BIM IN THE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PROCESS: AN ANALYSIS IN THE PROFESSIONAL MIDDLE OF THE NORTHEAST OF BRAZIL.
Architectural design process. Building Information Modeling (BIM). Architecture offices. Northeast of Brazil.
It is known that with the insertion of digital technologies in the process of architectural design the way of thinking, representing and producing the architectural artifact underwent relevant transformations. Among these technologies, the Building Information Modeling - BIM stands out. According to Kowaltowski et al (2011), the BIM brings the idea of an integrated project practice, from the early stages of design. The various designers involved in the project participate collaboratively from the beginning of design and not only at the end of the process, making the projects compatible in the construction of a single model. In spite of studies on the use of BIM in architecture offices in Brazil, and in particular in the Northeast of the Country, it perceives the need to advance research on the subject. Thus, based on the study of multi-sites and online research, the general objective of the research is to understand how BIM, focused on the architecture, engineering, construction and operation industry - AECO - is employed in the design process in architecture offices of the Northeast Brazil, more specifically in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Ceará and Pernambuco. In this sense, the partial results indicate that, although architecture offices have different levels of BIM implementation, in general, the adoption of the technology by the designers has produced changes in the architectural design process. It was possible to identify changes in the stages of the process, in the way of collaboration among professionals, in the form of presentation of the proposals and in the final products delivered to the clients, among other aspects. However, in the context of the Northeast Region, as in most of Brazil, there is a need for advances in the implementation of the technology, aiming at a better use of the resources provided by the building information modeling, to the architects and collaborators. It is necessary, among some of the advances, to increase the knowledge and adequate application of the software, and especially, to improve the management of the processes.