Regenerative Design Tools for the Existing City: HBIM Potentials

Abstract

AbstractThe first 25 years of the so-called ‘digital revolution’ have deeply changed the methods and tools of our interaction with the ‘architectural domain’. Traditional lines sketched on traditional paper have been soon replaced by digital mathematical entities created by Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems. Nowadays, we are witnessing a similar shift this time from CAD to the Building Information Modelling (BIM), a system that shows the ability to manage the fragmented but interconnected information needed in building workflow in an ‘all-in-one’ environment. However, while BIM is already a powerful option for new structures, for existing ones (especially when historical) it still reveals inadequate. This issue, seriously affecting the future of the built environment, cannot be ignored in order to control the ‘shaping’ of buildings and cities and especially when their design aims at becoming ‘regenerative’. In this framework, this chapter will try to outline the many difficulties connected with the application of BIM to the existing building stock: a problem that is generally regarded as ‘sectorial’ but that on the contrary will be crucial in view of a probable generalized adoption, considering that existing constructions represent about 70% of the whole European stock.