OLD FRIENDS UPLOADED

 

My first few months in Dubai were oddly unlike the rest of my stay (almost two decades now) More like the preceding 12 years in Zimbabwe in some ways.

I was responsible for this small building from concept design to completion, and my toolkit was the Sketchup and Autocad I brought along on my laptop, along with Photoshop. I had heard of Revit, (recently purchased by Autodesk) but not yet had the chance to use it.

In a rapidly expanding practice the design role slipped away as I gradually became a "production specialist" and increasingly "the Revit guy" So Jebel Ali Spa burns brightly in my memory. The short, intense, concept design period, adapting to the differences of climate and construction practice, then the long weekly drives to site, and the tedium of minutes to be written up.

Seems like yesterday. Seems like a lifetime ago.

 

My second project with GAJ was another spa. This time I was inheriting a concept design and developing it into a tender package. Strictly 2D CAD and feeling a bit out of my depth without the specialist operator input of my previous outing.

I don't know if this was ever built. It was taken out of our hands in my first exposure to the cut-throat world of business here. I do remember agonising over how to maintain the thermal properties of the arches and recesses that interrupted the cavity wall construction that was our standard practice.

I had learned about cavity walls as a bricklayer in the UK, but everything is inside out here. Hot, moist air outside: cool and dry within. Memories of heated discussions about the folly of ventilating cavities in these conditions. People cling to old habits.

 

15 years ago we had a busy branch office in Sharjah, and most of the Revit users were moved over there. I moved back and forth to some extent and tried to argue against what I saw as a way for the main office to avoid facing the realities of a transition to BIM.

This project hails from that period. It never moved beyond concept stage, which was handled in the Dubai office (not in Revit) Fortunately, my boss Brian Johnson allowed me the freedom to shadow the design development using Revit (for this and other projects) in an attempt to demonstrate the vision of a BIM cycle (from inception to occupation and beyond)

This remains an uphill struggle even though it is increasingly obvious that clients and contractors are demanding BIM. To be fair I think it's understandable that architects led the charge but now lag behind. We are notoriously open-ended in our thinking and resistant to rigid formulas.

We like to be pioneers, but the nature of our role, early on, demands keeping multiple options open and using "smoke and mirrors" to tease out the possibilities in a brief. It's a kind of juggling, and I am yet to see a BIM application that handles this well while dominating the market for production stage work.

We are all familiar with the fact that refusing to use the dominant software in any sphere puts you at an immediate disadvantage. For my part, I continue to pursue the goal of "sketching with Revit", if only because it has given me so much pleasure for the past seventeen years.

 

Conversations across the generations. What a pleasant evening I had with Karam Baki at my local Syrian restaurant. Great food as always, and a pleasure to finally meet in person, this young man with his boundless energy and positivity.

It's a great thing that a passion for BIM can form such rich connections between people of quite different backgrounds, cultures, ages and characters. We talked and ate and walked and talked, thanks to the onset of cooler evenings in Dubai.

An idea is brewing in the recesses of my brain. How great would it be to meet up with more and more of my "BIM buddies" across the world, young and enthusiastic, eager to ask questions of a grey haired warrior, still fighting for the BIM cause in my own little way.

Technology is great, but only in so far as it enhances the human condition. Great to spend time together Karam.

 

Orthographic view, shaded view, composite render. There are many ways to view the model. This small project came out of our UK office, and I was asked to do some updates, including visual presentation.

Brian Johnson has been a pivotal figure in my life. He took me on as a refugee from Zimbabwe. He supported us when we formed the office band, "GAJ rocks". He embraced the BIM vision instinctively. And he has placed a lot of trust in me, allowing me to evolve from project architect to a more free-floating role as BIM guru and all-round Revit trouble shooter.

Periodically he threw these "challenge if you choose to accept it" curved-balls at me. Of course I couldn't refuse but he has been a good judge of what I could handle and where I could make a telling contribution.

We are both now stepping back a little, passing on the baton. I miss his constant presence in the office. But then again, I am also working remotely much of the time. It's a privilege to work for GAJ and to be allowed to fade away, ever so slowly. 😎