Interview: GenerativeComponents Takes Architects and Engineers to New Possibilities
Written by Jeff Thurston
Saturday, 10 May 2008
GenerativeComponents (GC) is a next generation product from Bentley Systems, Incorporated. The product enables architects and engineers to explore designs and geometry together in new ways. It enables 'what-if' scenarios to be explored either through geometry and or the relationship of building elements and forms dynamically. Vector1 Media editor Jeff Thurston met with Huw W. Roberts, global marketing director at Bentley while at the recent SmartGeometry Conference in Munich, Germany to conduct this interview.
Vector1 Media: What is the
relationship of software file format standards to the design process,
and how does Bentley approach this relationship?
Roberts: Interoperability is in
our DNA. We believe in standards as one means to facilitate open
information exchange, and we support industry standards and
participate in many standards setting organizations. Examples include
the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) from the buildingSMART
alliance, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and the International
Standards Organisation (ISO) – and many others.
Standards
enable and foster collaboration, increase predictability and
reliability, promote smooth interactions between phases of work,
enable higher interaction between disciplines and reduce error.
It is important to understand that
architects and many of the folks at the SmartGeometry conference are
coming from the design side of the process and are focused here on
pushing boundaries. In that context some associate the use of
software standards” with the idea that standards could push all
solutions to be accomplished in a similar way – limiting
exploration and creativity. That is not how we see it. Design
professionals and architects see freedom in their process as an
opportunity to create or design new approaches to solve problems and
develop solutions. We see great value in both advancing innovation
and supporting standard information exchange, and we’ll remain
committed to both, in harmony.
Vector1 Media: So how does that
concept relate to to GenerativeComponents (GC), your new software?
Roberts: You have identified one
of the key advantages of GC. The software is flexible and allows
architects and engineer's to design, maintaining that creative
freedom, while standardisation is included in the design process.
With GC an architect can create many models simultaneously and try
new approaches in many new ways, very quickly. For example, how far
can a material be deformed until it is no longer structurally sound,
or which design can withstand wind better than another. While not
visually observable while designing, a GC design may include
standardized data pertaining to materials, load bearing capabilities
or environmental factors – all influencing the limitation of design
changes.
Vector1 Media:Is there a
limitation to GC or other Bentley software then, because of this
standardisation and design interaction?
Roberts: From a software and
workflow point of view there can be issues that run against
standardized approaches, naturally. The more ‘standard’
activities, methods and practices are best supported with tools
(software) optimized to those demands. Building Information Modeling
(BIM) solutions fit that bill well. But from an architectural point
of view designers are also interested in solving unique architectural
problems and developing solutions that may not have as yet been
interpreted or engaged more fully in conventional standardised
approaches – As professions, architects and engineers push the
envelope to create beautiful buildings that perform in unique ways,
whether in terms of climate influences, energy consumption or visual
appeal. The SmartGeometry group are some of the best minds in the
world that are designing new infrastructure and buildings and
tackling these kinds of challenges. And to do, they must by the
nature of innovation, work outside of standardized practices.
Further down the road, we may see some of today’s innovation become
standardized, and used in GC more and more. To be explicit to your
question – yes there is trade off between supporting the flexible
innovative design interaction, and supporting the standardized
practices. Our approach to this issue is to focus our support of
standardized practices within our BIM tools, and the innovative
design exploration and invention within GC - The good news is that
they can work together wonderfully.
With GC an architect can create many
models simultaneously and try new approaches in many new ways, very
quickly. For example, how far can a material be deformed until it is
no longer structurally sound, or which design can withstand wind
better than another.
Vector1 Media: When I look at GC
what I see is a software that handles geometry in unique ways. As a
result, it seems that GC has a bright future in the geospatial and
civil engineering fields also, where we regularly deal with network
topologies and geometry as a matter of roads, utilities and other
infrastructure.
Roberts: You are right. We think
GC will have a great future in many fields, and we’re utilizing it
in our platform technology set that is shared across applications for
those fields. But for the moment we are first focused on well
supporting architects and engineer's in the design of buildings.
Although GC has been a few years in the making, it is only recently
commercially released - and we are now beginning to implement it
more deeply with the MicroStation platform and our product groups.
One step at a time.
Vector1 Media: What is the
challenge with GC when it comes to geometry?
Roberts: GC allows users to
manipulate geometry within all the rules and relationships of the
design process. This is unique because it means that several
different professionals can be working within GC on the same project,
at the same time for different purposes. Architects and engineer's
can be working together, and fabrication can be part of the process
as well.
A challenge for example could be one of manipulating
design geometry such as a glass roof over a stadium, while
considering other criteria such as the dynamics of environment and
the structural integrity of the design. One opportunity that
immediately arises is the fact that all these people can be working
together, rather than apart – more synchronised and less sequential
as they iterate on desing options. This speeds up the design process,
and it also means that designs become more optimised as more
alternatives are tested and considered.
Geometry can be manipulated in a hybrid
environment of both hands-on manipulation and scripting or
programmatic editing. This enables designers to have dynamic
interaction with the values and algorithms defining the form, while
also supporting the intuitive approach at the same time. Pretty cool
stuff. And since it’s built on a solid CAD platform and integrated
with discipline-specific tools and technologies, other sub-systems,
tools, and capabilities such as rendering, 3D printing and
animations, reporting and drawing production can all be used.
Vector1 Media: What is the
relationship of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Industry
Foundation Classes (IFC) to GenerativeComponents?
Roberts: As you know, IFC's
enable the exchange of information through standardisation. We see
the current IFC work, which we are a part of, as supporting a higher
level of interoperability between tools. BIM is all about providing a
better informed environment for the design, delivery and operations
of buildings, and today is focused on core capabilities for
architects and engineers broad use. GC and BIM together is a great
thing, since it unites support for both exceptional design
exploration and the pragmatic needs of every building project. Even
better, since Bentley BIM and GC share a There may be opportunities,
for example, to create design modules within architecture that can be
moved from one application to another. We expect that IFCs will lead
to higher increasingly enhance interoperability between tools and
systems. GC provides a great environment for extending and enhancing
BIM.
Vector1 Media: How important is this
role of exchanging building information?
Roberts: Bentley believes that
the ability to exchange information is critical to the realities of
projects today - that is why we focus on it so much. With all the
specialized applications for analysis, reporting, fabrication, and
more, it’s unrealistic to expect that your data can stay in any one
format – let alone any one program. So Bentley supports a host of
ways to exchange information – APIs, publishing our file format,
supporting our competitor’s formats, advocation and supporting
neutral industry standard formats, and so on. This will foster
higher levels of collaboration and data exchange so that work can be
done more efficiently and effectively with reduced risk and higher
quality.
Vector1 Media: GC is not just
focused on geometry then, it is about the design system or process?
Roberts: Exactly. With GC people
are connecting systems of information together. They are integrating
consideration of environmental analysis, structural analysis,
geometry optimisation and so on, as part of a wider design process
and interpretation. This ability to model the entire system together,
provides a more robust way of solving problems and developing
solutions.
With GC people will be able to look at
construction and design almost like an equation. One that is long,
including many pieces and professionals and disciplines, but where
any piece of that equation can be changed or altered and all the
others will adjust automatically to balance the equation.
Vector1 Media: It would seem then
that designers will have much more freedom?
Roberts: That is a good way to
look at it. The ability to play around with the model, to try things
and move them, and, as we say - find your ideal design – is going
to allow architects to test more and simply evaluate things that were
previously hard and expensive to prototype individually. As we see
today, some architects are designing 300 versions of a building and
maybe creating half a dozen 3D cast models based on GC before
arriving at the ‘best’ solution. And ‘best’ can mean many
things to different people, and on different projects. In a sense we
are putting a whole higher order of magnitude of exploration into the
design process.
With GC an architect can create many
models simultaneously and try new approaches in many new ways, very
quickly. For example, how far can a material be deformed until it is
no longer structurally sound, or which design can withstand wind
better than another.
Vector1 Media: I noticed that many
design professionals keep their data in Excel spreadsheets as
compared to database tables. Since databases incorporate rules and
add robustness, can you explain that?
Roberts: Some people are using
databases although many architects are using spreadsheets.
MicroStation itself can be considered as a database since it is
storing data and several drawings can exist within a single file.
I
think you are going to see both more and more as we move into a 3D
environment. Going back to BIM, it’s all about information, so it
won't be long. We are seeing many people moving to a completely 3D
environment, including the data storage. I go back to the fact that
GC is still in its early days, with so much potential emerging. As
more architects and engineers become aware of BIM and GC benefits,
and learn of projects and best practices from their peers, then we
will see all the professionals we have been talking about, also move
to a 3D environment faster and more fully. Many of those professions
have long standing practices and focused applications and it may take
time for people to gravitate to new concepts and approaches. But
we’re already seeing firms consider GC and BIM as competitive
advantages for their business – and nothing speed adoption more
than clear business benefits!
Vector1 Media: Then BIM and GC
connecting together is a goal in the near future?
Roberts: They connect already.
The common technology platform of MicroStation enables this for us.
As we continue enhancing these products, that integration will be
enhanced as well.
Vector1
Media: I have to tell you. With GC I see Bentley's entire portfolio
connecting from one end to the other. I could not quite see that
before, although I understood it from the concept of a platform.
Roberts: Yes! There is a method
to our madness. You are correct. We have been developing and
acquiring and merging a wide portfolio of capabilities for a while
now. Maybe some people could not see the dots connecting before.
Providing solutions for our users that include comprehensive
functionality and cross-disciplinary integration is an important
point. Enabling work from the mapping scale, to the detail of a
window sill – with so much in between to all work together is a
fantastic benefit to our users.
Vector1 Media:I'm curious.
So where does GenerativeComponents and SmartGeometry sit in the
Bentley domain, exactly?
Roberts: Well – keep in mind
that the SmartGeometry group here today are not Bentley employee's
but are interested people whose work we consider valuable and
important and whom we support with our GC software. They are an
amazing group who we have enjoyed a tremendous relationship with
during the research and ‘beta’ phases to help define and chart a
formative course for GC. And we and they together and are continuing
to research and develop these concepts further.
GC is now in our production group, with
all the rigor, quality controls, support, documentation, learning
resources and services associated with commercial software. Since GC
is built on MicroStation, and an important platform technology for
us, it will increasingly add benefits across the Bentley domain.
Vector1 Media: And what is the
relationship to Civil and Geospatial Divisions?
Roberts: We are quite aware of
the synergy between GC and BIM and recognise that this is not far
removed from the synergy GC could have with applications serving
either of these groups. We also see overlap here and there in terms
of shared technology. We certainly believe that there is a phenomenal
future for GC in these groups as well. But for the moment we are
moving deliberately and first focusing on building.
Vector1 Media: Where does GC leave
paper in the design process?
Roberts: If you look at places
like Singapore, you will find that they have moved to digital
building permits and reduced the amount and types of paper being
consumed in the building process. Many project teams are
increasingly using digital means to collaborate and interact.
Niether of those phenomina are particular to GC, but the trend
continues. As the digital models contain ever more information about
the building, its design, the decisions, the performance and systems,
etc, adequately representing that in a static 2d paper mode becomes
less appropriate. I fully expect that need to do so to persist for
quite some time, but I also expect that the direct interrogation of
digital models will become more and more acceptable, and in fact
increasingly preferred.
Vector1 Media: Will
GenerativeComponents be bundled with MicroStation, sold separately -
or?
Roberts: Yes to both!
GenerativeComponents is available to MicroStation SELECT
subscribers at no cost. It is also available to anyone via an
incredible offer, the “GenerativeComponents Discovery Subscription”
– a one year special subscription for only $250/yr*, The easiest
way to learn more about how to get GC and to take advantage of
special offers is to visit our website.
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GenerativeComponents (GC) is a next generation product from Bentley Systems, Incorporated. The product enables architects and engineers to explore designs and geometry together in new ways. It enables 'what-if' scenarios to be explored either through geometry and or the relationship of building elements and forms dynamically. Vector1 Media editor Jeff Thurston met with Huw W. Roberts, global marketing director at Bentley while at the recent SmartGeometry Conference in Munich, Germany to conduct this interview.