ArchiCAD was one of the first architectural design applications to implement the Building Information Modeling (BIM) concept. Developed by Graphisoft, ArchiCAD was introduced to the market in the early 1980s. The company is headquartered in Budapest, Hungary, and was acquired by the German firm Nemetschek in 2007. However, due to its focus on architecture-specific professional functions, which do not align well with the multi-disciplinary integrated systems used by domestic design institutes, ArchiCAD has faced challenges in gaining widespread adoption in China.
ArchiCAD as an Environment
ArchiCAD’s Graphisoft BIM Server ensures that project models remain complete and up to date. The BIM Server stores a single, unique master model, while team members work with copies of the required portions on their local machines. This system uses a technology called DELTAServer, which monitors read and write operations to the BIM Server. When users make changes to the model, only the newly created, modified, or deleted elements are updated on the BIM Server. This approach eliminates the need to transfer entire models between the server and workstations, enabling much faster synchronization regardless of the model’s size.
Additionally, ArchiCAD assigns unique IDs and timestamps to objects, which are updated whenever modifications occur. This allows for comprehensive tracking of objects throughout the entire project lifecycle.
Advantages of ArchiCAD:
1. The interface is intuitive and user-friendly.
2. It offers a rich library of objects and related applications.
3. ArchiCAD supports various stages of a project, except for detailed manufacturing processes.
4. Its server functionality enhances collaborative work by coordinating based on objects, significantly improving project efficiency compared to other systems.
Limitations of ArchiCAD:
1. It has some restrictions in custom parametric modeling capabilities.
2. Like Revit, ArchiCAD operates as an in-memory system. Despite its efficient DELTAServer technology for managing large projects, some issues still persist.
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