Design (FACADE) project • buildingSMART International • Industry Foundation Classes (ISO/PAS 16739) • IFD Partners • Standardized terminology (ISO 12006-3) • Construction Specifications Institute (US) • OmniClass faceted classification system (ISO 12006-2)

3. The Art Institute of Chicago DAArch system placed in public domain • Source code • User documentation • Demonstration system http://www.kfa-inc.com http://sourceforge.net/ projects/daarch

4. MIT FACADE Study • Will publish mid-2009 • 3D preservation formats • IFC • IGES • 3D PDF • Keep the original format • Testing of emulation and virtualization environments • Development of a prototype “Curators’ Workbench” to assist library and archives staff in processing large collections of digital files rapidly • Completion of an initial prototype User Interface to architectural data collections in DSpace – a dissemination component • Development of a Project Information Model (PIM) ontology – a data relationship map for architectural project materials Image courtesy of MacKenzie Smith, Associate Director for Technology, MIT Libraries

5. FACADE Project Information Model Ontology Image courtesy of MacKenzie Smith, Associate Director for Technology, MIT Libraries

6. Digital Files ≠ Useful Artifacts • A digital design file is an information repository that may be purposed in multiple ways: • To convey an idea • To produce one or many technical drawings • To perform structural or energy calculations • To provide a quantity survey • To calculate conformance to a spatial program • To…

7. Questions for the Archivist • For what use(s) did the architect intend the file? • Is the information contained in the file of archival interest?

8. “We make our tools and our tools make us: by taking up particular tools we accede to desires and we manifest intentions.” -William J. Mitchell, The Reconfigured Eye, MIT Press, 1992

9. Uses of the Computer • To document the design • To explore the design • To generate the design • To analyze the design • Sun studies • Structural analysis • Life cycle environmental impact • To realize the design (fabrication)

10. Images Courtesy of Murphy/Jahn

11. Uses of the Computer • To document the design • To explore the design • To generate the design • To analyze the design • Sun studies • Structural analysis • Life cycle environmental impact • To realize the design (fabrication)

12. Images Courtesy of Ross Barney + Jankowski, Inc.

13. Uses of the Computer • To document the design • To explore the design • To generate the design • To analyze the design • Sun studies • Structural analysis • Life cycle environmental impact • To realize the design (fabrication)

14. Manilow House. Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

15. Uses of the Computer • To document the design • To explore the design • To generate the design • To analyze the design • Sun studies • Structural analysis • Life cycle environmental impact • To realize the design (fabrication)

16. Beijing Olympics: Water Cube and Bird’s Nest under construction Photo Source: Xiaming’s Flickr site

17. Uses of the Computer • To document the design • To explore the design • To generate the design • To analyze the design • Sun studies • Structural analysis • Life cycle environmental impact • To realize the design (fabrication)

18. Manilow House. Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

19. Manilow House. Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

20. Manilow House. Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

21. Images Courtesy of Garofalo Architects

22. A New Generation of Computer-Aided Design Technology Building Information Modeling (BIM)

23. What Is BIM? • There are multiple definitions • What seems to be essential • Use of software objects that correspond to real-world objects in terms of: • Form • Behavior • Properties • Non-redundant representation • Computability (machine interpretability)

24. Single Model, Multiple Views

25. Fabrication From the Model

26. Compelling Rationale • Projects of all types have demonstrated tremendous benefits of BIM technology: • Greatly improved building system coordination • Cost control • Shorter construction schedules • Improved construction safety • Reduction in material waste

27. Technical and Legal Challenges • Will model elements created by any BIM software product be capable of combining with those created by other BIM software? • Will a model created in any BIM system be suitable for the full range of analysis applications – structural, daylighting, energy, cost, and so forth? • How can we trace the origin and modifications made to any model element, for legal purposes? • How can we know the ownership of the model components, for intellectual property purposes? • How can the designer designate the status of a model component – provisional or construction-ready? • How can the various parties query the building model and reliably obtain the information necessary for their work? • Twenty years from now, when the building requires renovation, will its model be retrievable and usable?

28. buildingSMART International • Vision:To enable software interoperability in the AEC/FM industry • Mission:To define, promote and publish a specification for sharing data throughout the project life cycle, globally, across disciplines and across technical applications

29. Industry Foundation Classes IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) developed as the building industry's universal language: (ISO/PAS 16739)

30. IFC Initiative Includes • Information Model that comprehensively defines the information set for design, construction and facility management • Non-proprietary data format that encodes that information (standard format) • Standardized “views” of the model that define subsets of information required for specific uses (coordination, spatial program validation, energy analysis, etc.) • Standardized mappings of those views to the data format • Ability of various software products to read and write those views correctly in the standard data format – vendor-dependent

31. AECOO Interoperability Testbed Overview

32. True Machine Interpretability Requires Standardization • Data format and content • Object classification • Terminology • These standards must be globally applicable

33. Emerging Standards • Data format and content • IFC (ISO/PAS 16739) • Object classification • ISO 12006-2 classification of information about construction works • Intended for classifying • Electronic and hard copy in libraries and archives • Project information, including: data exchanges, cost information and specification information • Implementations: • Uniclass in the UK • OmniClass™ in the US • Terminology • ISO 12006-3 framework for object-oriented information exchange • International Framework for Dictionaries (IFD)

34. Classification • Information is organized and classified differently in each building life cycle stage, by different participants and by the various industry sectors. • In order for information handed over to be useful, end users must be able to organize, extract and present it flexibly

35. ISO 12006-2 Implementations

37. International Framework for Dictionaries: Controlled Vocabularies • Concepts (Labeled through Terms) –something that can be distinguished from other things and that can be recognized as such. • One concept can have many labels in different languages or in the same language • All concepts are assigned a Global Unique Identifier (GUID) by the IFD to allow them to be readily identified and reused by computer applications • Goal for entering terms into the IFD Library is to resolve duplicates and synonyms so that multiple entries with the same or similar meaning are not created

38. IFD Partners • Letter of Intent (2006) to manage and develop an open, international and multilingual IFD Library based on the principles of ISO 12006-3 • STABU Foundation, the Netherlands (LexiCon) • Standards Norway (BARBi) • Construction Specifications Institute (US) • Construction Specifications Canada

39. Will these initiatives be successful?

40. 2008 Statement of Intention to Support Building Information Modeling With Open Standards • Signed by: • US General Services Administration Public Buildings Service • Senate Properties (Finland) • Danish Enterprise and Construction Authority • Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property • Joint commitment: • Initiate and participate in open BIM-related research, development, and collaboration efforts. • Issue each organization’s BIM requirements, open standard mandates, and adoption schedule. • Observe and assess the continuing development of relevant BIM-related standards, such as the International Framework for Dictionaries (IFD) and the emerging Information Delivery Manual (IDM) and Model View Definitions (MVD) approach to defining data exchanges required for the design, construction, and operation of constructed facilities. • Declared intent: • All major projects to use open BIMs based on IFC no later than within a two- to four-year ( 2009-2011) timeframe

41. Additional Resources • PRONOM, National Archives of the UK • Online registry of : • File formats • Software products • Other technical components • Purpose: to support of long-term access to electronic records and other digital objects of cultural, historical or business value. • Keeping Emulation Environments Portable (KEEP ) EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) • Facilitate universal access to cultural heritage by developing flexible tools for accessing and storing a wide range of digital objects • Develop an Emulation Access Platform

42. Recommendations • Test and evaluate available archiving systems for born-digital design data • Look to standards initiatives emerging on the design practice side • Provide input to these initiatives when possible

43. Defining and Encoding Architectural Information for Digital Archives Hybrid Architectural Archives: Creating, Managing and Using Digital Archives Session 4 Users: Expectations and UseJune 12, 2009 Kristine K. Fallon, FAIA Kristine Fallon Associates, Inc. Chicago, IL USA