Investigation of the Collaboration and Communication Parameters of BIM Ecosystem

Abstract

In building production, architects, civil engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers work together to produce a common denominator. While the activities in the field of Architecture, Engineering, and Construction can be discussed within themselves, the "Building" is located at the intersection of these disciplines. Discipline-specific models and methods are not enough to explain and manage this intersection area. Nowadays we have to produce within intersection areas. This has made it a priority for different disciplines to come together. "Transdisciplinary approach" handles a problem that concerns more than one area by focusing on the problem and taking the process within a whole system without fixed boundaries between disciplines. The way different disciplines come together requires new ways of production and problem-solving tools. These new productions and tools are problem-specific without boundaries and non-use for other problems. This approach means that experts from different disciplines make innovative, transdisciplinary productions at the center of the problem. It is suggested that BIM (Building Information Modelling), which forms a basis for bringing the productions together from different disciplines, is a transdisciplinary form of cooperation and production. BIM is a process that enables coordination, communication, and cooperation of all actors from idea to demolition. It enables the creation of a shared data model. These models can also contain information related to the build's life cycle and its expected maintenance requirements. (3D) Modeling programs are Autodesk Revit, Graphisoft ArchiCAD, Rhino- Grasshopper, etc. Information such as time planning (4D), cost estimates (5D), sustainability (6D), management (7D) brings additional dimensions to BIM models. The data models are fixed and limited. The digital platform of BIM is limited with the application of semantic and geometric information. BIM, however, is not limited to the digital environment. It is an ecosystem extended to the digital world. In this respect, its capability for creative collaboration in real-world conditions needs to be explored. By addressing this discovery on the transdisciplinary project, we can capture new perspectives and these new perspectives can enable development in real-world conditions. "Fog catcher" is a transdisciplinary design and build project. The main objective is to harvest water vapor/moisture in the air. It requires knowledge and expertise in material science, structure, climate, architecture, fluid dynamics, machine learning, which are considered to be processed in a BIM environment. The study presents the theoretical model for the investigation of the parameters and dynamics of creative communication among the experts of the project within the BIM ecosystem through the case of "Fog catcher".