Introduction (with methodologies)

The term ‘Digital technology in architecture’ which is defined as the usage of digital technology in architecture, is not foreign in this field as architects and designers have long incorporated digital technology in their professional practice. Digital technology enables immense amounts of information to be compressed on small storage devices that can be easily preserved and transported. Digitization also quickens data transmission speeds. It has transformed how people communicate, learn, and work. Thanks to the advancement of technology, architecture has now evolved into something that was unimaginable 50 years ago. ‘Avant-garde’ ideas and concepts came across many architects’ minds but were left unbuilt due to limitations of technologies in the past. In this digital era, there are a handful of great examples to prove that the extensive usage of digital technology in architecture had indeed promote the birth of amazing architectures, namely the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and the Olympic stadium in China (Bird’s Nest Building and Water Cube). This is a similar situation for many architects and designers who had a hard time articulating and expressing crazy ideas in their design using manual drawing skills and sketches. Probably there were abundant of crazy and creative ideas in their head, but somehow they just could not convey their ideas comprehensively for the world to appreciate them. Now, with the help of technology, people can just express their ideas using computer software and share their amazing ideas and concepts with anyone they want, making designing easier than before.

These new technologies are helping to transform architectural surfaces far beyond the traditional norms of architecture. In short, digital technologies have helped to define a new frontier for architecture. Not only that, it has entirely revolutionized the design process for architects and designers, be it in the conceptualization stage, form derivation, design process, execution of design, construction matter and even solving complex calculations. The main instrument used is of course, the computer which hence gave birth to a new term in the industry, which is known as CAD, an abbreviation for Computer Aided Design. CAD software includes AutoCAD, Autodesk 3dsMax, Autodesk Revit, Maya and Rhino.

The topic for this dissertation is ‘Digital Technology in Architecture which has already been defined in the passage above. I would like to look into a more specific area in this dissertation which is the effect of digital technology on architects and designers. Therefore I would like to examine how digital technology (design software) for instance AutoCAD, Autodesk 3dsMax, Google SketchUp, Maya and Rhino has helped architects and designers in their design process, which includes generating ideas in the conceptualization stage, 3D modeling and visualization besides. Next, I wish to study how digital technology has possibly changed the way architects and designers think and work, with various design software available to be explored.

The methodology used in order to collect the data and information for this writing is by carrying out firsthand research by conducting an online survey with architecture, interior architecture and interior design students in order to obtain information about their opinions on the usage of digital technology in architecture. Besides, I would also have an interview session with our local Malaysian architects and designers to acquire their thoughts about how digital technology has affected the way designers think and work nowadays. Second hand research would also be the source of my research along the way, which includes information attained through books, online journals, website, videos and analyzing relevant case studies in the chapters.