Products and Services
Kimon Onuma, AIA, GDLA - Onuma & Associates, Webscape & Ship Group
 Model of Atlanta built in ArchiCAD in 1995 |
- How did you first get involved with ArchiCAD?
Ten years ago, I was looking for a solution that combined 2D Drafting, 3D modeling and data into one package. I also needed something that would get my team interested in learning CAD. Our office in Tokyo was still half on the drawing board and half on CAD. Traditional CAD packages, with all their complexity and steep learning curves were not getting anyone in our office excited about using them. When I saw what ArchiCAD could do, I realized right away that this was going to solve our needs - and do a lot more than just that.
We started using ArchiCAD for all of our projects, from single family homes, to large scale master planning projects. Working worldwide and between our offices in Tokyo and California, ArchiCAD helped us to function as one team on our projects. From 1994 on, we were sharing data - not lines on a 2D CAD program.
- What can you do with ArchiCAD that you cannot do with other CAD packages?
 Intelligent Hangar Object, created in GDL |
GDL is one of the main differentiating factors of ArchiCAD over the other CAD packages. There is nothing that can touch the power of GDL. Its ability to create relational rules that are driven by scripts and build 3D geometries and output data, is a tool that has no limits.
In addition to our "traditional" architecture and planning work, we also create custom GDL/API and database solutions around ArchiCAD. Our combined team of architects and programmers is able to build solutions that are specific to the needs of the industry. The capability to customize ArchiCAD creates a very powerful mixture.
ArchiCAD allows us to collaborate with other teams of like-minded professionals who work with the interoperable capabilities of ArchiCAD. (We can also work with others who are still using the old world systems of CAD drafting) As the Director of Technology and co-founder of the Ship-Group.com, I have been able to collaborate with members of the Ship Group and perform tasks that once took 5,000 person offices to accomplish, in a much more efficient and accurate way.
- What is your most prominent project? How did ArchiCAD help you with it?
 Model of Tokyo, 1994-1995 |
On the architectural side, we started a series of large-scale master planning projects for the US Government about 10 years ago.
We have also created many visualization projects in 3D. Although 3D visualization is an important part of ArchiCAD, we feel it is not the most powerful part of the system for us. The integration of 3D to the database and documents is the magic mixture.
Projects linking the virtual 3D models to databases and other systems have been developed alongside all the architectural projects over the years.
A recent project that is very interesting and getting a lot of attention is our "BIM Bomb" project with the Ship Group. This involves taking the knowledge of building materials, design and explosives and creating a system using databases, ArchiCAD, GDL and API that simulates explosions of Building Information Models: "BIM Bombs."
- Do you ever encounter an ADT/Revit bias? How do you overcome it?
It's amazing and scary how conservative architects and the building industry are. I am trying to change that through education and exposure of architects to what is really possible with these tools. The key thing is that a mindset shift needs to occur, and change such as this is not an easy one to accept. It amazes me that an industry will blindly follow what is the "most popular" CAD software in the world, like Autodesk's product, even though it is inferior. As an ArchiCAD user I get asked this question quite a bit: "Why are you not using AutoCAD, since it is the most popular CAD program in the world?" My response is: "McDonald's is the most popular restaurant in the world, but I don't eat there."
We have been using ArchiCAD for 10 years now. A large portion of our work has been with the US Government. Government agencies have traditionally been the most averse to change. The way we handled it is that we delivered CAD files in the format they wanted, AutoCAD, DWG, DXF™, DGN, etc. but we used ArchiCAD as the "factory" to create those files. We could not tell our clients that we were using ArchiCAD in many cases, because they would have had an "allergic" reaction to that statement. Recently, with more sophisticated clients we work with, like the U.S. Coast Guard, there has been a major shift to understanding the value of BIM, and ArchiCAD. The future looks more promising now than it did 10 years ago. As an architect, I just hope that architects will understand this shift and lead instead of follow or be passed up...
- What is your wish list of ArchiCAD features?
 GDL Kitchen System |
GDL Libraries are also a wish list. There is so much power in GDL, that many ArchiCAD users do not really realize the potential. If there were better libraries available from manufacturers it would help everyone.
- Tell
us about the best & worst projects you worked on
Most interesting Projects:
"BIM Bombs"
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With the Ship Group we have worked on several projects with the US Coast Guard. As part of this effort we have created systems that analyze the ArchiCAD model. One of them takes an ArchiCAD model and through the use of custom GDL objects, APIs and database "blows the building up" to simulate bomb blasts and the effects of such a blast on structures.
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The collaboration and integration potential of ArchiCAD was used to weave together disparate pieces of knowledge into one system and to visualize it. This is not a solution that comes "out of the box" and is not something that was created in an afternoon. The solution leverages on the specialized knowledge of architects, engineers, security planners and programmers.
Akrotek House
Recently we decided to develop, design and construct our own ‘Spec House" in the Hollywood Hills.
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This has been a four-year-long process from looking for land, purchasing it, getting financing, building and now selling it. The entire project was modeled and tested for views and construction and is now being used as a marketing tool to show the house before it is completed. ArchiCAD helped us maximize the use of the complex hillside lot and the 200-degree views.
We have been getting a lot of interest from potential buyers, and have been told that the design quality is driving up the value of the house. We are heading toward selling this house before it is completed. In the end, the ability to visualize the design before any construction is paying off in a big way with this project.
Worst Projects:
One client forced us to use Microstation. One project was done in Microstation and a similar project was in ArchiCAD. The ArchiCAD project ended up vastly superior to the Microstation one. For me, Microstation could not come close to matching ArchiCAD's qualities.
- You've created some fantastic images using AC, where do you draw your inspiration?
Nature is an inspiration to me...
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Object Genome Project
Custom Object Libraries to Describe Architectural Environments
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The intelligent objects evolve over time, new characteristics, and rules are added as new and adjusted requirements come up. Our environment and buildings are not static.
Just like the Human Genome can describe mankind, the Object Genome describes our built environment. Buildings are complex by nature and The Object Genome Project takes a methodical approach of analyzing, documenting, and creating tools to master this complexity.
Although rules-based systems may at first seem limiting to architects, they are very much of our architectural history. Classical Greek architecture has a set of orders that describe the rules of putting together classical space. These rules that were followed by the Greeks gave rise to great buildings and now form a basis of Western architecture.
Rules-based objects of The Object Genome Project function in much the same way. They enable us to catalog huge amount of data that is then available at our fingertips to be used for projects. What is illustrated in this submittal is a small glimpse of the logic and process we follow in analyzing the logic of our built environment, and then applying that logic through the use of rules-based building blocks in our projects.
Rules embedded in these objects can range from structural to typological:
- How deep is a truss for an aircraft hangar according to structural codes?
- What is the proper proportion of a doorway for a traditional Japanese house?
They can also be architectural or design oriented:
- What is the proper material for a floor in a high traffic area, and what is the cost of it?
Rules can also be relational, triggering new requirements between two different sets of objects:
- What is the proper hardware to use for a glass front kitchen cabinet door?
BIO:
KIMON ONUMA, AIA, GDLA
Kimon Onuma , AIA and GDLA, is the Principal of Onuma/Webscape and the Ship-Group. He is expanding the horizons of both the Virtual Building and architecture. In addition to being a practicing architect, he is defining the shift that is occurring in the architectural industry through the innovative use of technology. Kimon is focused on changing the mindset of the industry. His recent work includes projects with the U.S. Coast Guard that include the creation of intelligent systems with databases, API and GDL that simulate bomb blasts in the virtual models and create data associated with the resulting damage. Kimon runs a multi-national company with a worldwide team of virtual experts and offices in California and Tokyo. He is the co-founder and President of the GDL Alliance, and co-founder and Director of Technology of the Ship-Group.
- Principal of Onuma & Associates
- President of Webscape, digital architecture
- President and co-founder of The GDL Alliance, an independent, international "grass roots" professional association. It has 420 members in 65 countries and consists of GDL authors, software developers, and building product manufacturers to promote GDL Culture worldwide.
- Director of Technology and co-founder of the Ship Group.
- Co-Founder of Akrotek. Development Company.
Awards
AIA Design Awards 2002 – Pasadena Foothill Chapter
Honor Award "Object Genome Project"
Construction Innovation Forum Nova Award 2004
Semi Finalist (Currently Being Reviewed for Finalists)
"Object Genome Project"
Speaking Engagements - Kimon Onuma
KIMON ONUMA, AIA, GDLA
The following are recent speaking engagements where
Mr. Onuma presented his cutting edge architectural technology.
Mind-Altering Architecture
Building Information Modeling - Process and Technology
Denver AIA
April 30, 2004 (upcoming)
ArchiCAD University West
Keynote Speaker
Pomona, California
March 25-27, 2004 (upcoming)
Mind Altering Architecture - The Transformation of an Industry
The Virtual
Building - Process and Technology
Salt Lake AIA
Mar. 2003
Federal Facilities Council
Emerging Technologies Committee Meeting/Intelligent
Object Based Systems Created by Webscape
National Institutes, Washington, DC
Dec 2002
Geospatial Technologies, Symposium and Exposition
The Matrix - Data Driven
Object Based Planning and Design Projects
San Antonio, TX
Aug. 2002
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