Abstract

This article discusses the development of two laboratory courses that are interrelated and consecutive and that integrate advanced digital technologies and BIM with design exploration and visualization. The intention is to strengthen students’ ability to represent their ideas visually using different digital media and to teach the basics of building construction and technologies so that students can begin to represent architectural design using BIM tools. The article discusses teaching methods, structure, and organization of courses. The underlying pedagogical principle is that teaching interoperability between digital tools is essential, since some tools are appropriate for design exploration while BIM is applicable for documentation. This principle has been applied to structured courses and activities to allow students to learn about the interoperability between different BIM- and non-BIM-based digital tools. The article also illustrates how students have been able to utilize the knowledge and digital skills in a subsequent design studio course. It concludes with recommendations about how to effectively integrate advanced computational tools and BIM in architectural education.