James:
Thanks for your response. Still, the term technology in the group title seems to refer to the computer-based technology used to imagine and eventually produce the instruments of service. In other words how to visualize (render), generate the forms (parametric design?) and document (BIM) the design. All of these are valuable tools of our trade. And in that respect, they are akin to the pencils, compasses, triangles and parallel rulers of the past.
On the other hand, I was referring to the technology of the building itself, i.e. its details, the integration of its components into a waterproof, energy efficient, cost-effective, attractive shelter for human activities.
So, for example, when we see Disney Hall, you are thinking of the tools that Gehry used to generate those sweeping forms (and document them), while I am interested in how those stainless steel scales conform to a double curvature and come together at the roof parapet, at the openings and at the intersections, in order to deliver the aforementioned goals of energy efficiency, waterproofing, etc. I am not complaining, I realize the technology behind our tools is important. I am, simply, most likely in the wrong group! ��
This group seems to be interested in how we represent and document (and yes, sometimes also generate) the forms of architecture, and I am interested in the technological details that make those forms ultimately possible in real life.
If you think that finding a technologist that can help your firm document your projects is difficult, try finding a project architect with sufficient technical knowledge to know WHAT to draw (or model)!
One final comment: The architects who are going to work for contractors doing VDC do not stop being architects. They are just engaged in an aspect of the profession more closely connected to the act of building. An aspect of the profession that our colleagues sitting at the rarified heights of academia and the architectural intelligentsia seem too eager to ignore and belittle. The more we separate ourselves from that side of the building environment, the more we'll decry that people are "leaving". They are not leaving, we are expelling them.
Paraphrasing Von Clausewitz: Construction is the continuation of Design by other means.
Gustavo A. Lima, AIA, MRAIC, CCCA, DBIA, LEED AP
President
Gustavo A. Lima Architecture, PC
M +1 716 909 1709
www.LimaArchitecture.com