Autodesk: the need for a paradigm shift for tomorrow’s smart city The “city of tomorrow” event organised on 26 September by Autodesk at the Carré d’Or in Casablanca described the future of construction. Designed…
Autodesk: the need for a paradigm shift for tomorrow’s smart city
The “city of tomorrow” event organised on 26 September by Autodesk at the Carré d’Or in Casablanca described the future of construction. Designed upstream, the digitalisation of buildings and infrastructure helps make the city intelligent. And by 2050, of 10 billion humans, more than 75% will be city dwellers. Enough to realise that tomorrow is being built today!
Interview with Emmanuel Di Giacomo, architect and head of BIM ecosystem development at Autodesk, Paris.
AM: Autodesk’s team is based mainly in France, whereas in Morocco we above all have an urban-governance challenge to manage. Can you tell us what data digitalisation brings to improving the management of cities?
E. Di Giacomo: For about ten years now, the digital transition has been driven by a growing awareness among large companies. It is about the overall management of information data in construction, through new processes but also tools that combine the traditional approach with new software such as Revit, 3ds Max, BIM, IFC… BIM can be read as “Building Information Modeling / Model / Management.” The professional collection we offer allows staff to work together, which in itself constitutes energy performance. One can therefore take the initial 3D model and optimise it in record time while keeping the various players in the construction process informed. We have resellers in Morocco who distribute our products (Ideat and Robobat). What remains, of course, is to raise the administration’s awareness…
AM: Can you give us some examples of information-sharing already achieved through BIM?
E. Di Giacomo: We have clients who have historically benefited from our support, such as Bouygues, Vinci, Engie… It allowed a change of policy, because between building professionals and the project owner, each had to submit to the constraints of evolving information exchange. A shared tool then becomes a necessity. The political approach to spreading these tools takes the form of an evangelisation of professionals who become relays through social networks.
AM: What is the architect’s role in this evolution?
E. Di Giacomo: As a prescriber, the architect must be at the forefront of social and economic transformations in the world. Standardising production tools is necessary to keep pace with the acceleration of spatial transformation, which shifts from rural slowness to urbanity. This constant means the architect is, first and foremost, aware of the need to train in Revit and Autodesk — familiar to them, since they can also use their traditional software to ensure the digital transition. It is also up to the architect to decide that cities must be built differently, with the resources needed to avoid a loss of productivity.
Interview by Selma Zerhouni
Built during the 1990s on an exceptional natural site, the Royal Golf Club of Fez has…
Last Saturday, at the invitation of the magazine “Architecture du Maroc” and the Institut Français of…
The concept of sustainable development, Assia Lamzah tells us, certainly changes practices — no longer prompting…
Projects, debates, competitions and new issues — once a week, in your inbox.