The virtual event will address the tremendous changes happening in the AEC/BIM industry today.

The AEC industry has become more resilient, flexible, and dynamic over the past five years than seemed possible in the decade before. The pandemic has had a lot to do with it, but even before, the digitalization of processes has transformed processes. The changes have been especially profound in construction. Every major company selling software tools for the AEC industry has been affected.

Ironically, because the pandemic has forced conferences to become cloud-based meetings, companies have new tools to demonstrate their capabilities and to communicate the value of cloud-based tools. At last year’s Building Together meeting, Graphisoft did considerably more than introducing its latest version of Archicad. It issued a challenge to customers and competitors to take advantage of the integration of new capabilities across the Nemetschek family of AEC tools. Throughout the following year, the company made good on its promise to offer customers new levels of building intelligence and analysis. Most recently, the company announced the acquisition of Data Design System to further integrate Archicad with advanced MEP capabilities.

Graphisoft CEO Huw Roberts has said that financially 2020 was the company’s most successful year. It was a tough year for humans, but companies that could provide an immediate and workable remote collaboration and cloud-based workflows benefitted.

This year, Graphisoft has introduced Archicad 25 with more cloud capabilities, support for Maxon rendering, and access to new parametric 3D objects, custom stair creation, and import and export support for Rhino models. The company promises to go deep into all the new features of Archicad 25 and demonstrates how the company’s customers are putting new tools to work.

The press release follows but upfront the 2021 Building Together event starts on September 14. Registration is here and the agenda is here.

Architects and AEC professionals to hear from world’s leading experts on sustainability, integrated design, building lifecycle intelligence, and the future of architectural education at Graphisoft’s Building Together 2021 Digital Event

Leading architects and experts from around the world will join Graphisoft from September 14–16 to explore the critical issues and trends that are influencing the future of the AEC industry.

BUDAPEST, August 31, 2021—Graphisoft, the leading Building Information Modeling (BIM) software solution developer for architecture, announced today the full speaker list and agenda for the Building Together 2021 conference. Scheduled for September 14–16, and offered at no charge, the carefully curated online program will cover a range of topics of interest to today’s AEC professionals and share case studies on how the latest solutions from Graphisoft can help architects and engineers identify and leverage industry trends for business success.

Graphisoft’s core belief in developing tools to empower teams to create great architecture through design, digitalization, and discovery has prompted the company to bring the world’s AEC experts and thought leaders together to share disruptive innovations, ideas, and examples of great architecture—all within the framework of an inspiring and interactive three-day online conference.

“We’ve invited great minds and thought leaders to delve into important topics such as diversity in architecture, rapid rehousing, the future of cities, the changing role of architects, and the challenges of cultural heritage preservation,” said Huw Roberts, Graphisoft CEO. “We’re also making it easy to connect with other AEC professionals around the world thanks to an innovative networking platform that will connect participants to the discussions and each other,” he added.

Global thought leaders will delve into the critical trends shaping the AEC industry

Thirty-nine leading architects and experts from around the world will participate—from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Puerto Rico, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United States—in the form of roundtables, keynotes, and short TREND Talks, including:

Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart is a professor at the Leuphana University Lu?neburg and founder of EPEA, Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency in Hamburg (Germany), ‘The cradle of Cradle to Cradle.’ He is also co-founder of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) in Charlottesville, Virginia, and founder of the Hamburger Environmental Institute (HUI). For decades, Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart has pioneered the Cradle-to-Cradle design concept. He has worked with several organizations and companies across a range of industries and has developed tools for designing eco-effective products, business systems, and intelligent materials pooling. In 2019, Michael Braungart was awarded the Goldene Blume von Rheydt (Golden Flower of Rheydt), the oldest environmental protection award in Germany, for his work.

Philip Allsopp, Senior Sustainability Scientist at Arizona State University, will speak about the increasing need to rethink human habitats as ecological and technological systems providing energy, food, and water security, rather than mere real estate commodities.

Tiffany Brown, Executive Director of the National Organization of Minority Architects, founded 400 Forward, an initiative that aims to seek out and support the next 400 minority women architects in the US, to address environmental injustices and social issues of the built environment. She will speak about how representation makes a significant social impact on firm practice, culture, education, and design thinking.

Masaaki Matsuoka, Designer/Architect at Osaka’s Takenaka Corp., will speak about tradition meeting innovation by embracing innovative computation methods throughout the design and construction process.

Chris Ambridge, Associate Principal, cox graae + spack, and Gabe Oliver, Vice President, GCS-SIGAL, will speak about the Archicad 25 signature building in a presentation entitled ‘Limitless lessons from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts—a story of collaboration.’ Learn how a single model workflow was taken to its ultimate level to create an iconic theater space and upgrade a landmark building to add significant academic areas as well.

Oystein Elgsaas, Architect/Partner, Voll Arkitekter, will speak about Mjøstårnet, the world’s tallest timber building, located in Norway. An award-winning project designed using Archicad, Mjøstårnet represents a shift in sustainable green architecture.

Roundtable: Educating Architects for BIM + Graphisoft Global Recruitment Survey—Hiring the Next Generation of Architects

An expert panel of educators from leading architecture schools will discuss how we can best prepare students of architecture for technology-enabled workflows, integrated design, and the changing role of the architect.

What does the ideal, recently graduated job candidate look like? Are students well prepared for BIM workflows and integrated design? To help firms find great talent and for students, recent graduates, and young professionals to find their ideal place to work, Graphisoft has launched a global survey, the results of which will be shared at the Building Together event.

Building Together Design Challenge—September 6–24

To encourage people around the world who have registered for the event to work on an easy design task together using Archicad (no prior software knowledge is needed), Graphisoft will launch the Building Together Design Challenge on September 6, focused on each participant’s personal vision of what the words ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ mean.

The individual models will be imported into a single BIMx file. The challenge lasts through September 24, when Graphisoft will reveal a giant architectural puzzle made up of the submitted designs. Participants are invited to encourage their friends and colleagues to vote for their design—and to submit their own. The 50 designs with the most votes will win valuable prizes. For more information and to enter the challenge starting September 6, click the Design Challenge tab at buildingtogether.graphisoft.com.

Graphisoft will offer online networking for event participants. After signing in, users are invited to create a profile on the event platform and connect with others using the chat function.

For a full list of speakers and topics, and to register for free, please visit buildingtogether.graphisoft.com.