Concepting is all about the early stages of the design process. A process where architects need to explore, think, make, create and express. It is not a linear process with a defined start and end point but rather a circular/iterative process. It involves testing and rejecting. Sometimes an entire concept will be 'thrown away', while at other times, the architect will keep and discard parts and continue to evolve.
The work of lead architects is essential during the concepting stage, where their experience and vision allow them to set the project's parameters and overall design intent. By enabling architects to spend more time in this stage, with more data and feedback, Spaces contributes to creating better project outcomes and architects who can spend more time doing what they do best and enjoy the most.
The concepting process can be one of the main reasons for becoming an architect; it is the part of the job that some professionals enjoy the most, and it's where ideas grow, take shape and provide the basis for the future stages of the design workflow. As an architect, it is essential to be involved in these early stages, setting the core design principles in place.
Spaces is the Architectural Concepting App that supports this process. When first starting out with the app, you won't necessarily have an end goal in mind. Instead, you will begin with some ideas, a brief, or you will have specific design problems you want to explore and solve.
As with pencil and paper, it provides the freedom to explore quickly and easily. You can start with the sketching of ideas in the tradition of napkin sketches. These are not resolved designs but starting points for creativity and thinking. You can explore ideas quickly when you don't need to resolve every specific detail, and you can test different ideas without investing a significant amount of time.
As Spaces is an iPad application, it can be used anywhere – at a cafe, a beach, or on the subway to work. So even with limited time, it's easy to use the iPad and sketch fresh ideas as inspiration strikes.
If you have a 3D form in mind, jump right in and start sketching your idea and have Spaces transform it into a 3D building. Once you begin this modelling process, the app can provide detailed building data to help inform the design process and –when designing to a brief– ensure you are meeting the requirements.
Digital technology has opened up a whole host of new ways of doing things; however, it can be also helpful to incorporate traditional aspects that contribute to the overall workflow. For example, Spaces allows users to trace over 3D models. Tracing is a quick way to explore ideas within the broader context. As with tracing paper, you can try numerous options using additional sheets of [digital] paper.
As everything is digital, involving co-workers via simple sharing feature is also made easy. Like much of today's world, you no longer need to be in the same office, allowing you to collaborate and receive input from remote team members.
Using a sketch-based approach means Spaces can mimic the process of using pencil and paper. But while sketching is inherently inaccurate, technology can help enhance and improve the accuracy of a building design as you sketch. The app's sketch recognition engine ensures that sketches used to create the 3D buildings are all 'cleaned up' and provide a rich design experience without needing to be constrained.
This modelling and sketching workflow matches the concepting phase's iterative nature. The goal is not to necessarily create a fully resolved design –though it can also be done– but rather to ensure you have invested time in this early stage by exploring all the options, and providing the necessary confidence to move into developed design. The "handover" from concept to developed design is not black and white, and Spaces allows users to continue resolving aspects of the design while other parts are in more advanced stages.
With Spaces, architects have the freedom of sketching to visualize concepts and show the creative possibilities, while also getting valuable information that helps assess downstream details like volume, sun studies, context, street presence and material implications. This enables users to understand quickly if an idea is feasible and possible while still testing and exploring ideas.
By flitting between pen and paper and BIM, architects can bring together the flexibility and speed of pencil and the power and data of BIM.
For more information, visit the Spaces website, where you can try out the free version to get started.