Impact of Software and Technology on Architectural Design Practice

The paper discusses the impact of software on architectural design practice in different stages, particularly in American firm's; right from schematic design - design development - construction document - permit process - to construction administration stage. The paper talks about how BIM (Building Information Modeling) originated and how it became common practice in all architectural firms. It describes factors which play role in design decisions and whether design follows software or software follows design. This paper has comparative analysis of two projects of similar type and scale to show if there is any impact of software on construction document phase. The paper also discusses new technologies and software used in construction administration phase which has made tremendous change in the architectural practice.